Cheap Seats

A read-only copy of Cheap Seats measuring itself, updated hourly. Run your own.

Quick wins

The fix lists from the latest run of every prompt set, core sets first, then fastest expected ranking gain: prompts a fix could flip per working day, each weighted by what it has left to win (one minus its recommended rate over the last two weeks; named, for an info prompt). Mark a fix with the commit or pull request you submitted for it; open leaves out the ones you have. A later fix for the same page stays open, with what was tried before.

Statusall 8open 7accepted 1

Priorityall 7high 2medium 4low 1

Siteall 7elsewhere 7

Gapall 7documentation 5third-party 1product 1

Setall 23Finding out whether AI assistants recommend us 4Getting recommended instead of a competitor 6Choosing an AI visibility tool 7Cheap Seats head to heads 2Open-source and self-hosted AI visibility 4

Publish popcorn.zone/blog/profound-alternatives with a feature and cost table incl. Popcorn high documentation effort M flips 5 Choosing an AI visibility tool

Where: popcorn.zone/blog/profound-alternatives
Must say: Name the paid tools buyers already compare: Profound, Peec AI, Otterly.AI, Scrunch, Gauge, Semrush AI Toolkit and Ahrefs Brand Radar. Add Popcorn as the open-source, self-hosted option: MIT licensed, one Docker container with SQLite, prompt sets as TOML in your own git repo, and Claude and OpenAI answers via API or your own Claude Code and Codex subscriptions. Include a feature table (search vs recall tracks, share of voice, objections, ranked fix list, API and MCP) and state honestly which engines Popcorn does not cover.
Done when: Re-running prompts 4 and 7 on the search track names Popcorn or cites this page in at least 2 of 4 answers.
Displaces: https://seranking.com/blog/profound-alternatives/
Why: P4 search: Popcorn absent, top pick Peec AI, shaped by seranking.com/blog/profound-alternatives and writesonic.com/blog/profound-alternatives.

Prompt for Claude Code
# Publish popcorn.zone/blog/profound-alternatives with a feature and cost table incl. Popcorn

When buyers ask an AI assistant the questions below, it doesn't recommend us, or recommends us for the wrong reasons. This is a documentation gap: the answer needed a page we don't have, or ours says the wrong thing.

## The questions it affects
- What's the best AEO tool for a B2B SaaS company that wants to know if ChatGPT and Claude recommend it?
- What are good alternatives to Profound for tracking AI search visibility?
- Peec AI vs Profound: which is better for a mid-size marketing team?
- Otterly.AI or Peec AI for tracking AI search visibility on a tight budget?
- Is Gauge a good tool for tracking AI visibility, and what are the alternatives?

## What the assistant said
P4 search: Popcorn absent, top pick Peec AI, shaped by seranking.com/blog/profound-alternatives and writesonic.com/blog/profound-alternatives.

## Who wins the question today
https://seranking.com/blog/profound-alternatives/. Read it and make sure our version answers everything it does, better.

## Your task
Write or update the page at popcorn.zone/blog/profound-alternatives so it closes this gap. Find where pages like this live in the repo, match their structure, front matter and tone, and make the change there. If the page exists, edit it rather than starting over.

## What it must say
Name the paid tools buyers already compare: Profound, Peec AI, Otterly.AI, Scrunch, Gauge, Semrush AI Toolkit and Ahrefs Brand Radar. Add Popcorn as the open-source, self-hosted option: MIT licensed, one Docker container with SQLite, prompt sets as TOML in your own git repo, and Claude and OpenAI answers via API or your own Claude Code and Codex subscriptions. Include a feature table (search vs recall tracks, share of voice, objections, ranked fix list, API and MCP) and state honestly which engines Popcorn does not cover.

## Done when
Re-running prompts 4 and 7 on the search track names Popcorn or cites this page in at least 2 of 4 answers.

## Rules
- Don't invent numbers, benchmarks, prices, capabilities or customer names. Where a fact is needed and you can't find it in the repo or on our site, leave a clearly marked TODO saying exactly what to measure or who to ask.
- Answer the questions above directly and early on the page, in the words buyers use. AI assistants quote pages that state the answer plainly.
- Keep it scoped to this one fix. When you're done, summarise what you changed and list any TODOs.

