--- name: monitor-aeo description: "Monitors AI-search visibility across answer engines and generative-search surfaces — provider/query citation checks, Google AI Overview/GEO citation presence, Bing/IndexNow readiness, AI referral traffic, llms.txt status, competitor cited-domain share, and dated snapshot reports. Use when you need evidence of whether AI systems mention or cite a brand/site. Not for deciding SEO strategy or rewriting pages (use optimize-seo) and not for technical-audit remediation." argument-hint: "[domain or mode]" allowed-tools: Read Grep Glob Bash WebSearch WebFetch metadata: version: "1.1.1" budget: deep estimated-cost: "$1-3" --- # AEO Monitor — Orchestrator *Communication — Horizontal. Owns AI-search visibility **measurement** (evidence collection + dated snapshots + handoff). Does not own SEO strategy, page rewrites, or technical remediation — those stay in `optimize-seo`.* **Core Question:** "Do AI systems cite us — for which queries, on which providers, against which competitors, with what trend?" > Why this skill exists, when NOT to use it, evidence-class taxonomy, 8-item quality gate summary, six modes: `references/playbook.md` [PLAYBOOK]. ## Philosophy AEO/GEO is an evidence job, not a strategy job. AI-citation outcomes are stochastic and provider-specific; the only honest deliverable is **dated, source-tagged, reproducible evidence** that strategy work (in `optimize-seo`) can act on. **Evidence > Inference > Hypothesis** — every metric carries an evidence-class label (`public-doc` / `observed-test` / `practitioner-inference` / `hypothesis`); inference and hypothesis never get reported as truth. Pure orchestration. The skill never calls provider APIs itself — it builds query sets, ingests operator-supplied exports, and dispatches the critic gate. Operators execute the actual queries / API pulls; this skill structures inputs and verifies outputs. --- ## Critical Gates Before delivering, all must hold: 1. **No fabricated evidence.** A provider without supplied credentials or supplied export is labeled `unavailable` — never a default zero, never a guessed citation rate. Missing input becomes a labeled gap, not a silent absence. 2. **Stochastic outputs declare their confidence.** Single-run citation observations carry a `single-run` caveat; multi-run aggregates carry `n=` + `%`. 3. **AEO ≠ GEO ≠ classic SEO ≠ referral.** These four evidence streams are reported in separate sections. Mixing AI Overview cites into "AI citations" or treating referral traffic as a proxy for citation share is a critic FAIL. 4. **Competitor cited-domains captured even when subject is absent.** A monitor run that returns "you weren't cited" without naming who *was* cited misses the actionable half. Cited-domain inventory is mandatory per query. 5. **Every metric has source, date, provider/model or API, query set, and freshness window.** A number without these fields is a critic FAIL. 6. **Recommendations are handoffs, not strategy.** Findings stop at "evidence shows X gap"; the prescription goes in `handoff-optimize-seo.md` and runs through `optimize-seo`. --- ## Before Starting Per `references/_shared/before-starting-check.md` [PROCEDURE] — load product context, check artifact staleness (>30 days → recommend re-run upstream). | Artifact | Source | Required? | |---|---|---| | `icp-research.md` | research-icp | Recommended — query set must reflect real audience search behavior | | `seo-ai.md` / `seo-audit.md` | optimize-seo | Optional — informs which queries the strategy expects to win | | Prior `docs/forsvn/artifacts/marketing/aeo-monitor/[slug]/snapshots/` | this skill | Optional — enables trend mode in `full-report` | --- ## Pre-Dispatch Canonical Pre-Dispatch: `references/_shared/pre-dispatch-protocol.md` [PROCEDURE]. **Needed dimensions:** mode (default `full-report`), subject domain, target query set (or ICP source to derive it), competitor domains, available providers/exports. **Query-set design (Layer 0, locked).** Pre-Dispatch produces a **balanced, locked** `query-set.md` (query-type categories branded/category/comparison/problem/long-tail × volume tiers head/mid/long-tail, atop intent-class mixing) so re-runs stay trend-comparable. Design contract: `references/procedures/pre-dispatch.md` § "Query-set design". Full read-order + Cold/Warm Start prompts + write-back map + Chain Position + Skill Deference + IMC Coordination table: `references/procedures/pre-dispatch.md` [PROCEDURE]. ## Mode Resolution Per `references/_shared/mode-resolver.md` [PROCEDURE] — auto-downgrade ≤3 sentences, no prior artifacts; `--fast` skips Layer 2 (no critic, single-agent). **`--fast` does NOT skip Cold Start, the six Critical Gates, or the evidence-class labels.