# How we read an answer

> How we find your brand and your competitors in an answer, and how we determine position, sources, tone and new brands.

Each answer is kept in full (you see it on the **Responses** page) and then analyzed. The analysis produces the mentions,
position, sources, sentiment and new competitors.

## Your brand

We search the answer text for the **brand name**, its **variants** and the **domain** (see
[Brands](https://survelium.com/docs/configuration/brands.md)). Matching ignores case. The brand counts **once per
answer**, however often it appears.

If the assistant writes your name differently from your settings (shortened, without "Inc.", with a different spelling), add that
form to **Variations**. Otherwise the answer doesn't count as a mention.

## Competitors

An AI model reads each answer and notes **every business it names**, with or without a website. It is told who you
and your direct competitors are, with their aliases and sites, so "Axiotime" and "Axiotime Traduceri" are recognized
as the same business. Addresses, buildings, malls and platforms (Google Maps, Facebook) are not businesses and are not
noted. A name the model gives that does not appear in the answer is dropped.

Your direct competitors are also searched for directly, by name and aliases, as a **whole word**: "Equip" does not
match in "equipment". Matching ignores case and diacritics. See [Competitors](https://survelium.com/docs/configuration/competitors.md).

## Position

Position is the **order of first appearance** among all the businesses the answer names. The first one named is in
position 1. Businesses you marked **Ignored** take no place. See [Average position](https://survelium.com/docs/metrics/average-position.md).

On ChatGPT, when the answer contains a list of local businesses (with a map), your position is your place in that list.

## Sources

An answer's sources are the links the assistant cites, plus the addresses written directly in the text. For each one
we keep the page, the domain, the order (1 = cited first) and whether it's your domain. Each cited page also gets a type
(news, opinion, list, guide, review, comparison, directory…). See [Used as source](https://survelium.com/docs/metrics/used-as-source.md) and
[Your domain share of citations](https://survelium.com/docs/metrics/citation-share.md).

## New brands

A business named for the first time is added to the **Competitors** list as **No relation** (the Suggestions tab). It
counts in share of voice and positions, among "others"; mark it **Ignored** if it is not a competitor, or **direct** to
track it. Exception: on ChatGPT, a business that appears in the same local list as you is automatically marked
**direct**. Automatic rules never change a brand you marked yourself.

A business is kept with a website only when that site is its own:

- the site is among the answer's sources;
- none of its cited pages is a directory, a list, a review, a comparison or an article;
- it is not a platform (Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and the like);
- the answer does not give the same site to two different businesses — that is the page it read them both off.

Otherwise the business is kept without one. You can add or correct a site on the **Competitors** page.

## Sentiment and stance

For each brand named we determine:

- **tone** (positive, neutral, mixed, negative) — for your brand, from the passage where it appears;
- **stance** — the role the answer gives it: Recommended, Conditional, Listed, Cautioned, Comparison,
  Context.

An AI model that reads the answer does this. Details and formulas in [Sentiment and stance](https://survelium.com/docs/metrics/sentiment.md).

## What the answer says about each brand

For your brand and each competitor named, we also note what the answer says about it — "fast delivery", "expensive",
"certified" — sorted into fixed categories, each as a strength, a weakness or a plain mention, with the quote. Details
in [Brand perception](https://survelium.com/docs/metrics/perception.md).

## AI searches

Some assistants tell us what they searched for on the web before answering. We keep these with the answer, and you see them in
[AI searches](https://survelium.com/docs/metrics/ai-searches.md).

## When the analysis gets it wrong

Automatic analysis can miss an unusually written mention or score a tone wrong. The full answer is always on
the **Responses** page, so you can check any number.