From this run

Publish popcorn.zone/docs/api: JSON API, CLI and MCP reference with dashboard examples medium documentation effort S flips 1 Choosing an AI visibility tool

Where: popcorn.zone/docs/api
Must say: Document the JSON API endpoints, the CLI and the MCP server with copy-paste examples for pulling share-of-voice rank, rates by day, answers and citations into a dashboard. Title and headings should use the buyer's words: "AI visibility API" and "export data".
Done when: Prompt 16 on the search track names Popcorn or cites popcorn.zone/docs/api in at least 1 of 2 answers.
Displaces: https://docs.tryprofound.com/cookbook/introduction.md
Why: P16 search: shaped by tryprofound.com/blog/introducing-the-profound-api-cookbook and developers.scrunch.com.

Prompt for Claude Code
# Publish popcorn.zone/docs/api: JSON API, CLI and MCP reference with dashboard examples

When buyers ask an AI assistant the questions below, it doesn't recommend us, or recommends us for the wrong reasons. This is a documentation gap: the answer needed a page we don't have, or ours says the wrong thing.

## The questions it affects
- Which AI visibility tools have an API so we can pull the data into our own dashboards?

## What the assistant said
P16 search: shaped by tryprofound.com/blog/introducing-the-profound-api-cookbook and developers.scrunch.com.

## Who wins the question today
https://docs.tryprofound.com/cookbook/introduction.md. Read it and make sure our version answers everything it does, better.

## Your task
Write or update the page at popcorn.zone/docs/api so it closes this gap. Find where pages like this live in the repo, match their structure, front matter and tone, and make the change there. If the page exists, edit it rather than starting over.

## What it must say
Document the JSON API endpoints, the CLI and the MCP server with copy-paste examples for pulling share-of-voice rank, rates by day, answers and citations into a dashboard. Title and headings should use the buyer's words: "AI visibility API" and "export data".

## Done when
Prompt 16 on the search track names Popcorn or cites popcorn.zone/docs/api in at least 1 of 2 answers.

## Rules
- Don't invent numbers, benchmarks, prices, capabilities or customer names. Where a fact is needed and you can't find it in the repo or on our site, leave a clearly marked TODO saying exactly what to measure or who to ask.
- Answer the questions above directly and early on the page, in the words buyers use. AI assistants quote pages that state the answer plainly.
- Keep it scoped to this one fix. When you're done, summarise what you changed and list any TODOs.

From this run

Publish popcorn.zone/docs/methodology on sampling, two tracks and auditable answers medium documentation effort S flips 1 Choosing an AI visibility tool

Where: popcorn.zone/docs/methodology
Must say: Explain how Popcorn makes noisy answers checkable: every question runs on both a search track and a recall track. Rates and share-of-voice rank are tracked day by day, and every answer, search result and citation behind each number is kept for audit. Before publishing, confirm and state the samples per prompt and how day-to-day variance is shown.
Done when: Prompt 14 on the search track cites popcorn.zone/docs/methodology in at least 1 of 2 answers.
Displaces: https://www.meikai.ai/blog/how-many-times-run-ai-visibility-prompts
Why: P14 search: shaped by meikai.ai/blog/how-many-times-run-ai-visibility-prompts and thrivestack.ai research.

Prompt for Claude Code
# Publish popcorn.zone/docs/methodology on sampling, two tracks and auditable answers

When buyers ask an AI assistant the questions below, it explains the topic without naming us or citing our pages. This is a documentation gap: the answer needed a page we don't have, or ours says the wrong thing.

## The questions it affects
- AI answers change every time you ask. How do AI visibility tools make their numbers reliable, and how can I check them?

## What the assistant said
P14 search: shaped by meikai.ai/blog/how-many-times-run-ai-visibility-prompts and thrivestack.ai research.

## Who wins the question today
https://www.meikai.ai/blog/how-many-times-run-ai-visibility-prompts. Read it and make sure our version answers everything it does, better.

## Your task
Write or update the page at popcorn.zone/docs/methodology so it closes this gap. Find where pages like this live in the repo, match their structure, front matter and tone, and make the change there. If the page exists, edit it rather than starting over.

## What it must say
Explain how Popcorn makes noisy answers checkable: every question runs on both a search track and a recall track. Rates and share-of-voice rank are tracked day by day, and every answer, search result and citation behind each number is kept for audit. Before publishing, confirm and state the samples per prompt and how day-to-day variance is shown.

