Starting today, I am using Citany — the tool I built — as a live experiment. Zero Google Search Console coverage, zero AI mentions, domain registered two weeks ago. I am documenting everything publicly so you can follow along, steal the playbook, or at least watch me fail in real time.
1. What this challenge is
I built Citany to answer one question: how do brands get cited by AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and DeepSeek? It is one thing to build the monitoring tool. It is another to eat your own cooking.
So I am running a 90-day public experiment. Citany is the brand. I am the marketer. The rules are simple: no paid placement, no black-hat tricks, no gaming prompts. Just authentic content, structured data, and distribution — and we measure what happens to AI visibility week by week.
Every update gets posted here at citany.com/blog and on X at @Xbrave_R. The full challenge page lives permanently at /challenge.
2. Why AI visibility matters right now
In 2026, buyers do not just Google things. They ask ChatGPT. They ask Perplexity. They ask DeepSeek. And when they ask "what is the best AI brand monitoring tool?", the engine gives a synthesised answer — usually citing two or three brands by name. If your brand is not in that answer, you do not exist to that buyer, regardless of your Google ranking.
The overlap between Google's top-10 results and ChatGPT's cited URLs is only 8%. That means 92% of AI citation opportunities are completely invisible to traditional SEO tracking. Most brands have no idea how they are performing in AI search — because they are still watching Google Analytics while the game has moved.
For the deep research behind these numbers, read our Citation War report and the AEO vs SEO guide.
3. Day 0 starting metrics
Here is exactly where Citany stands on the first day of the challenge. No vanity framing — just the raw numbers.
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GSC indexed pages | 0 | Domain ~2 weeks old |
| ChatGPT mentions | 0 | Tested manually, Mar 14 2026 |
| Perplexity mentions | 0 | Tested manually, Mar 14 2026 |
| Domain age | ~2 weeks | Registered Feb 2026 |
| Backlinks | 0 | Ahrefs DR: 0 |
To ensure a fair baseline, both AI engine tests below were conducted in private/incognito browsing mode with no login — capturing what a first-time visitor sees, with no personalisation or history influencing the results. This aligns with Citany's core principle: authentic, unbiased AI responses only.
4. The 90-day plan
The strategy is deliberately simple. Three pillars: content, distribution, and technical foundations. No growth hacks. I want to understand what actually moves AI visibility when you do things the right way.
Content
- –1 blog post per week on citany.com
- –1 monthly deep-dive report (AEO/GEO data)
- –FAQ and structured data on every page
- –Long-form pillar guides targeting AI query fan-outs
Distribution
- –X (@Xbrave_R) — weekly progress threads
- –LinkedIn — professional framing, data posts
- –Medium — republish with canonical back to citany.com
- –小红书 — Chinese market audience
- –Reddit — discussion only, no spam
Measurement
- –Weekly manual AI engine tests (ChatGPT, Perplexity, DeepSeek)
- –GSC weekly review (indexed pages, impressions)
- –Citany dashboard — brand mention tracking
- –Public updates here every Friday
5. How do we measure success? Defining "AI visible"
"AI visible" is not a vague feeling. I am defining it precisely so the end result is binary — either we hit it or we do not.
Mentioned by name in ≥3 of 8 AI engines when asked relevant category questions (e.g. "best AI brand monitoring tools", "how to track ChatGPT brand mentions").
Cited as a source URL in ≥1 AI engine response to a relevant query. Being linked counts for more than just being named.
Indexed by Google Search Console with more than 10 pages — proving the technical foundation is crawlable and indexed.
All achieved organically. No paid placement, no sponsored content, no prompt engineering to force a mention. If it requires money or manipulation, it does not count.
By Day 90 (June 11, 2026), I will run all of these checks and publish the final verdict. Pass or fail — everything gets documented.
6. How to follow along
There are three places to follow this challenge:
- X (Twitter): @Xbrave_R — weekly threads with raw data, experiments, and commentary.
- Blog: citany.com/blog — long-form updates every Friday.
- Challenge page: citany.com/challenge — the permanent bookmark with current stats and all updates in one place.
Try It On Your Own Brand
Get a free AI visibility audit for your brand
While I run this experiment on Citany, you can run the same check on your brand right now. See exactly which AI engines mention you, which ones ignore you, and what your competitors are doing differently.