After a significant update to the Perficient website, we found ourselves in a familiar position. We had invested heavily in refining how we show up, bringing our perspective on AI-first marketing to life and better showcasing the tools and capabilities we’ve been building to help marketing teams perform at a higher level.
As part of that evolution, we faced a choice: build our own way to measure how we show up in AI-driven search, or learn from the platforms already emerging in this space. We chose the latter, and that’s what led us to Scrunch.
Naturally, the next step was validation. Were we showing up for the conversations that matter?
So we did something simple. We opened up an AI assistant and asked a question our clients ask every day: who are the best digital experience consultancies?
We expected to see ourselves somewhere in the mix.
We weren’t there at all.
That moment stuck with us. Not because of ego, but because it revealed something deeper. Even after improving our site and strengthening our content, there was a growing surface where we simply didn’t exist.
That surface was AI-driven search.
A Different Kind of Search
At first, it’s easy to treat this as just another extension of SEO. But the more we explored it, the clearer it became that this is fundamentally different. People aren’t browsing lists of links the way they used to. They’re asking direct questions and getting summarized answers, often without ever clicking through multiple sites.
Which raises a new challenge: if an AI is shaping the answer, how do you make sure your brand is part of it?
That’s where our work with Scrunch started.
Scrunch gave us a way to move from guesswork to visibility. Instead of wondering whether we showed up across platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, we could actually measure it. We could see which questions triggered mentions of our brand, where we appeared in the response, and how often competitors were recommended instead.
It didn’t take long to notice a pattern. There was a clear gap between how we performed in traditional search and how we appeared in AI-generated answers. Content that ranked well and consistently drove traffic wasn’t always being picked up or cited by these systems.
That disconnect forced us to rethink how we define visibility.
Search rankings still matter. But being included in a synthesized answer is a different kind of success. It depends on how clearly you answer a question, how complete your perspective is, and how consistently your brand shows up across the broader web, not just on your own site.
One of the most valuable things Scrunch surfaced for us was context. Not just whether we were mentioned, but how. Were we positioned as a leading recommendation or simply listed among others? Were competitors showing up more frequently? Were our strengths being represented accurately?
Those subtleties matter more than they might seem. Because for many users, that AI-generated answer is their first impression.
Grounding It in Data
At the same time, we knew Scrunch wasn’t the only platform exploring this space. Tools like Conductor are also building capabilities around AI visibility, and we’ve been actively exploring them as well. Not to replace one with another, but to understand how each approaches the problem differently. The category itself is still evolving, and part of the opportunity right now is learning where each tool creates unique value.
Alongside that, we’ve leaned on tools we already trust. SEMrush, for example, has become a natural complement in this process. It helps us ground what we’re seeing in AI responses with actual search demand and competitive positioning. When we identify gaps in AI visibility, SEMrush helps us understand whether those gaps align with high-value topics and where we already have momentum.
And then there’s the piece that makes all of this real: traffic.
Through Google Analytics, we’re able to see when AI platforms actually drive visitors to our site. Referrals from sources like ChatGPT and Perplexity, which used to be almost invisible, are now something we actively look for. When we connect that data with what we see in Scrunch, it gives us a much clearer picture. Not just whether we’re being recommended, but whether those recommendations lead to meaningful engagement.
Making It Practical with MCP
One of the things that changed this from a monthly exercise into something we can run consistently is how these platforms let you access their data programmatically. Scrunch offers what they call their AXP platform, and both Scrunch and SEMrush support MCP (Model Context Protocol) integrations, which means you can pull their data directly into tools like Claude and work with it conversationally.
In practice, that means instead of logging into three separate dashboards and manually comparing numbers, we can ask questions in plain language. Things like: where did our visibility change this week? Which competitors gained ground? What keywords have high search demand but low AI presence? The answers come back with the actual data attached, ready to act on.
That shift matters more than it might sound. When the friction of pulling data goes away, the frequency goes up. We went from reviewing this monthly to weekly. We started catching patterns we would have missed before, things like a single content update moving our position on a specific prompt within days, or a competitor’s new page immediately showing up in AI recommendations while ours didn’t.
The MCP access also means the analysis isn’t locked to one person who knows the dashboards. Anyone on the team can ask questions about the data in natural language and get useful answers. That democratizes the insight in a way that traditional BI tools rarely manage.
That combination, visibility, demand, traffic, and the ability to query it all in one place, starts to turn this into something actionable.
We’re no longer just asking if we show up. We’re asking where to focus, what to improve, and how to create content that works across both traditional and AI-driven discovery.
Some of the changes have been simple. Making answers more direct. Structuring content more clearly. Expanding depth where needed. None of it is radical on its own, but together it starts to shift how our content is interpreted and surfaced.
And importantly, we can see that shift happening.
Why This Moment Matters
Stepping back, what’s most interesting is how early this still feels. Most teams are still anchored in traditional SEO metrics. AI visibility isn’t widely tracked, and in many cases, it isn’t even on the radar yet.
But that’s exactly what makes this moment valuable.
The behaviors are changing before the processes are. And that creates space for teams willing to explore, test, and adapt.
For us, this started with a simple question and turned into a broader shift in how we think about discovery. It’s no longer just about where you rank. It’s about whether you’re part of the answer at all.
Scrunch helped make that visible. Conductor and others are helping us broaden our understanding. SEMrush keeps us grounded in demand. And Google Analytics tells us whether it’s actually working.
Together, those pieces are shaping how we approach what comes next.
From Visibility to Action
While these tools are incredibly valuable for understanding where you stand in AI-driven search, the harder part is knowing what to actually do with that information. Data on its own doesn’t drive change. A dashboard that tells you your presence score dropped three points this week doesn’t tell you which page to rewrite, what question to answer more directly, or which content gap is actually costing you opportunities.
That’s where we’ve been focusing our efforts. Not just measuring AI visibility, but translating those insights into clear, specific steps that marketing teams can act on. Helping people understand not just where they stand, but why it matters for their particular goals and what to do about it in a way that connects directly to the marketing outcomes they’re already measured on.
Because at the end of the day, visibility is only valuable if it leads to better decisions, stronger performance, and measurable growth. The tools give you the picture. The work is in making that picture useful.
If you haven’t looked at your brand through this lens yet, it’s worth the exercise. Ask the questions your customers would ask. Look closely at the answers.
Because whether you’re there or not, those answers are already shaping decisions.
