# Getting started with AEOmeter

> Set up AEOmeter step by step: add your brand and competitors, review starter prompts, connect the Chrome extension, run your first checks and schedule daily ones.

This guide takes you from a new account to your first AI answers and a daily schedule. Most of the time goes into signing in to the AI engines in Chrome.

> **What you need** Desktop Chrome, and your own accounts on the AI engines you want to check (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity). Google AI Overviews run as an ordinary Google search. Checks run in your browser, so Chrome has to be open for them to run.

## 1. Create your account

1. **Sign up** Go to [sign up](https://aeometer.com/sign-up) and use your email and a password, or Continue with Google.
2. **Verify your email** Email sign-ups get a verification link. Open it to activate the workspace. Google sign-ups are verified already and open the workspace right away.

## 2. Add your brand and competitors

AEOmeter is organized around one brand of yours plus the competitors you want to compare with.

1. **Your website** Enter your domain, for example `acme.io`. It is used to count answers that cite your site. Subdomains such as `docs.acme.io` count automatically.
2. **Brand name** The name buyers would see in an answer, for example "Acme Analytics".
3. **What it does (optional)** One line such as "product analytics for early-stage SaaS". It helps AEOmeter suggest better starter prompts.
4. **Competitors** Add each competitor's name and website. Three to five is plenty to start.

After the brand is created, open **Brand & competitors** under Setup to add **aliases**: other names that should count as a mention, such as "Acme" or a product name. Matching is case-insensitive and needs whole words. The [methodology](https://aeometer.com/methodology#alias-matching-rules) has the exact rules. Changes apply to new checks.

## 3. Review your starter prompts

When you add a brand, AEOmeter writes a set of starter prompts for you and queues a first check on ChatGPT. Open **Prompts** and make them sound like your buyers.

- Keep prompts brand-neutral. "best product analytics tool for a seed-stage startup" tells you more than "is Acme Analytics good".
- Edit, pause or tag prompts. Tags let you filter results later (for example "comparison" or "use case").
- Import a list as CSV or plain text. You see a preview first, and exact duplicates are skipped.
- Editing a prompt starts a new baseline for it. Older answers stay available.

Need ideas? The guide to [choosing prompts](https://aeometer.com/guides/choosing-prompts) covers which questions to track.

## 4. Install and connect the Chrome extension

The extension is what asks the AI engines your prompts. It is currently a beta Chrome extension, and the app walks you through installing it.

1. **Open the Overview** The **Get your first answer** card shows the extension step with an **Add to Chrome** button. Install from there.
2. **Connect** After install, the extension opens its Connect page. Click **Connect** and sign in with your AEOmeter account. The sidebar status changes to "Extension ready".
3. **Expect the debugging banner** While checks run, Chrome shows a banner saying AEOmeter started debugging this browser. That is how the extension types into the AI engines in background tabs. Clicking **Cancel** on the banner pauses the run.

## 5. Sign in to each AI engine in that Chrome profile

Checks use your own sessions. In the same Chrome profile where the extension is installed, open and sign in to:

- **ChatGPT** at chatgpt.com
- **Claude** at claude.ai
- **Perplexity** at perplexity.ai

AEOmeter never sees your passwords, cookies or account tokens. It turns on each engine's private mode where one exists (ChatGPT temporary chat, Claude and Perplexity incognito, Google without personalisation) so your checks stay out of your chat history.

## 6. Run your first checks

Your first ChatGPT check is already queued and starts as soon as the extension connects. To check more engines:

1. **Choose engines** Open **Engines & schedule** under Setup and pick ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. The page shows how many checks one run makes (prompts × engines). The same choice is used for Run now and for daily checks.
2. **Run now** Click **Run now** on the Overview. To test a single prompt, open it and use **Run all now**, or **Run** on one engine.
3. **Watch progress** The extension opens background tabs grouped as "AEOmeter". Each prompt goes to all its engines at once, and the next prompt starts when they finish. The toolbar icon shows progress, finished tabs close themselves, and you can keep using Chrome.

## 7. Read your results

| Where | What you see |
| --- | --- |
| **Overview** | Visibility (mention rate) and Cited (owned citation rate) with "X of Y answers", change vs the previous period, competitors mentioned, prompts where competitors appear and you don't, and sources citing competitors but not you. |
| **Prompts** | Each prompt's history by engine, with every past answer. |
| **Answers** | The original answer text with brand mentions highlighted, the cited sources and the collection context. |
| **Sources** | Sites and pages AI cites, grouped by domain or page, labelled owned, competitor, community or other. |

Failed checks and searches with no AI Overview are not counted as misses. The [methodology](https://aeometer.com/methodology) explains every number.

## 8. Set a daily schedule

1. **Turn on Run daily** In **Engines & schedule**, tick **Run daily** under Daily checks.
2. **Pick a time and time zone** Choose a time when your computer is usually on with Chrome open, for example 09:00 in your time zone.
3. **Leave Chrome open** The schedule queues the checks. They run when Chrome is open and connected, with each engine signed in. If Chrome was closed, they wait in the queue. The dashboard shows the next scheduled time and the last real capture separately.

Something not working? See [troubleshooting](https://aeometer.com/help/troubleshooting).

## Questions

### Does my computer need to be on for checks to run?

Yes. AEOmeter collects answers in your own Chrome, so checks run only while Chrome is open and connected. Scheduled checks wait in the queue until then.

### Which AI engines can I check?

ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.

### Can I keep using Chrome while checks run?

Yes. Checks run in background tabs in an "AEOmeter" tab group, and finished tabs close on their own. Chrome shows its debugging banner while they run.

### Does AEOmeter see my AI account passwords?

No. You sign in to each engine yourself. The extension never captures provider cookies or account tokens. It saves the latest answer and its sources, not the page.

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- Web page: https://aeometer.com/help/getting-started
- Start tracking your brand: https://aeometer.com/sign-up
- All pages for AI agents: https://aeometer.com/llms.txt