Brand Source Map Worksheet

Identify the Sources AI Uses When Buyers Research Your Brand

Objective: Identify the third-party and owned sources LLMs cite when buyers research your brand.

This worksheet helps teams map the sources that shape how AI systems describe, evaluate, and compare their brand. The goal is to identify where your narrative originates—and where it may be distorted.

Map the Three Core AI Buyer Query Types

Definitional Queries

Example query: “What is [brand]?”

AI systems often prioritize brand-controlled definitions and structured descriptions.

Key Question:
Does the AI model extract your official brand definition from your site?

Sentiment & Evaluation Queries

Example queries:
“Is [brand] good?”
“Should I buy [brand]?”

AI systems tend to prioritize review platforms and reputation sources.

Key Question:
Which sources are shaping AI sentiment summaries about your brand?

Category & Comparison Queries

Example queries:
“Best [category] tools”
“[Brand] vs [Competitor]”

AI systems often prioritize editorial rankings and comparison pages.

Key Question:
Are you present and accurately represented in the editorial and analyst sources AI relies on?

Identify the Most Influential Sources

Source Influence Ranking

Identify which sources appear first in AI answers, since early citations shape the narrative.

Find Narrative Gaps

Narrative Gaps

Identify where the narrative diverges from your brand positioning.

Examples:

• outdated product description
• competitor framing the category
• negative employee sentiment
• inaccurate pricing or positioning

Prioritize Fixes

Action Plan

Prioritize sources to influence or correct.

Optional: Score Your Brand’s AI Source Coverage

Scoring Section

Evaluate how well your brand manages its AI citation ecosystem.

Total Score: /10

💡 Tip for teams:
Update this map quarterly by running brand queries across ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.