What the numbers in RankRise mean

Where to find them

Every number in this guide is on the Visibility page. It opens with an overview of Google and AI answers together. The Google and AI answers views under it have the detail.

The date control at the top sets the window: Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last 12 months or All time. The Google change figures compare with the start of that window.

On the Google and AI answers views, the menu next to the page title has How we measure this. It opens the method for that view.

Where you rank on Google

Each tracked page has one target search. We check where it ranks on Google every week. Position #1 is the top result.

The overview shows 2 rings for Google:

• In Google’s top 10. How many of your tracked pages rank in the first 10 results.
• In Google’s top 30 (or another number). How many rank anywhere in the results we read. The number in the label is how deep we look for your workspace.

The Where your pages rank on Google card groups your pages by position: Top 3, 4 to 10, 11 to 20, and so on. A page marked Not in top with a number wasn’t found in the results we read. It hasn’t vanished from Google. Results that far down get almost no clicks, so we stop there on purpose.

A page we started tracking recently may be waiting on its first check. It joins the count once it has a result.

The AI answer rate

The AI answer rate shows how often AI assistants name or link your business. It is the ring marked Named in AI answers.

We ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity the questions we track for you, once a month. One answer is one question, put to one AI tool, on one try. The rate is the answers that named or linked you, out of every answer.

Each AI tool’s own rate is under the ring. The Named in AI answers, by tool card shows the same rates as bars, with counts such as 5 of 33 answers.

A few things to know about this rate:

• The change is in points. A rate going from 20% to 25% shows as up 5 points. It compares with the last full month’s check.
• Answers we didn’t get are left out. When an AI tool fails to answer, that question isn’t counted against you.
• It counts mentions only. An answer that names you as the one to avoid counts the same as one that recommends you. Read the quoted answers for tone.

Google’s AI answer, shown beside the rate

Google’s AI answer is the summary at the top of some Google results. The app gives it its own row, Google AI answer, on the Named in AI answers, by tool card.

It is never added into the headline rate. We read it with the weekly Google check, and it counts topics. Its row reads like 3 of 8 topics. That means Google showed an AI answer for 8 of your topics, and 3 of those answers credited you.

Your share against competitors

Share shows how much of the attention goes to you, compared with other sites. There are 2 kinds, on 2 different scales.

Share of Google results covers only the topics we track for you. Every site in the top results counts, not only the competitors you listed. Your listed competitors are marked listed, and smaller sites are grouped as everyone else. First place counts for far more than tenth, because it earns far more clicks. It measures rankings. It doesn’t measure visits.

Share of AI citations is your slice of the links in AI answers to your questions. You can see all the AI tools together or one at a time. It counts links only. So it can be lower than your AI answer rate, which also counts answers that name you without a link.

Don’t compare the 2 shares directly. Each one is measured against its own field.

You can change your competitor list under Workspace settings, then Competitors.

Why the numbers move

Numbers move for reasons that have nothing to do with your site. These are the common ones.

• Google moves a little every week. A page going up or down one place in a single week is common. The trend over a month tells you more.
• The set of pages changes. A newly tracked page joins the count after its first check. The Movement since card shows how many pages came in and went out.
• AI tools answer differently each time. The same question can get a different answer each time it is asked. One month’s change on its own is a sample. Look for the same change over several months.
• AI checks run through the month. We spread your questions across the month. So a month joins the trend only once enough questions have been asked.
• New questions wait for the next check. If questions were added since the last check, the ring says so. They join the rate at the next monthly check.
• Other sites move too. Your share can fall when a competitor ranks higher, even if your own rankings stay the same. It can also fall when AI tools start naming more sites.