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Spontaneous visibility measures whether an AI cites a brand on its own initiative, in response to a neutral question that does not name it. It stands in contrast to "echo" presence, where the model merely repeats a name already supplied in the question.
Spontaneous vs "echo"
If you ask an AI "tell me about brand X", it will repeat "X" without knowing anything about it: that is echo presence, not proof of awareness. Spontaneous visibility measures something entirely different: on a neutral question ("what is the best accounting software?"), does the AI cite the brand of its own accord?
Why the distinction is crucial
Confusing the two artificially inflates a score. A model that paraphrases the name it was given may even produce a flattering hallucination. Spontaneous visibility, by contrast, reflects a genuine presence in the model's "memory".
In the measurement
The AGS distinguishes the spontaneous mention rate from echo presence, to avoid a visibility score that is flattering but false. The demonstration illustrates this case concretely.
Going further
When your brand is absent from an AI answer, a competitor takes its place 37% of the time. AI Labs Audit data: sub-sample of our 3,002-answer study.