# How we collect data

> How a question reaches the AI assistants, how many times, in what language and from what country, and what happens when an assistant doesn't answer.

Survelium asks your **prompts** to AI assistants, the same way a person would, and keeps every answer in
full. All the numbers in the app are calculated from these answers.

## A check

A **check** is one pass through all of a brand's **active** prompts:

```
answers per check = active prompts × AI models × runs per prompt
```

- **The AI models** are the same for all brands. See [AI models](https://survelium.com/docs/data/models.md).
- **Runs per prompt** depend on your plan (on the Billing page: "Sampling depth"). With 3 runs, the same prompt
  is asked 3 times to the same model, and each run is a separate answer. Assistants never answer the same way twice, so
  more runs give a more stable number.

Example: 10 active prompts, 7 models, 1 run per prompt = 70 answers per check.

## How often

- **The first check** starts as soon as you create the brand.
- After that, checks run **automatically, once a day**, according to your plan's frequency (on the Billing page:
  "Check frequency").
- **A new** or reactivated **prompt** joins the next check; it doesn't run right away.
- **An inactive brand** (the "Active" switch in the brand settings) and **a paused prompt** are no longer checked.
  Their history stays.

The check history, with the status of each check, is in the brand settings, on the **Check run history** tab.

## Language and country

You choose them for each brand (see [Brands](https://survelium.com/docs/configuration/brands.md)):

- **Language**: each prompt is asked with the requirement that the assistant answer in the brand's language. Write your prompts in the same
  language.
- **Country**: we send it as the location to the assistants that accept one — ChatGPT, Copilot, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overview.
  The others answer without a specific location, so their answers may be less local.

## When an assistant doesn't answer

- A failed run is **retried automatically** a few times. If it still doesn't succeed, it stays **failed** and **doesn't count
  in any number** — it isn't counted as zero.
- An **empty answer** counts as a failure, with one exception: Google AI Overview. There, "Google showed no AI
  Overview" is a real observation (you don't appear in that search), so it counts.
- A check is **failed** only if all of its runs failed. If some succeeded, it is **completed** and the numbers
  are calculated from what was received.
- If an assistant is unavailable for a day, that day's numbers come only from the others. To see a single assistant,
  use the model filter.

## When it doesn't run

A check is **skipped**, with the reason shown in Check run history, when:

- the trial is used up ("Trial quota reached");
- the subscription is no longer active ("Subscription inactive");
- the workspace has gone over its plan limit ("Over quota").

See [Billing and plans](https://survelium.com/docs/account/billing.md).

## Read next

- [AI models](https://survelium.com/docs/data/models.md) — which assistants we ask and what data each one gives.
- [How we read an answer](https://survelium.com/docs/data/answer-analysis.md) — mentions, position, sources, competitors, sentiment.