Running prospect audits
A prospect audit can structure a conversation about sampled AI visibility and useful work to investigate. Explain its date, scope, coverage, and limits. It does not assure a sale or establish that a suggested action will close a gap.
Setting up a prospect audit
You don't need the prospect to be an Outrigger client to run an audit. Here's how:
Step 1: gather basic information
Before the audit, you need:
- Brand name and website URL
- 5-10 core keywords (what do their customers search for?)
- 2-3 competitor names (who do they compete with most?)
You can often get this from a brief intro call, their website, or their existing SEO data if they share it.
Step 2: create a temporary client profile
In Outrigger, create the prospect as a client with a minimal brand brief. You don't need the full brief for the audit: the website URL and keywords are enough for the scanning engines to work with.
Step 3: run the audit
In an authorized workspace, choose an appropriate audit scope and check its status and coverage. The current full audit has five eligible areas and excludes Press. Public free scans have narrower coverage, and completion times vary.
Step 4: export the report
Generate a PDF report to share with the prospect. The report includes the composite score, pillar breakdown, executive summary, and action plan.
Walking through results with a prospect
The following dialogue is a hypothetical training example, not a measured customer or competitor result. Replace every illustrative figure with verified, comparable evidence before using it with a prospect. Structure the walkthrough as follows:
Open with the score
"We ran an AI Visibility Audit on your brand. You scored 22 out of 100." Pause. Let it sink in.
Show the competitor comparison
"Your top competitor scored 58. When someone asks ChatGPT for a recommendation in your space, they get mentioned. You don't." This creates urgency.
Walk through each pillar
Spend 2-3 minutes on each pillar, focusing on the ones with the biggest gaps:
- "Your citation score is 12: there are 142 threads ranking in Google for your keywords, and your competitors are mentioned in 47 of them. You're in 3."
- "Your AI presence score is 8: we tested 40 prompts across four AI models, and you were mentioned in just 2 responses."
Present the action plan
"Here's exactly what we'd do in the first 90 days, ranked by impact." Walk through the top 5 actions. Be specific: "Seed 20 high-authority Reddit threads" is better than "Improve citation presence."
Close with the metric
"We review sampled Share of Model and comparable audit findings at agreed checkpoints. The current audit excludes Press; goals and work plans are separate from outcome promises."
The "before" snapshot strategy
The audit serves double duty: it's a sales tool and a baseline. When the prospect becomes a client, you already have the "before" numbers. At the end of a 90-day review cycle, the before-and-after comparison shows which pillars moved.
Save every prospect audit, even for prospects who don't convert immediately. If they return two quarters later, you can show them: "Here's where you were, and here's what's changed (or hasn't) since then."
Converting audit recipients
Not every prospect converts immediately. Follow up based on their response:
Hot (ready to start)
They're shocked by the gap and want to act. Propose a 90-day engagement starting with the audit's top-priority actions.
Warm (interested but cautious)
They see the gap but need internal buy-in. Send them the PDF report to share internally, and schedule a two-week follow-up check-in.
Cold (not yet ready)
Ask whether a later follow-up would be useful. Do not predict that the gap will widen or assume what competitors will do.
Volume strategy
For agencies building a GEO practice:
- Run 5-10 prospect audits per week
- Measure your actual conversion rate without promising a fixed outcome
- Budget enough time to verify the setup, coverage, and findings
- The PDF report does the heavy lifting between your call and their decision
In Outrigger
Run prospect audits from the Audits module. Create a minimal client profile, trigger the scan, and export the PDF report.