Your first visibility scan runs automatically at the end of onboarding. It sends your tracked prompts to your selected AI models and records whether your brand was mentioned, where it appeared, its sentiment and which sources were cited.
How long does it take?
The scan starts right away. Some pages, such as Analytics, show a guided tour and sample layout while your first results fill in. You can keep working while it runs.
Do I need to run scans myself?
No. Citera runs scans automatically in the background using the prompts in your Prompt Library, at the frequency included in your plan (see Visibility scans explained). Manual scans are only useful when you want to test something specific right away.
Running a manual scan
Open New Scan in the app.
Select the brand and target market.
Select which AI engine should run the analysis.
Review or generate queries, and add custom ones if needed.
Optionally schedule the scan or ask to be emailed when it completes.
Manual scans count toward your plan's scan allowance. If you use up your allowance, it resets at the start of the next period.
Reading your baseline
Treat the first results as a baseline, not a prediction.
Look at the actual answers, not just the score. Check that your company name, description and key facts are correct.
Separate mentions (your name appears), recommendations (you're presented as an option) and citations (a linked source supports the answer).
Look for patterns across prompts and models rather than reacting to a single answer, since individual AI answers can vary.
Next: Finding your way around the dashboard.