# ASTONTO — Consolidated AI Discovery Documentation *Generated at: 2026-08-07T00:44:40.969Z* *Canonical Site URL: https://astonto.com* --- ## 1. Company Overview Independent AI research company studying how large language models and AI recommendation systems interpret information, select sources, compare alternatives and form recommendations. ASTONTO studies the observable behaviour of large language models and AI recommendation systems through controlled black-box evaluation of publicly accessible outputs across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. Address: 66 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NA, England Telephone: +44 7845 580266 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/astonto/ --- ## 2. ASTONTO AI Search Visibility Services & Methodology ASTONTO AI Search Visibility measures how AI platforms recommend a company compared with four selected competitors using the PULSE Method v1.0. Core Formula: Prompt Result Score = Position Factor × Recommendation Factor × Sentiment Factor Reliability Levels: High, Medium, Indicative. --- ## 3. Official Services & Public Pricing Structure - 20-Minute AI Visibility Check: Free - 24-Hour AI Visibility Audit: £950 + VAT (fixed fee) - 90-Day AI Visibility Optimisation Sprint: £6,000 + VAT (or three monthly payments of £2,000 + VAT) - AI Visibility Monitoring: From £350 + VAT (per month) --- ## 4. Approved FAQ Knowledge Base ### Q1: What is ASTONTO? Category: ASTONTO Answer: ASTONTO is an independent AI research company that studies the observable behaviour of large language models and AI recommendation systems. ### Q2: What does ASTONTO research? Category: ASTONTO Answer: ASTONTO researches how AI platforms interpret corporate information, resolve entity identity, select citation sources, compare alternatives, and generate brand recommendations across platforms, locations, and languages. ### Q3: Is ASTONTO an AI Search Visibility agency? Category: ASTONTO Answer: ASTONTO is an independent research company. ASTONTO AI Search Visibility is our applied commercial service that provides empirical AI Search Visibility audits, optimisation sprints and monitoring for corporate clients. ### Q4: What is black-box AI evaluation? Category: ASTONTO Answer: Black-box AI evaluation is the scientific observation of publicly accessible AI outputs under controlled prompt conditions, measuring real-world model responses without claiming internal access to proprietary code or weights. ### Q5: Does ASTONTO have access to AI model source code or weights? Category: ASTONTO Answer: No. ASTONTO evaluates observable outputs from public and enterprise interfaces. We do not claim access to proprietary model weights, hidden ranking algorithms, or undisclosed vendor update schedules. ### Q6: How does ASTONTO preserve research independence? Category: ASTONTO Answer: ASTONTO enforces strict methodology controls, preserves verbatim output logs, and refuses commercial arrangements that mandate specific research findings or ranking outcomes. ### Q7: What is ASTONTO AI Search Visibility? Category: AI Search Visibility Answer: ASTONTO AI Search Visibility is our evidence-based audit, optimisation and monitoring service. It measures how businesses are recommended across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews using the PULSE Method. ### Q8: What is AI Search Visibility? Category: AI Search Visibility Answer: AI Search Visibility is the degree to which an organisation is accurately cited, prominently positioned, and positively recommended by generative AI engines when prospects ask commercial buyer queries. ### Q9: Which AI platforms are evaluated? Category: AI Search Visibility Answer: ASTONTO evaluates ChatGPT (OpenAI), Perplexity, Gemini (Google), and Google AI Overviews. ### Q10: What is the difference between an AI mention and an AI recommendation? Category: AI Search Visibility Answer: An AI mention occurs whenever a brand name appears in an answer. An AI recommendation occurs when the AI engine explicitly endorses the company as a preferred solution for a specific buyer context. ### Q11: Why might a market-leading company be absent from AI recommendations? Category: AI Search Visibility Answer: AI engines rely on clear entity resolution, structured data, and third-party citation density. Market leaders with weak digital entity signals or fragmented third-party references are often omitted by LLMs. ### Q12: Can ASTONTO guarantee that an AI platform will recommend my company? Category: AI Search Visibility Answer: No. Commercial AI engines operate non-deterministically. ASTONTO identifies visibility gaps and implements evidence-based improvements, but does not guarantee future AI recommendation outcomes. ### Q13: How are competitors chosen for evaluation? Category: