Mention frequency
Mention frequency is how many times AI answers name your brand, counting every repeat of the name inside one answer.
Mention frequency is a count of how many times AI answers name your brand, including every time one answer repeats the name. An answer that names you three times adds three to the count.
Some tools use it to show which answers are mostly about you. It's worth knowing what it measures before you compare it with other numbers.
How it differs from visibility
Visibility asks whether an answer names you at all. Mention frequency asks how often. The two can move in different directions.
For example, take 10 answers. Fernhill Coffee is named once in each of 6 answers. Kestrel Roasters is named in only 3, but 4 times in each. By visibility, Fernhill is ahead, at 60% to 30%. By mention frequency, Kestrel is ahead, 12 mentions to 6.
Which one tells the truer story? A person reading one answer learns about a brand from the first time it's named. Repeats in the same answer usually mean the answer is about that brand, often because the question named it.
Where frequency can mislead
A high count can come from a few long answers, or from branded prompts where the question itself names you. It also grows with the length of answers, which platforms change without telling anyone. Read it next to visibility, and check which answers it comes from.
In AnswerOrbit
We count one mention for each answer that names you, however many times it repeats your name. That's the count behind visibility and share of voice, so a single answer can't outweigh the rest. Where you're named inside an answer shows up as your position. See What the numbers mean.