Tool selection guide · revised September 7, 2026
Compare the evidence a tool can actually provide.
A page scan, an AI-answer experiment and a conversion report answer different questions. Choose the evidence you need; there is no requirement to finish one before starting another.
Page diagnostics
What does this public URL expose?
Ask to see: Dated HTTP and HTML observations, requested path, parser version, source snippets and unknown states.
Limit: Reading robots.txt does not prove real crawler access or indexing. RankFortune currently provides this limited diagnostic scope.
AI-answer observation
Was this brand mentioned or this URL cited?
Ask to see: Target product and surface, prompt, language, locale, date, sample repetitions, complete response and visible citation URL.
Limit: Do not infer results from a readiness score, training permissions or a provider API that differs from the consumer product. This is not measured by RankFortune's free scan.
First-party outcomes
Did visibility produce attributable visits or conversions?
Ask to see: Analytics source, attribution window, event definition, denominator and missing-data disclosure.
Limit: Referrals, citations and conversions are different measures. RankFortune's free scan does not connect analytics or establish causation.
A practical evaluation checklist
- Use the same URL, page goal and date range for a comparison. Keep excluded private pages and training opt-outs intentional.
- Ask for a sample with failed requests and missing data. Unknown must not become zero visibility, a penalty or an all-clear.
- For citation metrics, request attempted queries N, answer-producing queries A and cited answers C. Report A/N, C/A and C/N separately; zero denominators are N/A.
- Require the rule version and scope on exports. A higher number after a rule change is not measured improvement.
- Verify current commercial scope and fulfillment before purchasing. A checkout option is not proof that monitoring has been delivered.
Where RankFortune fits today
The free scan reads one public URL, robots.txt and one sitemap candidate. It reports four separate tracks, with actual AI visibility and business outcomes marked not measured. It does not manufacture FAQ, pricing or comparison-page requirements, or issue a combined GEO score.
Read the versioned method · See a clearly fictional sample · Run the scan
Editorial disclosure
RankFortune publishes this guide and sells its own reports. This revision replaces unsourced named-product comparisons with an evidence checklist. No current hands-on competitor benchmark, independent reviewer endorsement or price comparison is claimed.
Official reference: Google guidance on AI features and your website; OpenAI crawler purposes. These describe provider behavior, not an endorsement of RankFortune.