AI Search Visibility Answer: Competitors are selected during audit scoping based on direct commercial overlap, geographic market rivalry, and buyer evaluation context. ### Q14: Why do results vary by platform, location and language? Category: AI Search Visibility Answer: AI platforms draw from different index sources, user IP geolocations, and linguistic models, resulting in distinct vendor recommendations across geographic markets. ### Q15: How often should AI visibility be tested? Category: AI Search Visibility Answer: Because commercial LLMs update continuously, baseline benchmarking should be performed quarterly, supported by ongoing monthly monitoring for high-value buyer prompts. ### Q16: What is the PULSE Method? Category: PULSE Answer: The PULSE Method is ASTONTO's proprietary framework for calculating multi-platform AI recommendation visibility, prominence, sentiment, and competitor performance. ### Q17: What does a PULSE Score measure? Category: PULSE Answer: A PULSE Score measures observed AI recommendation strength across position, endorsement classification, sentiment, and prompt importance. ### Q18: What is PULSE Reliability? Category: PULSE Answer: PULSE Reliability indicates statistical confidence based on prompt volume, repeat test runs, platform coverage, and testing duration (High, Medium, or Indicative). ### Q19: What is a PULSE Benchmark Score? Category: PULSE Answer: A PULSE Benchmark Score establishes an organisation's baseline AI visibility score at the start of an audit or optimisation sprint. ### Q20: What is a PULSE Market Score? Category: PULSE Answer: A PULSE Market Score measures visibility across a defined geographic or sector market segment. ### Q21: What is PULSE Share of Voice? Category: PULSE Answer: PULSE Share of Voice measures your company's relative visibility and recommendation win rate compared with four selected competitors. ### Q22: How are negative recommendations handled? Category: PULSE Answer: Negative sentiment, hallucinated errors, or cautionary disclaimers reduce the Sentiment Factor in the PULSE formula and are flagged as Reputation Risks. ### Q23: Why are repeated runs required? Category: PULSE Answer: LLM outputs are stochastic. Running 5–10 iterations per prompt ensures reliable measurement of true underlying recommendation consistency. ### Q24: What is included in the 24-Hour AI Visibility Audit? Category: Services and pricing Answer: The audit evaluates your company plus four competitors across four AI platforms, delivering a PULSE Score, preserved evidence log, Reputation Risk analysis, and live presentation. ### Q25: What is included in the 90-Day Optimisation Sprint? Category: Services and pricing Answer: The 90-day sprint includes entity and technical clarity fixes, answer-ready content expansion, third-party authority building, gap closure, and final retesting. ### Q26: What can be improved during an AI visibility sprint? Category: Services and pricing Answer: Key improvements target entity schema resolution, answer-ready site content structure, third-party profile consistency, and authoritative industry citations. ### Q27: How is pricing determined? Category: Services and pricing Answer: Pricing is calculated based on market scope, language requirements, prompt volume, and implementation depth. Live scope confirmation is provided before agreement. ### Q28: Is the audit fee credited to the sprint? Category: Services and pricing Answer: Yes. The 24-Hour AI Visibility Audit fee is credited toward the 90-Day Optimisation Sprint when agreed within the approved timeframe. ### Q29: What does monitoring include? Category: Services and pricing Answer: AI Visibility Monitoring tracks monthly PULSE Score movements, competitor overtakes, prompt changes, negative sentiment alerts, and LLM model updates. ### Q30: What information is needed to begin? Category: Services and pricing Answer: To begin an audit, we require your corporate domain, primary geographic markets, key service offerings, and four selected market competitors. --- ## 5. Official Canonical Links - Home: https://astonto.com/ - Research: https://astonto.com/research - AI Search Visibility: https://astonto.com/ai-search-visibility - PULSE Method: https://astonto.com/pulse-method - Audit Service: https://astonto.com/services/ai-visibility-audit - Sprint Service: https://astonto.com/services/90-day-optimisation-sprint - Monitoring: https://astonto.com/services/monitoring - Pricing: https://astonto.com/pricing - FAQ: https://astonto.com/faq - About: https://astonto.com/about - Contact: https://astonto.com/contact - Privacy Notice: https://astonto.com/privacy - Cookie Policy: https://astonto.com/cookies - Terms of Use: https://astonto.com/terms - Accessibility Statement: https://astonto.com/accessibility