AI reputation research for communications and brand leaders
Find out what's keeping you out of the answer.
AI is already comparing organizations and narrowing the options. When your organization isn't represented clearly, competitors can gain consideration before a buyer reaches your website.
The Recognition Benchmark shows how leading AI systems represent your organization and what public evidence is shaping that picture. It then identifies where communications resources should go next.
Ways to work together
Choose the depth that matches the decision in front of you.
Start with one focused question or establish a wider organizational baseline. Every option includes documented research and founder-led interpretation.
Comprehensive Recognition Benchmark
Starting at $10KTypically 4 to 6 weeks
Understand how AI sees your brand across up to three reputation priorities. Then determine how those priorities fit together and where communications resources should go.
Choose this when: Leadership needs a wider organizational baseline before approving a communications strategy or significant reputation investment.
What you leave with: A documented organizational baseline covering up to three reputation priorities. You’ll also receive recommended communications priorities supported by competitive and source evidence.
How progress is measured: A future review can repeat the same questions to assess whether representation has become more consistent and the public evidence has strengthened.
What's included
- Research across five leading AI systems
- Analysis across all seven Recognition Framework dimensions
- Up to three priority reputation themes
- Competitive context with up to three organizations
- A high-level view of selected leaders
- A detailed digital report with recommended communications priorities
- A founder-led strategy review
- An AI Reputation Playbook session for your team
Focused Recognition Benchmark
Starting at $6KTypically 3 to 4 weeks
Understand how AI sees your brand in relation to one defined business objective. Then determine what needs to change and where communications resources should go.
Choose this when: One business objective is driving the decision and your team needs a defensible answer before it acts.
What you leave with: An evidence-backed answer to one business question and a focused recommendation for where communications resources should go next.
How progress is measured: A future review returns to the same business question to assess whether the intended position has stronger support.
What's included
- Research across five leading AI systems
- Analysis across all seven Recognition Framework dimensions
- A custom question set focused on one business objective
- Repeated and documented observations
- Focused competitor and source analysis
- A digital report with recommended communications priorities
- A founder-led strategy review
Recognition Snapshot
Starting at $1,500
Get an initial view of how AI sees your brand in relation to one focused question. Then decide whether the issue deserves deeper investigation.
Choose this when: Your team has noticed a specific issue but doesn’t yet know whether it justifies a larger research engagement.
What you leave with: A directional findings summary that clarifies what the available evidence suggests and what the team should investigate next.
What this can indicate: The Snapshot can show whether deeper investigation is warranted. It does not establish the repeated baseline needed to measure progress.
What's included
- Research across selected AI systems appropriate to the question
- Analysis across the Recognition Framework dimensions relevant to the question
- A limited research scope built around one focused question
- Selected source observations
- A concise findings summary with recommended next steps
- A founder-led findings review
A Snapshot provides directional evidence. It isn’t a substitute for the repeated, wider research included in a Recognition Benchmark.
Executive Benchmark
Starting at $5K
Understand how AI sees a leader. Then determine whether that reputation supports the role they hold or the opportunities they want to pursue.
Choose this when: An executive wants to strengthen their reputation for their current role or future opportunities. It can also support an organization building the visibility of a key leader.
What you leave with: A documented view of the leader’s AI reputation and the public evidence shaping it. The report identifies communications priorities for building a stronger position.
How progress is measured: A future review can return to the same questions to assess whether the leader’s intended position has gained stronger evidence and more consistent support.
What's included
- Research across five leading AI systems
- Analysis across all seven Recognition Framework dimensions
- Research focused on one executive
- Analysis of the expertise and position associated with the leader
- Relevant peer and source context
- A digital report with recommended communications priorities
- A founder-led strategy review
Agency Evidence Brief
Starting at $3K
Use independent evidence to build a strategic direction or pressure-test an existing one before presenting it to a prospect or client.
Choose this when: Your agency is developing a direction or wants to pressure-test an existing idea before presenting it to a prospect or client.
What you leave with: A presentation-ready brief showing which direction the evidence supports and what needs further development.
How the evidence informs the direction: The brief examines the available evidence and its gaps. It also identifies counterevidence that should shape the recommendation.
What's included
- Research across selected AI systems appropriate to the opportunity
- Analysis across the Recognition Framework dimensions relevant to the pitch
- A targeted investigation of the prospect or client
- Selected competitor and source observations
- Communications implications for the proposed work
- A presentation-ready brief
- A founder-led strategy call
The research is designed to inform the direction, not confirm a predetermined conclusion.
From finding to resource decision
See how the evidence changes what you do next.
This simplified example shows how the Benchmark moves from an AI response to a specific communications decision.
Become a more considered hotel brand for family vacations.
When travelers ask AI which hotels are best for families, when is the organization recommended and when is it left out?
The hotel is consistently recognized as family-friendly, but its position weakens when travelers ask about hotels that can be part of the vacation experience itself.
For general family-travel questions, the hotel appears consistently alongside its competitors.
When travelers ask about longer family vacations, competitors are recommended more often. AI repeatedly connects those brands with experiences and amenities that give families more to do during the trip.
The hotel offers many of the same features, but most of the public evidence about them comes from its own website. Independent sources more often describe the brand around convenience and value.
The hotel does not have a family-awareness problem.
