Troubleshooting

Common Issues and Solutions

If you're running into problems with 99Visibility, check the issues below. Most problems have straightforward fixes.

Audit is taking too long

A typical audit takes 2-3 minutes. If your audit has been running for more than 10 minutes:

1. Check the audit status on your Dashboard. If it shows "Running," it's still processing — some platforms may respond slowly during peak hours.
2. If the status shows "Failed," the audit encountered an error. See "Audit failed/error" below.
3. Audits with 25 keywords take longer than audits with 5 keywords. If speed matters, try a smaller keyword set.
4. If the audit is stuck for more than 15 minutes, refresh the page. If the problem persists, contact support.

Low visibility score on first audit

A low score on your first audit is normal and doesn't mean something is wrong. Most brands score between 20-50 on their first audit. Here's why:

• If you haven't optimized for AI platforms before, your content likely isn't structured for AI extraction.
• Newer or smaller brands have less training data in AI models, resulting in lower mention rates.
• Missing schema markup means AI has less structured data to work with.

Don't be discouraged. Your first audit establishes a baseline. Implement the recommendations and re-audit in 1-2 weeks to measure improvement. Most brands see a 10-20 point improvement after implementing their first round of fixes.

Hallucination detection seems inaccurate

If 99Visibility is flagging correct information as a hallucination or missing actual inaccuracies:

1. Check your brand profile. Go to Settings and verify that your pricing, features, and description are up to date. The detection engine compares AI responses against this data — if your profile is incomplete or outdated, results will be unreliable.
2. Be specific in your brand data. Instead of "competitive pricing," enter your actual plan names and prices. Instead of "many features," list your key features by name.
3. Review flagged items manually. Click on any hallucination alert to see the AI claim alongside your brand data. You can dismiss false positives, which helps improve future detection.

The more detailed your brand profile, the more accurate hallucination detection becomes. See Hallucination Detection for more details.

Can't add competitors

If the "Add Competitor" button is disabled or you see a plan limit message:

• Check your plan's competitor limit: Starter allows 1 competitor, Growth allows 2, and Pro allows 3. See Billing & Plans.
• If you've reached your limit, remove an existing competitor before adding a new one, or upgrade your plan.
• Make sure you're entering a valid domain name (e.g., competitor.com, not a full URL).

Audit failed with an error

If your audit shows a "Failed" status:

1. Try again. The most common cause is a temporary API error from one of the AI platforms. Wait a minute and run the audit again.
2. Check your keywords. Extremely long or malformed keywords can cause parsing errors. Keep keywords under 200 characters and use natural language.
3. Check your plan limits. If you've exceeded your monthly audit limit, the audit will fail. Upgrade your plan or wait until your limit resets.
4. If audits fail repeatedly, contact support with your audit ID (shown in the error message) and we'll investigate.

Score not improving after changes

If you've implemented recommendations but your score hasn't changed:

1. Timing matters. Perplexity and Google AI pick up content changes within days. ChatGPT and Claude rely on training data that updates less frequently — it may take weeks or months for changes to appear in their responses.
2. Verify implementation. Double-check that your changes are live and correctly implemented. For schema markup, use Google's Rich Results Test to validate.
3. Run enough keywords. If your keyword set is small, one or two stubborn queries can hold your score down. Consider adding more keywords to get a broader picture.
4. Check per-platform scores. Your overall score may be flat while individual platform scores move. Look at the platform breakdown to see if specific platforms are improving while others lag.
5. Be patient. GEO is not instant. Consistent improvements compound over time. Most brands see steady progress over 4-8 weeks of active optimization.

If none of these solutions help, reach out to support and we'll review your account.