Full Definition
Share of Answer is a measure of how often a company is mentioned in AI-generated responses to commercially relevant prompts in its market.
It is the AEO equivalent of share of voice in traditional marketing: a competitive metric that tracks presence relative to other vendors across the prompts that matter most to a company's buying audience.
To calculate Share of Answer, define a set of commercially relevant prompts, run them across AI platforms, and count how many responses mention each competing vendor. A company's Share of Answer is its percentage of total vendor mentions across that prompt set.
Share of Answer provides a competitive view that individual metrics like Inclusion Rate do not. A company might have a 60% Inclusion Rate, which sounds strong in isolation, but if three competitors each have 80% or higher, the company is underperforming relative to its market. Share of Answer surfaces that competitive context.
Because AI responses frequently mention multiple vendors in a single answer, Share of Answer is not a zero-sum metric. All competitors can gain Share of Answer simultaneously as AI platforms expand the breadth of vendors they surface. The goal is not to reduce competitor visibility but to ensure your company is consistently present when buyers ask the questions that lead to purchasing decisions.