Answer states
What recommended, mentioned, absent, open and no answer mean in GetIntel, how each answer is classified, and what to do about each state.
Every answer from every engine gets one answer state for your brand: recommended, mentioned, absent, open or no answer. States are the raw material for every other score in GetIntel.
The five states
Section titled “The five states”| State | What happened in the answer | How it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended | You are named, and named first among all the products in the answer. | Named |
| Mentioned | You are named, but another product comes before you. | Named |
| Absent | Other products are named, but not you. | Not named |
| Open | The answer names no product at all. | Not named |
| No answer | The engine returned nothing to read: a failed call, or Google showed no AI Overview. | Left out of scores |
How an answer is classified
Section titled “How an answer is classified”GetIntel finds every product the answer names and the order they first appear in. If your brand appears first, the state is recommended; if it appears later, mentioned. If products appear but you don’t, absent. If no product appears, open.
Worked example. A buyer asks “What’s the best tool to track AI visibility?”
- “Tools like Acme, YourBrand and Beta can help…” → Mentioned, position 2.
- “YourBrand is a strong choice, as is Acme…” → Recommended, position 1.
- “Acme and Beta are popular options…” → Absent.
- “Start by listing the questions your buyers ask…” → Open.
States versus the neighbouring metrics
Section titled “States versus the neighbouring metrics”- Position is the number behind recommended and mentioned: 1 for recommended, 2 or more for mentioned.
- Visibility is the share of answers where you are recommended or mentioned.
- No answer is not absent. Absent means the engine answered and left you out; no answer means there was nothing to read.
Where to find it
Section titled “Where to find it”- Prompts: the Where you stand bar splits all answers into the four states, and each prompt shows every engine’s state. Filter by state, including No answer.
- A topic’s Prompts tab: each engine’s latest state per question.
- MCP:
get_ai_answersandget_prompt_matrix.
What moves it
Section titled “What moves it”- Absent → mentioned: get onto the pages AI cites for that question. See Sources and your Off-Page tasks.
- Mentioned → recommended: make the comparison obvious. Pages that state your advantages plainly against named rivals help AI lead with you.
- Open answers are opportunities: nobody holds the slot yet. A clear, citable page that answers the question directly is often enough.