** Session execution profile (single-vs-multi): inherit per `references/_shared/execution-policy.md`. **Default mode when unspecified: `full-report`** — runs every mode whose inputs are resolvable; labels every other mode `unavailable` with the specific gap. One dated snapshot per run; single-mode runs are opt-in. --- ## Agent Manifest 8 sub-agents across three layers (Layer 0 sequential pre-checks + Layer 1 parallel ingestors + Layer 2 sequential report→critic). Full table with per-agent focus, layer placement, mode coverage, and per-route Layer 1/2 expansion: `references/agent-manifest.md` [PROCEDURE]. ## Routing — Mode-Based Dispatch Default is `full-report` (snapshot is the primary job). Single-mode runs are opt-in. | Situation | Mode | Route | |-----------|------|-------| | First snapshot, or monthly dated report | **full-report** (default) | Z | | Spot check: do AI providers cite us for these queries? | **ai-citations** | A | | Spot check: AI Overview presence on target keywords | **geo-overview** | B | | Read AI referral evidence from analytics | **ai-referrals** | C | | Bing Webmaster / IndexNow / sitemap posture **+ Bing-channel traffic** | **bing-readiness** | D | | `llms.txt` / `llms-full.txt` posture | **llms-readiness** | E | Per-route Layer 1 / Layer 2 agent fan-out lives in `references/agent-manifest.md` § "Per-route expansion". Layer 0 (`query-set-agent` → `provider-readiness-agent`) runs first on every route. Full pre-writing object schema, 8-step Multi-Agent Dispatch flow, Single-Agent Fallback, `--fast` execution path: `references/procedures/dispatch-mechanics.md` [PROCEDURE]. --- ## Artifact Contract Output path: `docs/forsvn/artifacts/marketing/aeo-monitor/[slug]/` (a directory): ``` docs/forsvn/artifacts/marketing/aeo-monitor/[slug]/ report.md # dated report (this run) query-set.md # the locked query × provider matrix used this run handoff-optimize-seo.md # evidence-tagged gap list, consumed by optimize-seo snapshots/ [YYYY-MM-DD]-ai-citations.json [YYYY-MM-DD]-geo-overview.json [YYYY-MM-DD]-ai-referrals.json [YYYY-MM-DD]-readiness.json ``` `[slug]` = kebab-cased subject domain (e.g., `example-com` for `example.com`). Snapshot files are written only when their mode (or `full-report`) ran. **Lifecycle:** follows the shared snapshot-directory pattern (`references/_shared/artifact-lifecycle.md` [PROCEDURE]): snapshots append-only (one set per date), `report.md` / `query-set.md` / `handoff-optimize-seo.md` rewritten in place (prior copies in git). Trend computation reads `snapshots/*.json`. **Frontmatter (REQUIRED on `report.md`):** `skill: monitor-aeo`, `mode`, `subject`, `date`, `status`, `evidence-classes` (object: count by class). Full body-section list, per-snapshot JSON schema, and handoff schema: `references/format-conventions.md` [PROCEDURE]. --- ## Anti-Patterns `references/anti-patterns.md` [ANTI-PATTERN] — patterns with detection rules, bad/good examples, and per-pattern agent ownership. Top five by frequency: fabricated zero (gate 1), single-run certainty (gate 2), AEO/GEO conflation (gate 3), subject-only reporting (gate 4), strategy creep (gate 6). --- ## Durable Rules (protected) ## Completion Status Every run ends with explicit status: - **DONE** — selected mode executed end-to-end, every evidence cell labeled with class + provenance, critic PASS within 2 cycles, handoff written - **DONE_WITH_CONCERNS** — analysis delivered with labeled provider gaps (credentials missing, export incomplete, single-run only); every gap named with the specific input that would resolve it - **BLOCKED** — query set un-derivable (no ICP source AND no operator-supplied queries) OR subject domain not supplied; state exactly what's blocked + what unblocks - **NEEDS_CONTEXT** — operator invoked a single-mode route whose inputs are entirely missing (e.g., `ai-citations` with zero provider exports); recommend `full-report` to capture whatever evidence is available, or state which exports to supply ## Next Step Hand `handoff-optimize-seo.md` to `optimize-seo` for strategy + page-rewrite work. Re-run on cadence (monthly default) to extend the trend series. --- ## Worked Example End-to-end Route Z walkthrough (Pre-Dispatch → Layer 0 → parallel Layer 1 → merge → critic PASS → deliver → handling missing providers → `--fast` variant): `references/examples/aeo-walkthrough.md` [EXAMPLE]. ## References - **Playbook:** `references/playbook.md` [PLAYBOOK] - **Agent manifest:** `references/agent-manifest.md` [PROCEDURE] - **Format:** `references/format-conventions.md` [PROCEDURE] - **Anti-patterns:** `references/anti-patterns.md` [ANTI-PATTERN] - **Procedures:** `references/procedures/{pre-dispatch, dispatch-mechanics}.md` [PROCEDURE] - **Example:** `references/examples/aeo-walkthrough.md` [EXAMPLE] - **Domain catalogs** (loaded by agents at dispatch): `references/{provider-matrix, llms-readiness}.md` - **Shared:** `references/_shared/{before-starting-check, manifest-spec, mode-resolver, pre-dispatch-protocol, evidence-classes, artifact-lifecycle}.md` (evidence-classes canonical at `skills/marketing/_shared/evidence-classes.md`, shared with `optimize-seo`; artifact-lifecycle canonical at `skills/marketing/_shared/artifact-lifecycle.md`) - **Agents:** 8 sub-agents in `agents/` — see `references/agent-manifest.md`. `critic-agent.md` holds the canonical 8-item quality gate + Rewrite Routing Table.