> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.surgerank.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Prompt Monitoring: Track How AI Answers Buyer Questions

> Prompt monitoring checks the questions your buyers ask AI assistants and logs every answer change — so you always know what AI says about your category.

Prompt monitoring is the practice of systematically and repeatedly querying AI engines with the specific questions your buyers ask — then recording every response, detecting every change, and alerting you when something shifts. Instead of guessing what AI engines say about your category, you have a continuous, timestamped record. Every time an engine updates its answer, drops your brand, or starts recommending a competitor, SurgeRank captures it.

## What Is a Tracked Prompt

A tracked prompt is a specific question string that real buyers type into AI assistants when they're researching your category. A good tracked prompt reads the way a person would actually phrase it — not a keyword fragment, but a natural question.

**Examples:**

* `best CRM for small businesses`
* `which AI SEO tool should I use`
* `how do I improve my Google AI search ranking`
* `SurgeRank vs Profound — which is better`

SurgeRank seeds your initial prompt list automatically by crawling your domain and inferring the category and buyer questions your content already targets. You can review, edit, and expand that list at any time from the Prompts tab.

<Tip>
  Focus your first batch of prompts on consideration and decision-stage questions — those have the most direct impact on pipeline. You can add awareness prompts once your core competitive set is covered.
</Tip>

## How Monitoring Works

Once a prompt is added to your account, SurgeRank runs it on a recurring schedule against every supported AI engine. Each run is independent — the same prompt is submitted to ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Claude, and Copilot separately, and each response is stored in full.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Prompt is submitted">
    SurgeRank sends your tracked prompt to each supported AI engine on its scheduled cadence. Prompts can also be refreshed on demand.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Response is stored">
    The full text of each AI answer is saved with a timestamp, the engine name, and the detected brand mentions. Nothing is summarized or truncated at ingestion.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Change detection runs">
    SurgeRank compares each new response to the previous stored response for that prompt and engine. If anything changes — brands added, brands removed, answer restructured — an event is logged.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Dashboard and alerts update">
    New events surface in your dashboard immediately. If you have alert rules configured, notifications are sent to your chosen channel.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Answer Change Alerts

The most actionable output of prompt monitoring is the answer change alert. When an AI engine modifies what it says in response to one of your tracked prompts — even subtly — SurgeRank logs the event and surfaces it in the Changes feed.

Common change events include:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Citation lost" icon="circle-minus">
    An engine that previously mentioned your brand in its answer no longer does. This is the highest-priority alert type.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Competitor added" icon="user-plus">
    A competitor brand appears in the answer for the first time or moves to a more prominent position.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Citation gained" icon="circle-plus">
    Your brand appears in an answer where it wasn't mentioned before — a positive signal, often following content or technical improvements.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Answer restructured" icon="arrows-rotate">
    The full answer changed significantly, even if your brand's mention status didn't. Useful for understanding how a topic's framing is evolving.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Adding and Managing Prompts

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to the Prompts tab">
    In your SurgeRank dashboard, navigate to **Prompts** in the left sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Add Prompt">
    Enter the question string exactly as a buyer would phrase it. Avoid keyword fragments — use full natural-language questions.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tag by funnel stage (optional)">
    Assign the prompt to an awareness, consideration, or decision stage. Tags let you filter your SOV and visibility data by funnel position.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save and monitor">
    SurgeRank begins monitoring the prompt on the next scheduled run. You can also trigger an immediate first-run from the prompt detail view.
  </Step>
</Steps>

**How many prompts to start:** Aim for 10–50 prompts in your first batch. This gives you enough signal to identify patterns without overwhelming your review workflow. Add more prompts as you learn which questions drive the most pipeline.

## Prompt Categories

Organizing your prompts by funnel stage helps you read your data in context and prioritize improvements where they matter most.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Awareness Prompts" icon="eye">
    Questions buyers ask when learning about a problem or category. Example: *"What is generative engine optimization?"* or *"How do AI search engines decide what to recommend?"*
  </Card>

  <Card title="Consideration Prompts" icon="scale-balanced">
    Questions buyers ask when evaluating solutions. Example: *"Best AI SEO platforms"* or *"Tools for tracking AI search visibility."* High value for pipeline.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Decision Prompts" icon="flag-checkered">
    Questions buyers ask when choosing between specific vendors. Example: *"SurgeRank vs Profound"* or *"Is SurgeRank worth it for B2B SaaS?"* Highest direct pipeline impact.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Custom Categories" icon="tag">
    You can create your own tags beyond the three default stages — for example, by product line, geography, or buyer persona.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>