Quickstart: your first tracking run

From empty workspace to first results in five steps.

This guide takes you from a fresh account to your first tracking results. The dashboard shows a Getting Started checklist that mirrors these steps and ticks them off automatically.

Step 1: Configure an AI source (Free plan only)

On the Free plan you bring your own API keys. Go to API Settings and add at least an OpenRouter key, which SEOAI uses to analyze answers for mentions and sentiment.

Paid plans include platform-managed keys, so you can skip this step entirely. You can still add your own keys later; your own key always takes priority and never counts against your quota.

Without an analysis key on the Free plan, tracking still runs, but mention share and sentiment stay at zero and a banner on the dashboard tells you what is missing.

Step 2: Create your first brand

Go to Brands and create a brand with its name, domain and a short description. The description helps the analysis recognize your company. Add aliases for every spelling or naming variant customers might use, for example abbreviations or common misspellings.

Step 3: Add a topic to the brand

Open the brand and add a topic. A topic bundles prompts around one theme and controls the schedule: how often it runs, on which AI platforms, and in which language the answers should be.

Pick a frequency that fits how fast your market moves. Weekly is a good default for most businesses; Daily is available on paid plans.

Step 4: Add prompts to the topic

Add the exact questions your customers would ask an AI, for example "best crm for small agencies" or "alternatives to X". Use the bulk field to paste several prompts at once, or open the prompt suggestions dialog, which generates ideas in three groups: your brand, your market, and problem-intent questions.

Aim for a mix of buying-intent prompts such as "best X for Y" and comparison prompts such as "X vs Y". Twenty to fifty well-chosen prompts per topic give you a reliable picture.

Step 5: Run your first tracking

Open the topic and press Track Now. The prompts are queued and executed on each selected platform. Watch progress on the Queue page; finished results appear within minutes.

A manual Track Now run has a cooldown that depends on your plan: 24 hours on Free, 15 minutes on Starter, 5 minutes on Pro and Agency. Scheduled runs are not affected.

Each prompt execution on Gemini counts as two executions, because Gemini runs with live Google grounding. Keep that in mind when filling your quota.

Where to go next

See what a finished result looks like in Reading your first results
Learn how executions and your monthly quota relate

Reading your first results

Executions and quota