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Topics and Prompts

The two primitives that drive every AnswerixAI measurement.

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Prompt = a single tracked query

A prompt is one natural-language question your potential customer might ask an AI engine. Examples:

  • "best CRM for small business"
  • "how to automate email marketing for ecommerce"
  • "ChatGPT alternatives for enterprise"
  • "longest range luxury EV available in the US"

Each prompt runs on a schedule across the AI engines you've configured (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot, Grok, Google AI Overview, Google AI Mode). Every run produces a stored response with mention count, citations, sentiment, competitor mentions, and a visibility score for that prompt.

A topic is a label you (or the AI suggestion engine) attach to one or more prompts. Topics group prompts by intent, theme, or product area:

Topic Example prompts
Reliability most reliable luxury sedan according to Consumer Reports, which luxury cars have lowest 10-year ownership cost
EV Range longest range luxury EV available in the US, best electric SUV with 300+ mile range
Pricing cheapest luxury brand to maintain long term, best executive sedans under $100k

Topics serve three purposes:

  1. Aggregate analysis — the Topics page shows visibility per topic, so you spot which themes your brand owns and which it's losing.
  2. Content planning — content briefs are generated per topic, ensuring your editorial output covers your weakest themes first.
  3. Prompt suggestions — when AnswerixAI suggests new prompts to track, each suggestion comes with a topic label so you can see at a glance whether it expands an existing theme or opens a new one.

How prompts get into the system

Three sources:

  1. Onboarding suggestions — when you create a brand, AnswerixAI's AI generates starter prompts based on your selected topics and brand description.
  2. Prompt Suggestions in the Insights tab — periodically, AnswerixAI analyzes your tracked prompts + competitor citations + topic gaps and suggests new prompts to add. Each comes with a one-click + button.
  3. Manual entry — you can always add a prompt directly with custom text and platform/region selection.

How topics get created

Two paths:

  • Auto-created from suggestions — when a new prompt suggestion comes with a topic label that doesn't exist for your brand yet, accepting the prompt creates the topic too.
  • Manual — you can rename, merge, or create topics on the Topics page. A prompt can belong to one topic at a time.

Practical workflow

A typical AEO operator's loop on AnswerixAI:

  1. Review Insights weekly — check overall visibility delta. Drill into topics that dropped most.
  2. Inspect prompts in losing topics — find which prompts dragged the topic down — usually 1–2 prompts where a competitor surged.
  3. Generate content briefs — click "Generate Brief" on those opportunities; receive a structured brief (title, outline, keywords, competitor angles).
  4. Send to your CMS or workflow — use the webhook integration to push the brief directly into Notion, Linear, Asana, or your editorial system.
  5. Add new prompts from Suggestions — pick up 1–3 fresh prompts each week from the Suggestions card to expand your tracked surface.

Continue: Add your first brand →