How AI visibility scores are calculated. Six dimensions, 100 points. Human-readable documentation for anyone who wants to understand or challenge the score.
The Sigbase Retrieval Score™ (SRS) measures how well a local business is positioned to be found, described, and recommended by AI answer engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and similar platforms.
The score does not measure website traffic, search rankings, or social media presence. It measures one thing: the signals that determine whether an AI platform recommends your business when someone asks.
Scores run from 0 to 100.
The SRS is divided into six dimensions across two tiers — Structural and Contextual.
Structural dimensions measure signals that exist on your website and can be directly improved. These four dimensions total 55 points.
Contextual dimensions measure observed authority and real citation behavior — signals that exist off your website and cannot be directly controlled in the short term. These two dimensions total 45 points.
| Dimension | Tier | Points | Core Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Findability | Structural | 10 | Can AI crawlers access and read your website? |
| Describability | Structural | 20 | Does your site give AI enough structured data to describe you accurately? |
| Summarizability | Structural | 15 | Can AI extract clean, citable answers from your content? |
| Comparability | Structural | 10 | Is your identity consistent everywhere AI might look? |
| Entity Authority | Contextual | 25 | Does the broader web confirm who you are and what you do? |
| Recommendability | Contextual | 20 | Do AI platforms actually recommend you when asked? |
| Total | 100 |
| Score | Grade | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| 85–100 | A | Structurally dominant |
| 70–84 | B+ | Strong foundation |
| 55–69 | B | Established — gaps present |
| 40–54 | C+ | Vulnerable — action needed |
| 25–39 | C | Fragile — significant gaps |
| 10–24 | D | Critical — minimal foundation |
| 0–9 | F | Absent |
Can AI crawlers access your website? This dimension checks whether your robots.txt permits AI indexing, whether a sitemap exists and is reachable, whether your pages load within acceptable time, and whether your content is rendered in HTML rather than JavaScript. A business that AI cannot read cannot be recommended.
Does your site give AI structured data to work with? This is the highest-weight structural dimension because it is the most controllable high-impact signal. It evaluates the presence, completeness, and correctness of JSON-LD schema markup — specifically LocalBusiness, Service, and FAQPage schema types — as well as Open Graph metadata and NAP (name, address, phone) consistency. AI platforms rely heavily on structured data to accurately describe businesses in generated responses.
Can AI extract clean answers from your content? This dimension evaluates whether your pages contain enough structured, substantive content for AI to summarize you accurately. It checks heading hierarchy, FAQ section presence, service section depth, and whether your content answers the five core questions a prospective customer would ask: what the service is, who it is for, what the process involves, what outcomes to expect, and what it costs.
Is your identity consistent across every surface AI might use? Name, address, phone number, and category must match across your website, schema markup, Google Business Profile, and major directories. AI platforms stitch together information from multiple sources — inconsistency creates conflicting signals that reduce citation confidence.
Does the broader web confirm you exist and are credible? This is the highest-weighted dimension in the entire score because it explains why some businesses appear in AI responses despite weak on-site signals. Entity Authority measures third-party confirmation: directory listings in authoritative niche sources, Google Knowledge Panel recognition, review volume and rating across platforms, press mentions, and practitioner-level credentials where applicable. These signals accumulate over time — which is why they carry the most weight.
Do AI platforms actually recommend you when someone asks? This is the only dimension that measures observed behavior rather than inferred readiness. Sigbase runs structured retrieval queries — brand queries, category queries, and comparison queries — against live AI search systems and records whether your business appears in the results. A business can score well on every structural dimension and still not appear when someone asks. Recommendability captures that gap directly.
Each business is scanned by the Sigbase measurement instrument — an automated system that performs the following in sequence:
When a check cannot be completed — because a site blocks crawlers, a directory is unreachable, or a query times out — that check scores zero. The business is not penalized. The signal is simply unverified and labeled as such in the score breakdown.
Sigbase rescans tracked businesses periodically. Score history is preserved — each scan is labeled by date.
| Version | Date | What Changed |
|---|---|---|
| SRS v2.0 | April 9, 2026 | 100-point scale. Six dimensions. Entity Authority added. Recommendability grounded in live retrieval data. Replaces v1. |
| SRS v1.0 | March 2, 2026 | Initial scoring methodology. 50-point scale, five dimensions. Retired. Entities scored under v1 are not displayed in rankings or city pages until rescanned under v2. |
Sigbase Retrieval Score™ is a trademark of Sigbase. Methodology version SRS v2.0, locked April 9, 2026.