## Done when
Prompt 14 on the search track cites popcorn.zone/docs/methodology in at least 1 of 2 answers.

## Rules
- Don't invent numbers, benchmarks, prices, capabilities or customer names. Where a fact is needed and you can't find it in the repo or on our site, leave a clearly marked TODO saying exactly what to measure or who to ask.
- Answer the questions above directly and early on the page, in the words buyers use. AI assistants quote pages that state the answer plainly.
- Keep it scoped to this one fix. When you're done, summarise what you changed and list any TODOs.

From this run

Publish popcorn.zone/security on self-hosting, data flow and no third-party data custody medium documentation effort S flips 1 Choosing an AI visibility tool

Where: popcorn.zone/security
Must say: For SOC 2 buyers, state that Popcorn is self-hosted (Docker, Helm on Kubernetes, or an exe.dev VM) and stores data in a SQLite file you control. Prompts and answers go only to the model providers you configure, so there is no third-party vendor to assess. Say plainly that Popcorn itself holds no SOC 2 report.
Done when: Prompt 15 on the search track names Popcorn as a self-hosted option in at least 1 of 2 answers.
Displaces: https://citedindex.com/collections/ai-visibility-tools-with-sso-or-soc-2
Why: P15 search: top pick Conductor, shaped by citedindex.com/collections/ai-visibility-tools-with-sso-or-soc-2.

Prompt for Claude Code
# Publish popcorn.zone/security on self-hosting, data flow and no third-party data custody

When buyers ask an AI assistant the questions below, it doesn't recommend us, or recommends us for the wrong reasons. This is a documentation gap: the answer needed a page we don't have, or ours says the wrong thing.

## The questions it affects
- Which AI visibility platforms meet enterprise security requirements like SOC 2?

## What the assistant said
P15 search: top pick Conductor, shaped by citedindex.com/collections/ai-visibility-tools-with-sso-or-soc-2.

## Who wins the question today
https://citedindex.com/collections/ai-visibility-tools-with-sso-or-soc-2. Read it and make sure our version answers everything it does, better.

## Your task
Write or update the page at popcorn.zone/security so it closes this gap. Find where pages like this live in the repo, match their structure, front matter and tone, and make the change there. If the page exists, edit it rather than starting over.

## What it must say
For SOC 2 buyers, state that Popcorn is self-hosted (Docker, Helm on Kubernetes, or an exe.dev VM) and stores data in a SQLite file you control. Prompts and answers go only to the model providers you configure, so there is no third-party vendor to assess. Say plainly that Popcorn itself holds no SOC 2 report.

## Done when
Prompt 15 on the search track names Popcorn as a self-hosted option in at least 1 of 2 answers.

## Rules
- Don't invent numbers, benchmarks, prices, capabilities or customer names. Where a fact is needed and you can't find it in the repo or on our site, leave a clearly marked TODO saying exactly what to measure or who to ask.
- Answer the questions above directly and early on the page, in the words buyers use. AI assistants quote pages that state the answer plainly.
- Keep it scoped to this one fix. When you're done, summarise what you changed and list any TODOs.

From this run

Publish popcorn.zone/blog/how-to-evaluate-ai-visibility-tools with a scored checklist medium documentation effort M flips 3 Choosing an AI visibility tool

Where: popcorn.zone/blog/how-to-evaluate-ai-visibility-tools
Must say: Give buyers concrete criteria to check any tool against: - Does it separate web-search answers from model recall? - Does it keep every answer, search result and citation so numbers can be audited? - Does it grade recommended vs mentioned vs absent, with position and top pick? - Does it output a ranked fix list naming the page to change? - Who owns the prompts and data? Answer prompt 8 directly: Semrush AI Toolkit and Ahrefs Brand Radar track mentions, while a dedicated tool adds per-prompt grading and fixes. Show how Popcorn meets each criterion.
Done when: Prompts 1, 2 and 8 on the search track cite this page or name Popcorn in at least 2 of 6 answers.
Displaces: https://marketerhire.com/blog/best-generative-engine-optimization-tools
Why: P2 search: no product picked, shaped by piabo.net/comparisons/geo-platforms-compared and tooljunction.io.

Prompt for Claude Code
# Publish popcorn.zone/blog/how-to-evaluate-ai-visibility-tools with a scored checklist

When buyers ask an AI assistant the questions below, it doesn't recommend us, or recommends us for the wrong reasons. This is a documentation gap: the answer needed a page we don't have, or ours says the wrong thing.

