Traditional SEO metrics don't tell the full AEO story. Here's what I'm actually tracking.
What I'm Tracking
1. AI Citation Attempts
Manually asking AI tools about my topics and recording if/where they cite me.
2. Crawl Statistics
Google Search Console > Crawl > Crawl Stats. Watching for changes after AEO changes.
3. Index Coverage
Search Console > Indexing. Making sure pages get indexed properly.
4. Impressions by Feature
Looking for "AI Overview" appearances in Search Console performance data.
What I Ignored
- Keyword rankings — less relevant for AI search
- Domain authority — too vague
- Social shares — not relevant to AEO
Tools I'm Using
- AEO Score Checker — free
- Google Search Console — free, essential
- Google Analytics 4 — free
- Spreadsheet — tracking manually
For more on tracking, see Content Length Study and Internal Linking Results.
Updated: Feb 1, 2026