A free AEO report should show you which buyer prompts were tested, how often each AI engine mentions you, which competitors and sources get cited instead, where your gaps are, and the top five fixes to make first. You can build one yourself for free using the template below.
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A lot of "free reports" floating around are a score out of 100 and a list of generic tips. That's not much use. A proper report should be built on real prompts your buyers ask, and it should end in a short list of actions.
Quick note on what I offer, so there's no confusion. My free option is a call, not a PDF. Get a free SEO strategy session and Julian's team will look at your AI visibility with you and talk the plan through. If you want a written report, this page shows you how to make your own.
What a Free AEO Report Should Contain
AEO, answer engine optimisation, is about getting your brand mentioned and cited inside AI answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Claude and Copilot. A report on it should answer one question: are AI engines recommending us, and if not, what do we change?
Every good report has seven sections:
- Prompts tested - the exact questions you ran
- Mention rate by engine - how often you showed up in each
- Cited competitors - who got named instead of you
- Cited sources - the URLs the AI pulled from
- Gaps - what's missing on your site and off it
- Top 5 fixes - in priority order
- Tracking plan - how you'll measure progress
If a report skips the prompts or the cited sources, it's guessing. Those two sections are what make the rest believable.
Watch out for reports that only give you a single score. A number with no prompts behind it can't tell you what to fix. You want to see the exact question, the exact engine and the exact answer, so you can check it yourself.
If you'd like to learn how to build and read these reports with a group doing the same work, I teach it inside the AI Profit Boardroom ($69/mo).
Free AEO Report Template
Here's the template. The examples are made up and labelled as examples so you can see the format. Swap in your own data.
| Report section | What goes in it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Prompts tested | 20-30 real buyer prompts, grouped by type | Example: "Prompt: best X in [city]", "Prompt: alternatives to [competitor]" |
| Mention rate by engine | Prompts where you were named, divided by prompts tested, per engine | Example: ChatGPT [x] of 25, Perplexity [x] of 25, Gemini [x] of 25, Google AI [x] of 25 |
| Cited competitors | Brands named instead of you, and how often | Example: [Competitor A] named on [x] prompts, [Competitor B] on [x] |
| Cited sources | URLs and domains the engines pulled from | Example: [review site], [industry directory], [top-10 list article] |
| Gaps | On-site and off-site issues found | Example: not listed on [directory]; no FAQ schema on [service page] |
| Top 5 fixes | Five actions in priority order, with an owner | Example: 1. Get listed on [directory] - owner: [name] |
| Tracking plan | What you'll rerun, how often, where it's logged | Example: rerun all prompts monthly in [spreadsheet name] |
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How to Fill In Each Section
Prompts Tested
Write down 20 to 30 questions your buyers would ask an AI. Mix "best X" prompts, comparisons, problem questions and brand checks. List them exactly as you typed them so you can rerun the same set next month. My 200+ AI SEO Prompts can speed this up.
Mention Rate by Engine
Run every prompt in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google (AI Overviews and AI Mode). Count how many times you were named in each. Break it out per engine because results can differ a lot between them.
Cited Competitors
Note every brand that got mentioned when you didn't. Count how often. The ones that keep coming up are the ones to study.
Cited Sources
Record the URLs the engines cite. This is the most useful section in the whole report. When the same lists, directories and review sites keep showing up, you've found where AI gets its opinions. Getting mentioned and linked on those sites is often the biggest lever. My free link building book explains how to earn those placements.
Gaps
Split gaps into two lists. On-site: indexing problems in Search Console, schema errors in Google's Rich Results Test, robots.txt blocks, pages that bury the answer. Off-site: sources you're missing from, thin reviews, inconsistent business name across profiles.
Stuck turning gaps into a plan? Book a free SEO strategy session and we'll talk it through with you.
Top 5 Fixes
Pick five. Not twenty. Rank them by impact and effort. A missing listing on a source the AI cites every time usually beats a minor schema tweak. Give each fix an owner and a date.
Tracking Plan
Decide how you'll measure progress. The simplest version: rerun the same prompt list monthly, log results in the same spreadsheet, and compare mention rates over time.
Keep the prompt list fixed for at least a few months. If you change the questions every time, you can't tell whether a better result came from your fixes or from easier prompts. Add new prompts in a separate tab instead.
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Common Mistakes in AEO Reports
- Testing too few prompts. Five prompts can't show a pattern. Use 20 to 30.
- Testing only one engine. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google can give very different answers.
- Ignoring cited sources. The sources are the roadmap. Skip them and you're left guessing.
- Too many fixes. A list of fifty actions rarely gets done. Five gets done.
- No owner or date. A fix without a name next to it tends to sit there forever.
Where the Data Comes From
You don't need paid tools to build this report. Everything comes from a quick DIY audit. I've laid out the 30-minute version in my free AEO audit guide, and the full 8-part framework in the AEO audit guide.
The short version:
- Prompts and mentions: the four AI engines plus a spreadsheet
- Cited sources: the source links in Perplexity and Google's AI features
- Indexing and queries: Google Search Console
- Schema: Google's Rich Results Test
- Crawler access: your robots.txt file
If you also want the classic SEO side in the same document, see the free SEO and GEO audit guide. GEO, generative engine optimisation, is the same goal as AEO under a different name, from a 2023 research paper on generative search engines.
Report vs Strategy Session
A report is great for keeping score. It's less great at telling you what matters most for your business specifically. That's a conversation.
So here's how I'd use both. Build your own report with the template above. Then book your free strategy session and bring it with you. On the call, Julian's team looks at your AI visibility with you and talks through the plan. You don't get a PDF afterwards, you get the thinking, live, so you can ask questions.
I've done SEO for 10+ years, run Goldie Agency, and teach AI SEO and AEO daily to 430K+ YouTube subscribers. The pattern I see most: people collect data and never act on it. Five fixes, done, beats fifty findings sitting in a folder.
If you'd like to learn the process with a community doing the same, join the AI Profit Boardroom ($69/mo). I share AI SEO and AEO workflows there every week.
Automating Your Monthly Report
Rerunning 25 prompts across four engines every month gets old fast. I use AI agents to handle the repetitive testing and logging. The Agent OS guide shows how that works. To pick the right model for research and summarising tasks, see the comparisons in Goldie Bench.
Whatever you automate, keep the human part: reading the cited sources and choosing the five fixes. That's where the value is.
Want help deciding what those five should be? Get a free SEO strategy session.
FAQ
What should a free AEO report include?
Prompts tested, mention rate by engine, cited competitors, cited sources, gaps, top five fixes and a tracking plan. Without the prompts and cited sources, the report can't show why you are or aren't being mentioned.
Can I make a free AEO report myself?
Yes. Use the template above with free tools: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google, Search Console, the Rich Results Test and a spreadsheet.
Does Julian send a free AEO report?
No. The free offer is a strategy session, which is a call. Julian's team looks at your AI visibility with you and talks the plan through. Book your free strategy session or book a free SEO strategy session here.
How often should I update my AEO report?
Monthly for the prompt testing and mention rates. Quarterly for a fuller review of sources, schema and technical access.