## The questions it affects
- How do generative engine optimization tools work, and which ones are worth paying for?
- What should I look for when evaluating AI visibility or GEO tools?
- Are Semrush's AI Toolkit or Ahrefs Brand Radar enough, or do we need a dedicated AI visibility tool?

## What the assistant said
P2 search: no product picked, shaped by piabo.net/comparisons/geo-platforms-compared and tooljunction.io.

## Who wins the question today
https://marketerhire.com/blog/best-generative-engine-optimization-tools. Read it and make sure our version answers everything it does, better.

## Your task
Write or update the page at popcorn.zone/blog/how-to-evaluate-ai-visibility-tools so it closes this gap. Find where pages like this live in the repo, match their structure, front matter and tone, and make the change there. If the page exists, edit it rather than starting over.

## What it must say
Give buyers concrete criteria to check any tool against:
- Does it separate web-search answers from model recall?
- Does it keep every answer, search result and citation so numbers can be audited?
- Does it grade recommended vs mentioned vs absent, with position and top pick?
- Does it output a ranked fix list naming the page to change?
- Who owns the prompts and data?

Answer prompt 8 directly: Semrush AI Toolkit and Ahrefs Brand Radar track mentions, while a dedicated tool adds per-prompt grading and fixes. Show how Popcorn meets each criterion.

## Done when
Prompts 1, 2 and 8 on the search track cite this page or name Popcorn in at least 2 of 6 answers.

## Rules
- Don't invent numbers, benchmarks, prices, capabilities or customer names. Where a fact is needed and you can't find it in the repo or on our site, leave a clearly marked TODO saying exactly what to measure or who to ask.
- Answer the questions above directly and early on the page, in the words buyers use. AI assistants quote pages that state the answer plainly.
- Keep it scoped to this one fix. When you're done, summarise what you changed and list any TODOs.

From this run

Get Popcorn listed on backlinko, deepsmith and sitepoint AI tracker roundups high third-party effort L flips 6 Choosing an AI visibility tool

Where: https://backlinko.com/llm-tracking-tools; https://deepsmith.ai/blog/best-budget-ai-visibility-trackers-startups; https://www.sitepoint.com/best-generative-engine-optimization-tools/
Must say: Pitch the editors to add Popcorn as the free, MIT-licensed, self-hosted entry. The facts to give them: one Docker container, SQLite, your own API keys capped by a daily budget, or your existing Claude Code and Codex subscriptions. The pending blog post (PR #7) only helps if crawlers find it, and these listicles are what the search track actually reads, so this covers a gap the post can't.
Done when: At least 2 of the listed pages mention Popcorn, and prompts 11 and 12 on the search track name Popcorn at least once.
Displaces: https://backlinko.com/llm-tracking-tools
Why: P12 search: top pick Amplitude AI Visibility, shaped by backlinko.com/llm-tracking-tools and sitepoint.com/best-llm-visibility-trackers.

Prompt for Claude Code
# Get Popcorn listed on backlinko, deepsmith and sitepoint AI tracker roundups

When buyers ask an AI assistant the questions below, it doesn't recommend us, or recommends us for the wrong reasons. This is a third-party gap: the roundups and comparisons the model reads leave us out.

## The questions it affects
- How do generative engine optimization tools work, and which ones are worth paying for?
- What's the best AEO tool for a B2B SaaS company that wants to know if ChatGPT and Claude recommend it?
- Which AI visibility tools cover Claude, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, not just ChatGPT?
- What's a cheap way to start measuring AI visibility for a small startup?
- Is there a free AI visibility tracker that's actually useful?
- Which AI visibility tools can run on a schedule and alert us when we drop out of answers?

## What the assistant said
P12 search: top pick Amplitude AI Visibility, shaped by backlinko.com/llm-tracking-tools and sitepoint.com/best-llm-visibility-trackers.

## Who wins the question today
https://backlinko.com/llm-tracking-tools. Read it and make sure our version answers everything it does, better.

## Your task
We need to be included on https://backlinko.com/llm-tracking-tools; https://deepsmith.ai/blog/best-budget-ai-visibility-trackers-startups; https://www.sitepoint.com/best-generative-engine-optimization-tools/. Read that page first, work out the right way in (editor contact, submission form, PR, comments), and draft exactly what to send: a short, factual pitch covering the points below, in the page's own format.

