When you run a Pulse scan, you get a single score out of 100 that represents your overall AI visibility. But behind that number are five distinct dimensions, each measuring a different aspect of how AI platforms perceive your business. Understanding these dimensions is the key to improving your score strategically.
The five dimensions of your Pulse Score
Your Pulse Score isn't just an average — it's a weighted composite that reflects how well AI platforms know, trust, and recommend your brand. Here's what each dimension measures:
1. Mentioned
This is the most fundamental dimension: does AI even know your business exists? When customers ask relevant questions across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Grok, and Copilot, does your brand appear in the response? A low Mentioned score means AI platforms aren't aware of you — the most critical gap to address first.
2. Preferred
Being mentioned is the baseline. Being preferred means AI actively recommends you over competitors. This dimension measures how often you're positioned as the top recommendation versus simply appearing in a list. Improving your Preferred score requires building stronger authority signals than your competitors.
3. Verified
AI platforms cite sources to back up their recommendations. Your Verified score measures whether AI can point to authoritative, current sources when recommending you. A high Verified score means your recommendations are backed by citations — making them more trustworthy to the end user.
4. Accurate
When AI mentions your business, is the information correct? This dimension checks whether AI platforms describe your services, location, hours, and specialties accurately. Inaccurate information in AI recommendations can actively harm your business — a customer who shows up to a closed store because AI had wrong hours won't come back.
5. Authoritative
This dimension measures whether AI treats your brand as a trusted authority in your space. Authoritative brands are cited as sources, referenced as examples, and recommended with confidence. Building authority requires a sustained strategy of quality content, strong reviews, and consistent presence across trusted platforms.
How scores are weighted
Not all dimensions are equally important for every business. A local restaurant needs high Mentioned and Accurate scores above all else. A SaaS company competing in a crowded category needs to prioritize Preferred and Authoritative. Pulse identifies which dimensions matter most for your specific situation.
Improving your score
Each Pulse scan includes a prioritized action plan that maps specific recommendations to the dimensions they'll improve. Rather than trying to boost everything at once, focus on the dimensions with the highest potential impact for your business type.
- Low Mentioned score → Fix directory consistency and build basic citations
- Low Preferred score → Strengthen authority signals and competitive positioning content
- Low Verified score → Add structured data and ensure your website is a citable source
- Low Accurate score → Audit and correct information across all platforms
- Low Authoritative score → Invest in content depth, reviews, and industry presence
Your Pulse Score isn't a vanity metric — it's a diagnostic tool. Use it to identify the specific levers that will shift AI recommendations in your favor, then work with Linfordy to pull those levers systematically.