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Visibility answers: “Are we included?” Share of voice answers: “How much of the conversation do we own vs competitors?”

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What Share of Voice means

When an AI assistant answers a “best **” or “top **” prompt, it usually returns a short list of options. Share of voice measures how often you appear in those lists relative to the other brands that show up across runs. In practice, share of voice is a good metric for:
  • tracking whether you are gaining or losing ground against competitors over time,
  • identifying prompts where competitors dominate the “slots,”
  • prioritizing which prompt themes to invest in (content, off-page, and website fixes).

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Calculation

For the selected prompt (or prompt set), Meridian counts mentions of each tracked brand across runs.

SOV=# mentions of you# mentions of all tracked brands×100SOV = \frac{\#\ mentions\ of\ you}{\#\ mentions\ of\ all\ tracked\ brands} \times 100

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Example

If, across 100 responses for a prompt, the assistant mentions brands a total of 500 times:
  • You were mentioned 90 times
  • All tracked brands combined were mentioned 500 times
Then:
  • SOV = 90 / 500 = 18%
This means you occupy about 18% of the overall recommendation space across those runs.

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How to interpret it

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If share of voice is low

Competitors are taking most of the slots across runs. This typically happens when:
  • competitors are being cited more often (citation ecosystem advantage),
  • competitors have stronger comparison/list pages that match the prompt format (format advantage),
  • or competitors have clearer positioning on the criteria the assistant uses (positioning advantage).
A low SOV is a strong signal that improving only one page may not be enough—you may need a cluster of coverage (content + citations) for that prompt theme.

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If share of voice is rising

You are appearing more often relative to competitors. This often happens after:
  • publishing content that matches the prompt format (listicles, comparisons, guides),
  • improving citeability on your owned pages (FAQ + schema + clearer structure),
  • earning inclusion on key third-party sources (Off-page Outreach),
  • or increasing product/category coverage so you are eligible to be listed.
A rising SOV is usually a good sign that you are entering the consideration set more consistently and taking share away from competitors.

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If share of voice is flat but prominence is improving

This pattern means you are not necessarily showing up more often than before, but when you do show up you are ranking higher. That can still be a meaningful win—especially for high-intent prompts where top 1–2 positions drive the most value.

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If share of voice changes suddenly

Sudden moves often come from:
  • a small sample size (few runs),
  • one platform shifting its sources or answer structure,
  • changes to your competitor set,
  • or major changes in the citation ecosystem.
In these cases, widen the date range and confirm the trend is consistent before acting.