Eleven days ago we published our Day 0 score: 12/100. Perplexity didn't know us. ChatGPT didn't know us. We were, by any AI's measure, invisible.
Today we checked again.
That's a 20-point jump in 11 days. We moved from "Invisible" to "Noticed by AI." Not a huge win, but a real one — and more importantly, a measurable one.
Here's the breakdown.
What the numbers look like now
| Dimension | Max | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Web Presence | 25 | 10 |
| Source Authority | 20 | 6 |
| Recommendation Signals | 20 | 0 |
| Community Validation | 20 | 3 |
| Competitive Context | 15 | 3 |
The AI Probe (which directly asks Perplexity and ChatGPT) tells the most interesting story:
- Perplexity: 80% — It now recognizes us in 8 out of 10 probes. Two weeks ago it had no idea we existed.
- ChatGPT: 0% — Still nothing. GPT's training data doesn't update in real time, so this was expected.
- Gemini: Unknown — We haven't integrated Gemini probing yet.
What actually moved the needle
We didn't run any ads. We didn't pay for any directories. Here's the exact sequence of what we did:
- Published 13 blog posts — Long-tail SEO content about AI visibility, Gumroad, Etsy, Notion. Each post links back to the tool.
- Posted on r/SideProject — Got 5,200 views and ranked #12. That one thread drove a meaningful spike in external links and mentions.
- Submitted to 6 directories — FutureTools, SaaSHub, DangAI, LLMRelevance, FoundrList, and a few others.
- Ran the tool publicly on ourselves — Publishing Day 0 created backlinks when others referenced our experiment.
All of this created external signals that Perplexity's live web search could pick up. That's why Perplexity moved from 0% to 80% recognition.
What didn't move
Recommendation Signals: still 0/20. This is the hardest dimension. It measures whether AI systems are actively recommending us — not just recognizing us. Nobody's writing "best AI visibility tools" roundups that include pickedby.ai yet. That's the next mountain.
ChatGPT: still 0%. GPT doesn't do live search by default. It reflects training data, which has a cutoff. Even if we're all over the internet today, GPT won't know for months — unless it uses browse mode. We're not going to fake our way into ChatGPT's training data. We just have to keep building real presence.
The honest version of GEO: Perplexity moves fast because it searches live. ChatGPT moves slow because it reflects the past. Building for both means building real, lasting presence — not quick hacks.
What we're doing next
The 0/20 on Recommendation Signals is the clearest signal. To fix it, we need to be in comparison lists, roundups, and "best of" content written by other people.
Our plan for the next two weeks:
- Get listed in "best GEO tools" and "AI visibility" roundup posts
- Launch on Product Hunt (gate: 50 email signups first)
- Post on Indie Hackers — we have our first post going live tomorrow
- Keep publishing weekly score updates like this one
We'll run the score again in two weeks and publish whatever we find — good or bad.
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