Quickstart: your first tracking run

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. Prefer watching? The onboarding video shows the same five steps on screen in about two and a half minutes, with narration.

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.

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 up to four tabs: Search data (Pro and Agency, with Search Console or Bing connected), Brand, Your market, and Problem / intent.

Aim for a mix of buying-intent prompts such as "best X for Y" and comparison prompts such as "X vs Y". Ten to thirty well-chosen prompts per topic give you a reliable picture; your plan allows 10 per topic on Free, 20 on Starter, 30 on Pro and 50 on Agency.

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.

Where to go next

• See what a finished result looks like in Reading your first results
• Learn how executions and your monthly quota relate
• Refine your prompt set and set up a weekly review with Best practices