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.

Source Type	Example Pages	Citation Frequency	Accuracy	Owner	Action Needed
Brand website definition page	/about /what-is			Brand / SEO
Product overview pages	Core product pages			Product Marketing
Wikipedia / Knowledge panels	Wikipedia, Wikidata			PR / Comms
Industry directories	G2, Crunchbase			Marketing Ops
Analyst descriptions	Gartner, Forrester			PR / Analyst Relations

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.

Source Type	Example Pages	Citation Frequency	Sentiment	Owner	Action Needed
Customer review platforms	G2, Trustpilot, Capterra			Customer Marketing
Reddit / community discussions	Subreddits, forums			Community
Employee reviews	Glassdoor, Blind			HR / Employer Brand
YouTube / creator reviews	Influencers, tutorials			Social / Partnerships
Media commentary	Industry press			PR

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.

Source Type	Example Pages	Citation Frequency	Ranking Position	Owner	Action Needed
Editorial rankings	“Best tools for X”			PR / SEO
Analyst reports	Gartner MQ, IDC			Analyst Relations
Comparison articles	“Brand vs Competitor”			Content / SEO
Affiliate review sites	Software review blogs			Partnerships
Your comparison pages	/brand-vs-x			Product Marketing

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.

Query Example	Source #1	Source #2	Source #3	Notes
What is [brand]?
Is [brand] good?
Best tools for [category]?
[Brand] vs competitor

Find Narrative Gaps

Narrative Gaps

Identify where the narrative diverges from your brand positioning.

Source	Issue	Impact	Fix
[Placeholder]
[Placeholder]

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.

Priority	Source	Action	Owner	Timeline
High
Medium

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Optional: Score Your Brand’s AI Source Coverage

Scoring Section

Evaluate how well your brand manages its AI citation ecosystem.

Category	Score (0–2)
Definitional control
Sentiment visibility
Editorial presence
Comparison coverage
Narrative accuracy

Total Score: /10

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