Branded prompt
A branded prompt is a question to an AI platform that names a brand, such as "Is Fernhill Coffee any good?" An unbranded prompt names none.
A branded prompt is a question to an AI platform that names a brand. "Is Fernhill Coffee any good?" and "What does Fernhill Coffee's subscription cost?" are branded. "What's the best coffee subscription in the UK?" is unbranded, because it names nobody.
The two kinds answer different questions, so it helps to track both and read them apart.
What each kind tells you
An unbranded prompt shows whether the platform puts you forward when someone hasn't decided yet. This is where new customers find you, so it's usually where most of your prompts should be.
A branded prompt shows what the platform says once someone already has your name. Are your prices right? Does it describe what you actually sell? Does it send people to a competitor instead? People ask these questions just before they buy, so a wrong answer here costs you customers who were already on their way.
Why you shouldn't mix them
Branded prompts name you in almost every answer, because you're in the question. If they sit in the same topic as your unbranded prompts, your visibility looks higher than it is.
For example, say you track 8 unbranded prompts that name you a quarter of the time and 2 branded prompts that name you every time. Read together, you look named in 40% of answers. Read apart, you're named in 25% of the answers where it counts.
Branded prompts in AnswerOrbit
Keep branded prompts in their own topic, or give them a tag, so you can filter them out of your numbers. The Coverage tab in Topics tells you when none of your prompts names a brand, and offers Suggest branded prompts to add a few.
What the answers to branded prompts say about you is checked against your facts in Claims.