AI already recognizes it as a practical place for families to stay. What it does not consistently recognize is a reason families should choose the hotel for the vacation itself.
That changes the communications problem. More general family-travel visibility is unlikely to change the position. The opportunity is to build stronger independent evidence around the experience families can have once they arrive.
Stop spending resources proving the hotel is family-friendly. AI already recognizes that.
Shift communications resources toward establishing a more valuable association: this is a hotel families choose because of the experience.
Sample recommended action plan
A Recognition Benchmark turns the evidence into a prioritized communications plan. The number and type of recommendations depend on what the research finds. This simplified example shows the range of decisions one finding could inform.
Priority 1Put the full family experience in independent hands
Stop pitching broad “family-friendly hotel” stories.
Invite a small group of family-travel writers to experience a multi-day stay built around the programming you want the hotel to be known for. Give them the access and evidence to independently evaluate whether the hotel can anchor a family trip.
Partner with credible family-travel creators on YouTube. Ask them to investigate whether the hotel can keep children of different ages engaged for four days. Give them editorial freedom to document the complete experience instead of producing a scripted property tour.
Priority 2Build destination partnerships that make the hotel part of the trip
Partner with trusted travel sites to create custom family itineraries for selected locations. Build each itinerary around the decisions families need to make and show how the hotel can become part of the vacation itself.
Work with nearby attractions that strengthen the experience the hotel wants to own. The goal isn't simply to sell a package. It is to create third-party evidence connecting the hotel to a complete family vacation.
Priority 3Help guests describe the experience that is currently missing
Update post-stay questions so guests have an opportunity to discuss what their family did during the stay and how the property affected the trip. Invite guests to explain whether they would choose the hotel for another family vacation.
Don't script positive reviews or ask guests to repeat brand language. Create better opportunities for them to describe their real experiences in their own words.
Priority 4Correct the picture on third-party travel platforms
Audit how selected properties appear on major travel sites and booking platforms. Look beyond ratings to the descriptions and imagery shaping how each property is understood. Confirm that the listed amenities support the same picture.
Where the platforms allow updates, make the family experience easier to find. Accurate third-party profiles should show more than practical value. They should make the family experience clear.
Priority 5Join the family-travel conversations already happening
Put an identified hotel representative into relevant online conversations about longer trips with children. Respond where the hotel can contribute useful expertise.
Participate as a useful expert, not as an anonymous guest or promotional account. Don't force the hotel into conversations where it has nothing useful to contribute.
Priority 6Build owned resources that independent sources can use
Replace generic family-travel content with resources built around the questions families are actually asking.
Show what a four-day stay looks like. Explain how much of the vacation can happen at the property. Make the material useful enough for travelers and independent sources to reference.
Priority 7Give the family experience a credible public voice
Don't default to the CEO or general manager.
Identify the person responsible for designing the family experience. Build their visibility around what hotels need to do to make family vacations easier, rather than simply accommodate children.
Support that visibility with original research about the decisions families make when planning longer trips.
Priority 8Use an outside advisory group to test the claim
Invite a small group of parents and specialists in family travel or accessibility to evaluate selected properties and itineraries.
Use their feedback to improve the actual experience before promoting it. Their participation can become credible evidence that the experience has been tested beyond the brand team.
Priority 9Pursue recognition that strengthens the specific association
Identify the travel awards and editorial recommendation pages that repeatedly surface in AI answers about family vacations.
Prioritize recognition tied specifically to family travel and the vacation experience. Deprioritize broad hospitality awards that add prestige without strengthening this association.
Research your team can use
The final report is built to support a decision.
Your Benchmark brings the conclusions and supporting evidence into one practical digital report. A live strategy review helps your team challenge the interpretation and decide what happens next.
01Executive conclusions
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02Recognition Profile
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03Evidence and competitive context
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04Communications priorities
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05Founder-led strategy review
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Human-led interpretation
Every Recognition Benchmark is led by Holly Hansen.
Holly brings fifteen years of communications experience to every Benchmark. She worked at The Martin Agency before leading communications for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Virginia Commonwealth University.
She frames the research question and interprets the evidence herself. The recommendation reflects your business context rather than an automated output.
From visibility to reputation
Visibility tracking and reputation research answer different questions.
GEO tools measure where your organization appears across the prompts they track.
The Recognition Benchmark determines whether public evidence supports the reputation your organization needs to build. It shows where that reputation is helping you compete and where weak or fragmented evidence is leaving room for competitors.
Then it identifies what communications should do next.
Built for in-house teams and agency partners
Already have a team or agency? Bring them into the work.
The Recognition Benchmark isn't designed to replace the people executing your communications strategy. It gives your internal team and agency partners an independent research foundation for deciding what the work should accomplish.
Recognition Lab doesn't sell execution as the automatic next step. Your team can carry out the recommendation internally or work with an existing agency. The research determines the direction without creating a financial incentive to recommend more work.
What teams usually want to know
Questions worth answering clearly.
01Why do you study five AI systems?
02Will our team help shape the questions?
03Can you guarantee that AI answers will change?
04When should we repeat the Benchmark?
Make the next investment count
Find out whether your communications investment is strengthening the position you need.
Establish a credible baseline now. Give your team a clear basis for deciding what deserves resources next.
