How to Track AI Citations Without Building Custom Tooling
Most local businesses don't have an engineering team. They also don't need one to track whether AI is mentioning them.
What to Track
- Does AI mention your business name when asked relevant local queries?
- Does AI include your service area?
- Does AI cite your website or GBP?
- Do citations improve after schema or GBP changes?
The Lightweight Approach
- Run a free scan with SottoVox to get a baseline score.
- Make one change at a time: schema, GBP, city pages, or reviews.
- Re-scan after 48-72 hours.
- Look for score movement, not perfection.
What Not to Build
You don't need a custom scraper, alert system, or dashboard unless you're scaling across dozens of locations. For most local businesses, periodic rescans are enough to tell you whether the strategy is working.
TL;DR
Track AI citations by scanning before and after changes. If the score moves, you know what worked. If it doesn't, try the next fix on your list.