How do you measure progress during reputation recovery?
Progress during reputation recovery is measured across six tracks: search rank trends for priority terms (tracked daily through IMPACT), AI sentiment and source shifts across the eight engines AIQ currently tracks (monitored daily through AIQ), source-quality metrics on added versus displaced content, Wikipedia article stability, share of voice against named peers, and qualitative stakeholder feedback. The combination makes recovery measurable rather than aspirational.
Recovery measurement is structured and uses real data rather than intuition. Six distinct tracks run in parallel; together they show whether the program is producing durable change or merely surface movement.
The six measurement tracks
- Search rank trends
- Priority terms, executive names, company name, key topics, tracked daily through IMPACT™. Daily cadence means any backsliding is visible within hours, not at the next monthly review.
- AI sentiment and source shifts
- The narrative across the eight AI engines AIQ currently tracks: ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, AI Overview, Perplexity, Grok, Claude, and Google AI Mode, monitored through AIQ. This shows whether the AI narrative is moving and which sources the engines are increasing or decreasing weight on over time.
- Source-quality metrics
- The authority signals of content being added to the engines’ source pool, measured relative to the content being displaced. Higher-authority sources replacing lower-authority ones is a leading indicator of durable narrative change.
- Wikipedia article stability
- Whether the article is holding the recovered framing or being edited toward contested content. Monitored via WikiAlerts™, which tracks edits in real time and flags changes that reintroduce disputed material.
- Share of voice against named peers
- Relative position in the category compared to defined competitors. Often more decision-useful than absolute metrics, because it shows whether the recovery is outpacing the competitive baseline or merely keeping pace.
- Stakeholder feedback
- Qualitative input from investors, customers, recruits, and journalists who interact with the brand. Rounds out the quantitative picture and surfaces perceptual gaps that the data tracks may not capture.
How the tracks are reviewed
Search and AI tracks run daily; source-quality, Wikipedia, and share-of-voice are reviewed monthly; stakeholder feedback is gathered on a cadence set with the client. Monthly reporting synthesizes all six tracks into a trajectory view so the client sees the progression rather than guessing at it.
Last reviewed: 19/05/2026
