How AEO reports are made
How do I generate an AEO report, and what happens next?
For a location that has never had an AEO report, open AEO, choose the location, read the cost line under the button, and select Generate Report. Opening the page does not start anything. After the first report, the location updates itself on a schedule you control: Weekly, Monthly (the default), Quarterly or Never.
Key facts
| Where it lives | Marketing → AEO, with one client and location chosen in the scope bar |
| First report | Generate Report, shown only for a single location that has no report yet |
| What it checks | Up to 16 local search questions, each put to the answer engines available in your account (ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity) |
| Cost on screen | A cost line per update. Before the first report it reads Estimate unavailable per update; later it can read at least N credits per update. Both carry a note that AI processing adds more |
| After the first report | Updates on the location's schedule: Weekly, Monthly (default), Quarterly or Never |
| Change the schedule | Manage schedule on the AEO page, or Settings → Data updates → AEO reporting |
| Run one now | Refresh… in the refresh clock beside the page title, with a confirmation first |
Steps
Open AEO from Marketing in the left navigation.
Choose the client and the location in the scope bar. If you see All locations, you are on the roll-up, which has no first-run button. Pick one location.
Look at the first-run panel. It reads See how AI answers talk about you, with Generate Report, a cost line and a dimmed Sample on the right. The strip above it, Automatic updates: Monthly, tells you a schedule is already assumed and adds Generate your first report, or save a schedule here, to activate automatic updates.
Read the cost line. Estimate unavailable per update is normal here: Synup builds the question list during the first run, so there is nothing to price until it exists. The line under it says the estimate covers query fees only and that AI generation and answer processing add variable credits, so the real amount can be higher. Treat the screen as the authority for your account and do not rely on a figure you read elsewhere.
Select Generate Report once. The page changes to Checking your visibility, and a few minutes later you get an in-product notification, AI visibility report ready. If the run cannot be started, you see a message saying so and the page stays on the first-run panel.
What the report checks
Synup writes discovery questions that a customer might ask an AI assistant. They describe the category and place without naming the business, because the report tests whether the assistant brings the business up unprompted.
Synup writes up to 16 local discovery questions
They cover different intents such as best, top rated, affordable, specific services and open now. If question writing is unavailable, a shorter standard set of six is used instead.
Each available engine answers every question
ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity answer independently. Only the engines available in your account are asked, and Synup keeps each answer's text and cited sources.
Synup turns the answers into the report
The results feed the visibility score, the prompt coverage grid, the competitor comparison, citations and recommended actions.
The questions are saved with the location and reused on every later update, so one month's results can be compared with the next on the same questions. There is no screen for editing them.
After the first report: the schedule
Every location has its own schedule. Until you change it, a location with a report updates Monthly, on the first day of each month at 6:00 AM UTC. The options are:
| Frequency | When the next update starts |
|---|---|
| Weekly | Every Monday at 6:00 AM UTC |
| Monthly | First day of each month at 6:00 AM UTC |
| Quarterly | January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 at 6:00 AM UTC |
| Never | Only when you run an update yourself |
Dates on the screen appear in your own time zone, so the hour you see differs from 6:00 AM UTC. Choosing a frequency and saving it does not start an update: the confirmation reads Schedule saved. No update was started.
To change it, select Manage schedule on the AEO page, or open Settings → Data updates, choose the AEO reporting tab and pick the location. The Credit impact panel beside the options shows the cost per update and over the next 30 days and 12 months for the frequency you have selected, with the same query-fees-only note. Members who cannot edit it see You can view this schedule. An administrator can change it.
Once a location has a report, the Credit impact panel fills in: it counts the prompt and engine combinations from the saved questions, shows an at least figure per update and for the next 30 days and 12 months, and repeats that AI processing adds more. The figure is a floor built from query fees, so your account's own screen is the number to go by.
A location that has never had a report is not run automatically just because Monthly is assumed. Either generate the first report yourself or save a schedule, and automatic updates start from there. Never stops future automatic updates; one that is already running may finish, and you can still run updates by hand.
Run an update now
The clock icon beside the page title opens the refresh clock. Its heading says when the data was last checked, for example Checked 4 days ago, and below it are the Frequency, the Next update and the Per update cost, which reads at least a number of credits plus variable token fees. Manage schedule opens the schedule editor.
Refresh… at the bottom opens Run an update now?, which says the update uses at least the estimated credits, is separate from scheduled usage and does not change the next update date. Choose Run update to confirm or Cancel to leave.
A few rules apply:
- After a manual update, Refresh… stays unavailable for six hours, and the clock says when it is available again.
- It needs credits. When your credits have run out, the update does not start.
- A refresh in the same calendar month replaces that month's report rather than adding a second one, so it never adds a point to the trend.
What you'll see when it's done
- The AEO page opens on the report with its Overview, Trends, Competitors, Citations and Action center tabs
- A notification that the report is ready
- The refresh clock showing when the location was last checked and when the next update starts, matching the schedule you chose
Watch out for
- Generation spends credits. Read the cost line first, and remember it is a floor, not a quote.
- The report is for one location. Confirm the client and location in the scope bar before you start.
- Do not click Generate Report repeatedly. One click queues the background run, and leaving or reloading the page does not cancel it.
- A location without a report is not a zero. It has not been measured, so there is no score to read.
- Saving a schedule is not running one. To get fresh numbers now, use Refresh….
- Never means the scores age. A location set to Never keeps its last report until you refresh it, so check its Last check before comparing it with others.
Questions people ask
Does opening AEO start a paid report?
No. A location with no report shows the cost line and waits for you to select Generate Report. The exceptions are ones you set up yourself, such as saving a schedule for the location.
Why don't I see Generate Report?
The button appears only for a single location that has no report. If the location already has a report you see the stored results and the refresh clock instead, and at All locations there is no button because the roll-up covers many locations.
Can I leave while the report is running?
Yes. The run continues in the background, and the page shows its progress when you come back.
How do I stop the automatic updates?
Open Manage schedule, choose Never and save. Future automatic updates stop and manual updates remain available.
Can Sydekick generate or refresh a report for me?
No. Sydekick can read a report that already exists, but it cannot start one, refresh one or change its schedule.
Where to go next
- What does my AI Visibility score actually measure? — interpret the completed report
- How do I interpret changes in AI visibility over time? — see how updates become points on the trend