In this article:
1. Why LLM Tracking Matters
Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT (OpenAI), Perplexity, Claude (Anthropic), and Gemini (Google) are reshaping search.
Instead of browsing search results, users now rely on AI-generated answers that summarize, cite, and recommend.
These AI results can boost or diminish your brand visibility — just like traditional SEO rankings.
Nightwatch’s LLM Tracking shows exactly how your brand (and competitors) appear across AI-generated responses.
It helps you:
Detect brand mentions across AI models and prompts.
Compare competitors and identify positioning gaps.
Track sentiment and framing (positive / neutral / negative).
See which domains are most cited by LLMs.
Optimize content for AI-driven discoverability.
In short: You’ll know how LLMs see your brand and how to influence those answers.
2. How to Use LLM Tracking
Step 1: Prompt Research (SEO Agent)
Before adding prompts to LLM Tracking, you can use the Prompt Research feature powered by the SEO Agent to generate high-quality, relevant prompts based on real user questions.
You can use it in two ways:
Preset Prompt Templates
Select a template such as “AI Prompt Research,” enter your topic, and the SEO Agent will automatically collect and categorize common questions users ask about that topic.Custom Prompt Mode
Write your own instructions to create fully tailored prompts for specific research scenarios, markets, or user intents.
After clicking Execute, you will be redirected to the SEO Agent workspace where the research is performed and a list of suggested prompts is generated.
You can then review these prompts and add them directly to LLM Tracking.
Step 2: Add Prompts
Prompts are real-world queries that users ask AI (e.g. “What’s the best CRM for small businesses?”).
Go to LLM Tracking → Prompts.
Click Add Prompt.
Choose:
Provider (e.g. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overview, AI Mode)
Model / Mode (API or UI)
Location & Language (e.g. 🇺🇸 English, 🇩🇪 German)
Save and start tracking.
Step 3: View Results
Nightwatch automatically gathers and analyzes AI responses.
You’ll see:
Entities (brands, companies, products) detected
Position / order of appearance
Sentiment
Cited domains
Click the 👁️ icon to preview full responses.
3. Dashboards & Key Metrics
Nightwatch includes four main dashboards to make sense of your AI visibility data:
📊 Overview
A high-level snapshot of your brand performance.
Metrics:
Average Position — How early your brand appears (lower = better).
Visibility — % of prompts where you’re mentioned.
Entity & Citation Distribution — Which brands or domains dominate answers.
Trends — How your visibility and sentiment evolve over time.
Use it to:
See whether your visibility is growing.
Benchmark competitors.
Spot shifts in AI-generated results.
💬 Prompts
Every tracked question with its metrics in one view.
Columns explained:
Prompt — Query text
Provider / Model — e.g. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overview, AI Mode
Location — Market context
Visibility — Frequency of appearance
Entities Count — Number of brands detected
Updated — Last refresh
Use it to:
Compare answers across providers, languages, and markets.
🏷 Entities
Your brand and competitors — analyzed side by side using entity recognition.
Metrics:
Entity Type — Brand, product, or company
Visibility & Share of Voice — Market share in AI answers
Average Position — Order of mention
Trend & Sentiment — Framing over time
How to Read and Use Entity Data
When you choose an Entity from the menu, Nightwatch filters the prompts related to that entity.
Under each prompt, you’ll see the most useful data for your analysis and reporting:
Visibility — The percentage of prompts in which this entity appears.
Average Position and Sentiment — Indicating how prominently and positively the entity is mentioned.
If you open a prompt using the arrow-down icon, you’ll see detailed ranking information for each entity — including position and sentiment (positive, neutral, or negative framing).
By clicking the 👁️ eye icon, you can preview the exact AI responses for that prompt and understand the full context of mentions.
🌐 Citations
Shows which websites LLMs trust and cite.
Metrics:
Domain — Source site (e.g. nerdwallet.com)
Mentions / Prompts — Frequency across prompts
Avg. Position — Placement within the AI answer
The Citations tab is the most actionable part of LLM Tracking.
Here, you’ll see all the web pages and domains that LLMs referenced when mentioning your entity.
These are the sources influencing AI-generated answers — much like backlinks influence SEO.
To improve your AI visibility, aim to have your brand mentioned on these pages (ideally), or publish similar authoritative content on your own website.
To find the most relevant opportunities, group citations by URL — this helps you pinpoint the exact pages where you can influence mentions or establish partnerships.
4. Best Use Cases for LLM Tracking
Goal | How LLM Tracking Helps |
Brand Monitoring | Know where and how your brand appears in AI answers |
Competitor Benchmarking | Compare visibility and sentiment vs. others |
Reputation Management | Detect negative framing early |
Market Research | Discover new competitors or product mentions |
Citation Strategy | Identify top-cited sources to target for backlinks or PR |
5. Example Prompts to Track
Type | Example |
Comparison | “What’s the best SEO tool for agencies?” |
Pricing | “What’s the cheapest money transfer app?” |
How-to | “How should I optimize for AI search?” |
Top lists | “Top 5 CRM platforms in the US” |
Brand vs Competitor | “Is Wise better than Western Union?” |
6. Tips for Getting the Most Value
Track multiple providers — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini — to compare bias.
Use the Entities tab to uncover indirect competitors.
Monitor Citations to find backlink and partnership opportunities.
Track sentiment changes to guide PR and brand positioning.
Align LLM findings with your SEO and content strategy — visibility on citation domains often improves AI mentions too.
7. Example Analysis
Prompt: “What is the cheapest money transfer service in the US?”
Entities detected: Wise, Zelle, Western Union, Venmo
Visibility: Western Union (78%), Wise (68%)
Sentiment: Wise (positive), Western Union (neutral-positive)
Citations: nerdwallet.com, bankrate.com
Actionable Takeaway:
Western Union appears often but ranks below Wise. Improving coverage on Nerdwallet and Bankrate could boost LLM visibility.
Nightwatch’s LLM Tracking bridges traditional SEO and the emerging world of AI visibility.
By tracking prompts, entities, citations, and sentiment across leading LLMs, you can:
Quantify your brand’s presence in AI answers
Benchmark against competitors
Shape how AI models represent your brand
As AI-driven discovery becomes mainstream, optimizing for LLMs is the new frontier of SEO — and Nightwatch is the first platform built to measure it.