Choose your first business area to measure in AI search

Before you enter a single prompt, you need to decide what you want to measure. Most businesses sell several things, and it is tempting to cover everything from day one. The result is an average that hides what matters most. One well-chosen area gives you a sharp picture you can actually act on.

The short version: Start with the product or service that matters most for revenue, where customers are likely to ask AI before they buy. Build 15 to 25 prompts around that area, spread across the whole buyer journey. Expand once you have seen the first results.

How Manager organizes the measurement

In Manager you build the measurement in Prompt Matrix. The matrix has two axes:

• Product or service groups, that is your business areas, for example "accounting for small limited companies", "payroll" and "advisory".
• Stages in the buyer journey, from early research (TOFU) through comparison (MOFU) to the purchase decision (BOFU).

Each cell in the matrix gets its own prompts. That means you can later see visibility per business area and per stage, instead of one combined number. We recommend fewer than ten groups in total, and only one or two during the free trial.

Four questions that help you choose

1. Where do you make the most money?

Start with the area that brings in the highest revenue or the best margin. An improvement there shows up on the bottom line, and the work is easier to defend internally when it is tied to something management already cares about.

2. Do customers ask AI before they buy?

AI search is used most where the purchase takes some thought: high-priced services, products with many alternatives, choosing a provider and questions where the customer needs advice. Impulse buys and purchases of well-known brands are less suited as a starting point.

3. Is there competition for the spot?

Areas where several providers compete for the same customers give the most insight. There you quickly see who AI recommends instead of you, and which sources decide it.

4. Do you have content you can improve?

The measurement is most valuable when you can act on it. Choose an area where you have pages, articles or product pages that can be improved, or where you are ready to create new content.

Examples of good first choices

• Accounting firm: accounting for small limited companies, rather than all services combined.
• Online store: the product category with the highest order value, rather than the whole range.
• SaaS company: the core product for one clear audience, rather than every use case.
• Tradesperson or local service: the service you most want more jobs for, in the area you cover.

How many prompts do you need?

For one business area, 15 to 25 prompts is a good starting point. Spread them across the buyer journey:

• TOFU: questions about the customer's problem, for example "what does a new limited company need to do about its accounting in the first year".
• MOFU: questions where the customer compares solutions, for example "advice on using an accounting firm or doing it yourself".
• BOFU: questions where the customer is ready to choose, for example "which accounting firm is right for a small business in Manchester".

The BOFU prompts are often the most valuable, because that is where the AI model names providers. We explain how to write the prompts in How to write prompts that actually measure something.

How to enter the area in Manager

• In the setup wizard you find the Prompt Matrix step. Enter the business area as a product or service group.
• In the Search Prompts step, Manager generates suggested prompts based on the groups and your business profile. Go through the suggestions and remove the ones that don't sound like real customer questions.
• If you have already finished the wizard, you find the matrix under AI + Agents and Prompt Matrix.

When should you expand?

Once you have seen at least two or three measurements of the first area and know how to read the numbers, it is time for the next one. Add one area at a time. That way you clearly see whether a new area differs from the first, and you avoid mixing the numbers together.

Next guide

How to write prompts that actually measure something