Frequently Asked Questions

RivalHound monitors 7 major AI platforms: ChatGPT, ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Google AI (Gemini), Claude, and Google AI Overviews. We focus on the platforms where consumers are actually searching for products, services, and recommendations. Our platform coverage expands as new AI search tools gain traction.

RivalHound uses a query-based approach to monitor your brand. You set up monitoring queries in three categories: Discovery queries ("best CRM for startups") to see if AI recommends you, Direct queries ("what is Acme?") to track what AI says about your brand, and Comparison queries ("Acme vs Competitor") to monitor head-to-head positioning. We run these queries against each AI platform and analyze the responses for brand mentions, sentiment, and competitive positioning.

You'll see your first results within minutes of signing up. During onboarding, RivalHound runs an immediate scan of your selected queries so you can see real data right away. After that, scans run automatically based on your plan: daily scans for Pro and Enterprise, or weekly scans for Starter plans.

Each scan tells you: whether your brand was mentioned (and where it appeared in the response), the sentiment of the mention (positive, neutral, or negative), which competitors were also mentioned and their positioning, any citations or source links the AI provided, and the full AI response for context. Over time, you'll see trends in your visibility and share of voice.

Yes. When you add a brand, RivalHound automatically discovers your likely competitors based on your industry and domain. You can also manually add any competitors you want to track. The platform shows you share of voice metrics, competitive benchmarking, and alerts you when competitors start appearing in responses where they weren't before.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Audits analyze your website's readiness for AI search. The audit checks technical factors (can AI crawlers access your content?), content quality (is your content structured for AI comprehension?), and provides actionable recommendations to improve your chances of being cited by AI platforms. Think of it as SEO, but for the AI era.

AI responses are inherently dynamic—the same query can return different results each time. RivalHound focuses on trends and relative changes rather than absolute numbers. If your brand consistently appears in 7 out of 10 scans this week vs. 3 out of 10 last week, that's a meaningful signal. We recommend looking at weekly and monthly trends rather than individual data points.

Yes! RivalHound offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card required. You get full Pro-level access during the trial: 50 queries, 3 brands, daily scans across all platforms. Your first scan runs immediately during signup, so you'll have real data about your brand's AI visibility within minutes of creating your account.

Starter ($39/month): 10 monitoring queries, 1 brand, weekly scans—ideal for small businesses just starting to track AI visibility. Pro ($149/month): 50 queries, 3 brands, daily scans, competitor tracking, GEO audits—our most popular plan for growing companies. Enterprise (custom pricing): unlimited queries and brands, API access, white-label reports, dedicated support—built for agencies and large organizations.