What should the contract and renewal decision require?

Use this proposed acceptance checklist:

• Exact surfaces, collection routes, prompts and exclusions are disclosed.
• Raw answers, timestamps, source URLs and scoring decisions are exportable.
• Failed observations are visible rather than scored as brand absence.
• Prompt changes and platform changes are logged.
• Monitoring, implementation and validation have separate deliverables and fees.
• Data retention, subprocessors, deletion, access controls and use of uploaded material are reviewed.
• Confidential customer information is excluded unless specifically approved.
• Renewal depends on an agreed decision and useful work—not guaranteed recommendations or revenue.

Continue when the evidence is comparable and the next action is justified. Narrow when only a small group of buying questions matters. Stop or redesign when the supplier cannot explain its denominator, provide evidence or distinguish changed measurement from improvement.

The quarter’s governing question: What would we do differently because of this research—and who can do it?

— doja | AI Search Visibility Research

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Sources

All sources were located during this research pass. Undated product pages were checked on 16 October 2026. Vendor datasets and preprints are not presented as independently replicated findings.

1. Microsoft Bing — Topics Portfolio beta, 13 October 2026. https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/2026/10/introducing-topics-portfolio-beta-in-ai-performance/ (blogs.bing.com)
2. Google — Gemini 4 Argon availability, 13 October 2026. https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/introducing-gemini-4-argon/ (blog.google)
3. Ahrefs — ChatGPT query fan-out study, 12 October 2026; supplier research. https://ahrefs.com/blog/query-fan-out-chatgpt/ (ahrefs.com)
4. Meltwater — September AI search visibility report, published 15 October 2026; supplier research. https://www.meltwater.com/en/blog/ai-search-visibility-report-september-2026 (meltwater.com)
5. Google Search Central — Generative-AI performance reports, 3 June 2026; worldwide-rollout note dated 31 August. https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports (developers.google.com)
6. Google Search Console Help — Generative-AI performance report. https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139 (support.google.com)
7. Google Search Central — Multimodal reporting, 24 September 2026. https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/09/web-multimodal-in-sc (developers.google.com)
8. Uberti-Bona Marin and co-authors — Auditing AI-Generated Product Recommendations, September 2026 preprint. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.18729 (arxiv.org)
9. Benjamin Tannenbaum — From Prompt to Recommendation, September 2026 preprint using Aiso project data. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.23162 (arxiv.org)
10. IAB — Measuring Visibility in the AI Era announcement, 3 August 2026. https://www.iab.com/news/iab-releases-measuring-visibility-in-the-ai-era/ (iab.com)
11. aibl — Stuart Bruce interview, 21 August 2026; practitioner perspective. https://aiblmedia.com/videos/ai-visibility-measurement-stuart-bruce-purposeful-relations/ (aiblmedia.com)
12. Microsoft Bing — Intents, topics, citation share and comparison capabilities, June 2026. https://blogs.bing.com/search/2026/6/New-AI-Visibility-Insights-in-Bing-Webmaster-Tools-Intents-Topics-Citation-Share-Compare/ (blogs.bing.com)
13. Watershed — AEO/GEO & Web Lead job description; employer-stated responsibilities. https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/Watershed/57929637-bbc4-474f-bfcb-a8b877c541e9 (jobs.ashbyhq.com)
14. OpenAI — Overview of OpenAI Crawlers. https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots (developers.openai.com)
15. Google Search Central — Guide to optimising for generative-AI features, updated 10 July 2026. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide (developers.google.com)
16. Liu and co-authors — From Public Posts to AI-Search Citations, October 2026 preprint. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.11932 (arxiv.org)
17. US Federal Trade Commission — Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/consumer-reviews-testimonials-rule-questions-answers (ftc.gov)
18. OtterlyAI — Published pricing and plan scope. https://otterly.ai/pricing/ (otterly.ai)
19. Peec AI — Published plan scope and pricing page. https://peec.ai/pricing (peec.ai)