Field notes · from the operator’s desk

AI search citation analysis, from the operator's chair.

Brand-by-brand citation reports. Industry-level analysis. Methodology deep-dives. Multilingual coverage. Reactive commentary on AI-search-reputation events as they happen.

Field notes

Latest from the desk.

Industry analysis··6 min read

Where South African Brands Need to Get Cited in AI Search (2026)

There is a Hello Peter star rating above which AI starts describing your brand neutrally instead of defensively. We did not expect a threshold. We expected a gradient. The shape of what we found in six months of benchmarking 100 SA brands — and where the exact figures live.

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Industry analysis··13 min read

AI Citation Benchmark for South African Brands: The 2026 Field Guide

The first publicly pre-registered benchmark of how GPT-5, Claude and Gemini cite South African brands — 100 brands, 16,500 responses, 197,156 citations. What the data shows, and what to do about it.

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Methodology··9 min read

The 7 Best AEO Platforms for South African Brands (2026, Ranked)

No SA-specific AEO platform listicle exists — until now. Ranked by who has primary SA citation data, who covers ChatGPT + Claude + Gemini, and who actually moves the needle for a SA brand.

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Methodology··6 min read

What is AEO? Answer Engine Optimisation Explained (South Africa, 2026)

AEO — Answer Engine Optimisation — is the discipline of making sure AI assistants name, cite and describe your brand accurately. The plain-English definition, the three layers, and what SA brands should do first.

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Industry analysis··10 min read

The Best Banks in South Africa, Ranked by ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini (2026)

The only SA bank ranking measured by AI-citation narrative control, not assets or surveys. Standard Bank, Capitec, Nedbank, Absa, FNB and more — ranked using SA-AEO-Bench v1 data.

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Methodology··7 min read

The 90-Second Case for Your AI-Search Budget to a Sceptical CFO

Gartner: 59% of senior marketers say they can't fund the strategy they were hired for. The one-page frame that wins the CFO meeting — denominated in rands the CFO already tracks, anchored to six months of SA benchmark data.

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Industry analysis··8 min read

Zero-Click Search Is Reshaping SA E-commerce: The Asymmetric Impact, Measured

Zero-click is above half of all search now. For SA e-commerce the cost is asymmetric — the industry has the lowest SA-citation share in our bench at 33%, and AI defaults to international review platforms when a SA customer asks where to buy. What that does to a SA retailer's funnel, and where the recovery playbook sits.

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Methodology··7 min read

What the Air Canada Chatbot Ruling Means for Your SA Brand

A Canadian tribunal made an airline pay because its chatbot quoted a refund policy that did not exist. SA contract law, the Consumer Protection Act and POPIA all cut the same way. The four AI surfaces a SA brand actually owns, and the one-week audit that closes the exposure.

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Industry analysis··7 min read

How Medical Aid Companies Can Improve Their AI Search in South Africa (2026)

When a member asks ChatGPT which scheme to pick, does your name come up? Five moves to improve a SA medical aid's AI-search visibility, in priority order, anchored to six months of benchmark data. Per-scheme baselines in the gated Index Report.

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