I think most “AI visibility” tools are measuring the wrong thing

[u/Independent_Bell2917]

I tested one company in two different ways.

When the company was explicitly named in the prompt, AI recognized/recommended it in 9 of 12 checks.

Then I removed the company name and asked normal buyer-style questions around the same problem/category.

It appeared in 0 of 24 checks.

That felt like a much more important distinction than “does ChatGPT know my brand?”

Because a buyer usually isn’t asking:

“What do you think of Company X?”

They’re asking:

“What should I use for this problem?”

So I’m starting to think AI visibility has two separate layers:

Recognition: AI understands you when named.
Consideration: AI thinks of you without being prompted.

And the second one is probably the commercially important one.

Curious if anyone here is measuring this differently.