Five distinct layers
These layers are measured separately because they fail separately. Presence and citation can be perfect while recommendation is absent — a pattern that visibility dashboards report as success.
- Presence — the institution appears at all in the answer space.
- Citation authority — the institution is attributed as a source rather than paraphrased anonymously.
- Prominence — the institution appears early and centrally rather than as a trailing reference.
- Recommendation — the system actively points a decision-maker toward the institution.
- Message reproduction — the institution's own stated positions are reproduced, not merely its name.
Why the layers must not be blended
In the inaugural institutional edition the measured funnel reads Presence 100% → Citation authority 100% → Prominence 79% → Recommendation 0% → Message reproduction 0%. Blending those layers into one visibility number would report a strong result and hide the actual finding.
A 0% recommendation rate means no recommendation event was measured. It is not a judgement of unsuitability, and it is not evidence of a negative signal.
Provisional status
GAI is published as provisional until the measurement frame is complete. In the current edition 15 of 20 units are measured (75% completeness), so the composite is labelled provisional throughout.
Applied in the current edition
See this methodology at work in State of NIPR Reputation 2026 — Institutional Edition 01.
Read the edition