Your Mention Rate tells you how often your brand shows up
in AI responses. But the number alone does not tell you
the full story. A brand can have a decent Mention Rate
and still be losing ground because every mention describes
them as a secondary option, references outdated information,
or positions them in a category they are actively trying
to move away from.

Reading your mentions properly means going beyond the
percentage and understanding the actual content of what
AI platforms are saying about you.

## What a mention is

A mention occurs when Zerply runs one of your tracked
prompts across an AI platform and the response includes
your brand by name. Zerply records that full response,
scores it, and makes it available for you to read in
its entirety.

Every mention is tied to a specific prompt, a specific
AI platform, and a specific point in time. That means
you can always trace back exactly which question
triggered the mention, which platform said it, and
what the full context was.

## Where to find your mentions

Open AI Visibility from the sidebar and go to Home.
The filter bar at the top controls everything on the
page. You can filter by Tags, by specific AI model,
and by date range. Every chart and list on the page
responds to these filters together.

Scroll past the main charts and you will reach the
Prompt Responses list. Every row in this list is a
recorded AI response for one of your tracked prompts.
Each row shows you the prompt text, the AI platform
that generated the response, and a preview of the
response text. Click any row to open the full
response reader and read exactly what the AI said
from start to finish.

This is one of the most valuable things you can do
inside Zerply. Reading the actual responses gives
you context that no chart can provide. You see
which competitors get named alongside you, what
language the AI uses to describe your brand,
whether your brand is the primary recommendation
or a footnote, and what sources the AI appears
to be drawing from.

## Understanding the Stance chart

On the main chart area, click the Stance tab. This
shows you a pie chart breaking down how AI platforms
describe your brand across all recorded responses
for the selected period.

Stance is different from your Mention Rate. Mention
Rate tells you how often you appear. Stance tells
you how you appear when you do. Every recorded
mention falls into one of these categories.

**Recommended** means the AI platform is actively
suggesting your brand as a solution to the question
being asked. This is the strongest possible outcome.

**Praised** means the response speaks positively
about your brand without necessarily making it the
primary recommendation. Still a strong signal.

**Neutral** means your brand is referenced
factually without positive or negative framing.
Common in informational responses where the AI
is listing options rather than recommending one.

**Criticized** means the response includes
negative commentary about your brand. This is
worth reading carefully because it often surfaces
specific objections or misconceptions circulating
in the content AI platforms have indexed.

**Warned** means the response actively cautions
users about your brand in some way. This is the
most serious category and worth investigating
immediately if it appears.

**Stance not found** means Zerply could not
determine a clear stance from the response.
This typically happens when your brand appears
very briefly or in passing without enough
context to score.

A healthy Stance distribution has Recommended
and Praised making up the majority of your
mentions. If Neutral dominates, your brand is
present in conversations but not compelling
enough to be the recommended answer. If
Criticized or Warned appear regularly, those
specific responses are worth reading in full
to understand what is being said.

## Checking your Sources

Open AI Visibility and click Sources in the
sidebar. This view shows you the specific
domains and URLs that AI platforms are citing
when they answer your tracked prompts.

This matters because AI platforms do not form
opinions about brands from nothing. They draw
from the content they have indexed. The Sources
view shows you exactly which pieces of content
are shaping what AI platforms say about your
category right now.

If a competitor is consistently being mentioned
more favorably than you, the Sources view will
often show you why. They are likely appearing
more frequently in the high-authority sources
that AI platforms trust. That is a concrete,
actionable insight rather than just a number
to worry about.

## What comes next

Once you understand how your brand is being
mentioned and what stance surrounds those
mentions, the next step is understanding your
position relative to competitors. Share of
Voice gives you that competitive picture
directly.

[Track your Share of Voice](/docs/know-where-you-stand/tracking-share-of-voice)