# Mention

> A mention is the naming of a brand in an AI answer, regardless of whether a source is linked. It arises from model knowledge, from grounding or from both.

Source: https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/mention/
Published: 2026-09-03
May be quoted with attribution and a link to the source.

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A mention is the naming of a brand, a product or a company in the text of an AI answer. It is independent of a source reference: a brand can be named without any page being cited, and a page can be cited without the brand appearing in the answer text. Mentions are the metric for the question "Does my company appear in the answer?".

## How does a mention arise?

In two ways. First, from [model knowledge](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/model-knowledge/): the model has seen the brand in connection with a topic often enough during training and names it from memory. Second, from [grounding](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/grounding/): an extracted passage, from your own website or from a third-party site, contains the brand name, and the model carries it into the answer. In practice both ways work together; brand-neutral questions ("Which providers are there for …?") are mostly decided via third-party sites and model knowledge.

## Why do mentions matter for AI visibility?

Because the user's decision hinges on the name. Someone looking for a service is given a few providers by the AI and continues working with that list. The study "AI Blind Test 2026" shows the scale: in 55% of buyer questions the name of the company examined does not come up, and in 47% of questions the AI recommends competitors instead. A company that is not mentioned loses the enquiry before it arises, and sees nothing of it in its website figures.

## What does this mean for your website?

Mentions rarely arise on your website alone. Ensure a consistent brand image on third-party sites ([brand mentions](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/brand-mentions/), trade media, comparison articles, review platforms) and name your brand and products explicitly in your own texts instead of "we" and "our solution". Measure the [mention rate](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/mention-rate/) with a fixed prompt set and check the [sentiment](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/sentiment/): mentioned is not recommended.