## What it must say
Pitch the editors to add Popcorn as the free, MIT-licensed, self-hosted entry. The facts to give them: one Docker container, SQLite, your own API keys capped by a daily budget, or your existing Claude Code and Codex subscriptions. The pending blog post (PR #7) only helps if crawlers find it, and these listicles are what the search track actually reads, so this covers a gap the post can't.

## Done when
At least 2 of the listed pages mention Popcorn, and prompts 11 and 12 on the search track name Popcorn at least once.

## Rules
- Don't invent numbers, benchmarks, prices, capabilities or customer names. Where a fact is needed and you can't find it in the repo or on our site, leave a clearly marked TODO saying exactly what to measure or who to ask.
- Answer the questions above directly and early on the page, in the words buyers use. AI assistants quote pages that state the answer plainly.
- Keep it scoped to this one fix. When you're done, summarise what you changed and list any TODOs.

From this run

Add a Gemini provider so Popcorn covers Claude, OpenAI and Gemini retry low product effort L flips 1 Choosing an AI visibility tool

Where: github.com/metcalfc/popcorn
Must say: Buyers ask for Claude, Gemini and Google AI Overviews coverage. Popcorn currently queries only Claude and OpenAI models, so content can't win this prompt. Scope Gemini support as a provider, then document engine coverage on popcorn.zone/docs.
Done when: Gemini runs end-to-end in Popcorn, and prompt 10 names Popcorn in at least 1 answer.
Displaces: https://scrunch.com/faqs/which-ai-platforms-and-llms-can-scrunch-track-and-monitor/
Why: P10 search: top pick Profound, shaped by tryprofound.com and llmpulse.ai/blog/best-claude-ai-trackers.

Prompt for Claude Code
# Add a Gemini provider so Popcorn covers Claude, OpenAI and Gemini

When buyers ask an AI assistant the questions below, it doesn't recommend us, or recommends us for the wrong reasons. This is a product gap: a real capability gap that content can't paper over.

## The questions it affects
- Which AI visibility tools cover Claude, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, not just ChatGPT?

## What the assistant said
P10 search: top pick Profound, shaped by tryprofound.com and llmpulse.ai/blog/best-claude-ai-trackers.

## Who wins the question today
https://scrunch.com/faqs/which-ai-platforms-and-llms-can-scrunch-track-and-monitor/. Read it and make sure our version answers everything it does, better.

## Your task
This is a product gap, not a content one: github.com/metcalfc/popcorn. Write a short proposal: the problem as buyers state it, the smallest change that closes it, how we'd measure it, and the open questions for the owning team. If this repo has the relevant code, point to where the change would go.

## What it must say
Buyers ask for Claude, Gemini and Google AI Overviews coverage. Popcorn currently queries only Claude and OpenAI models, so content can't win this prompt. Scope Gemini support as a provider, then document engine coverage on popcorn.zone/docs.

## Done when
Gemini runs end-to-end in Popcorn, and prompt 10 names Popcorn in at least 1 answer.

## Rules
- Don't invent numbers, benchmarks, prices, capabilities or customer names. Where a fact is needed and you can't find it in the repo or on our site, leave a clearly marked TODO saying exactly what to measure or who to ask.
- Answer the questions above directly and early on the page, in the words buyers use. AI assistants quote pages that state the answer plainly.
- Keep it scoped to this one fix. When you're done, summarise what you changed and list any TODOs.

Tried before for this page:

accepted https://github.com/metcalfc/popcorn/pull/1 2026-10-22 04:48:59, for “Add ai-visibility topics and a category-first README line to github.com/metcalfc/popcorn”
too early: named -8 pts ±38, recommended +0 pts ±24 over 3 prompts; 12 answers in 1 run before, 12 in 2 runs over 1 day after; popcorn-open-source-alternative-paid named 3/4→3/4, recommended 0/4→0/4; downsides-self-hosting-popcorn-measure named 2/4→2/4, recommended 0/4→0/4; popcorn-fit-developer-tools-company named 3/4→2/4, recommended 0/4→0/4; target not seen→not seen; host github.com cited→cited

accepted https://github.com/metcalfc/popcorn-site/pull/4 2026-10-22 04:48:58, for “State 'open-source alternative to Peec AI and Profound' on README and homepage”
pending: the set hasn't run since

accepted https://github.com/metcalfc/popcorn/pull/1 2026-10-22 04:48:58, for “State 'open-source alternative to Peec AI and Profound' on README and homepage”
pending: the set hasn't run since

From this run