AI Visibility for CPG Brands
Your products are already being ranked by AI.
Do you know where you stand?

Xiphos audits how AI platforms find, describe, and recommend your products at the SKU level, then shows your team exactly what to fix.

Book a Strategy Call Request a Sample Audit
CPG-focused
SKU-level visibility
Evidence-based outputs
Built for retailer realities
The Shift

The rules have already changed.

AI is now the filter between shoppers and the shelf.

  • Shoppers ask ChatGPT to shortlist products, not browse endless pages.
  • AI does not reward hype. It rewards claims it can verify and product facts it can confirm.
  • If your signals are vague or inconsistent, you lose before a shopper ever reaches your product page.

This is not a visibility problem.

It's a selection problem.

Same shelf. Completely different treatment.

Old Playbook
  • Optimizes for: Clicks, rankings, retail media
  • Decided by: Human browsing
  • Measured by: Traffic, ROAS, share of search
New Playbook
  • Optimizes for: Selection in AI answers and carts
  • Decided by: AI validation and consistent signals
  • Measured by: Mentions, citations, selection, why you were skipped
What We Measure

Six dimensions of AI visibility,
measured at the SKU level.

AI visibility is not one metric. We separate mention, recommendation, shoppability, and purchase readiness so you can see exactly where selection breaks.

01

AI Share of Voice

How often your brand and SKUs show up vs competitors across your core query set.

  • Mentions by platform and query theme
  • SKU vs competitor presence
02

Share of Digital Shelf

Whether your SKU appears as a shoppable option with the right product details and retailer links.

  • Shoppable cards: image, price, size, retailer
  • Retailer coverage and SKU match accuracy
03

Active Exclusions

Where AI evaluates your category and selects competitors instead of you, captured at the query level.

  • Queries where competitors are recommended and you are not
  • Patterns tied to missing or conflicting signals
04

What AI Says About You

How AI describes your SKU in the moment of decision, and whether that language helps or hurts selection.

  • Accuracy of facts: ingredients, claims, pack sizes
  • Specificity vs generic category descriptions
05

Decision Drivers

The factors AI relies on when it justifies why one SKU gets recommended over another.

  • Top reasons cited or implied across queries
  • Sources and signals AI appears to trust most
06

In-Model Path to Purchase

On supported shopping surfaces, whether your SKU can actually convert inside the AI flow.

  • In-chat purchase availability and timing
  • Handoff quality, broken flows, and mismatches
How It Works

From questions to answers in weeks,
not months.

1
Scope

We lock the scope around your priority SKUs, target retailers, and the AI surfaces that matter. No generic templates. Everything is built around your category and competitive set.

2
Audit

We test how AI platforms interpret, describe, compare, and recommend your SKUs right now. Every finding is tied to captured outputs so you can see what AI said and why it matters.

3
Action Plan + Content

You get a prioritized fix list in two lanes: content and commerce. Then we deliver updated product copy you can publish, aligned to real query language, current AI decision signals, and retailer requirements.

4
Measure

We re-test the same priority queries on a schedule and track what changed. If AI behavior shifts, you see it early and adjust before it costs you.

The Audit

Not a dashboard. Not a deck.

A precision instrument.

Xiphos is a SKU-level diagnostic that shows how AI platforms describe, compare, and select your products right now. Built from real queries, captured AI outputs, and direct competitive comparisons, so your team can act without guessing.

What's inside the audit
Shortlist Coverage Map
Where you appear, where you drop out, and who replaces you across platforms and priority queries.
SKU Clarity Gaps
The exact details AI misses, misstates, or summarizes too vaguely to differentiate you.
Exclusion Evidence Log
Query-level proof of when your SKU is considered and passed over, including the language and context that drove it.
Selection Driver Analysis
A breakdown of what AI appears to reward in your category, and which signals influence recommendation decisions.
Source Trust Map
Which sources AI leans on most, where your brand surfaces are ignored, and where third-party sources override you.
PDP Readiness Review
A retailer-by-retailer check of whether your product pages are complete, consistent, and selection-ready.
Priority Fix Ladder
A ranked fix list in two lanes, Content and Commerce, sorted by impact and effort.
90-Day Execution Plan
A practical sequence of what to change first, next, and later, tied back to measurable outcomes.
Companion Content Package

You get deployable updates tied directly to what the audit found.

Included
  • Title and variant-ready title options (retailer-safe)
  • FAQ additions focused on the decision questions AI is using
  • Description improvements that reinforce differentiators with verifiable detail
  • Bullet upgrades aligned to shopper language and AI summarization
  • Structured data and schema recommendations, scoped to what matters
  • Image alt-text recommendations where applicable

Content you can publish. Not recommendations you have to interpret.

Request a Sample Audit Uses a fictional CPG brand to demonstrate the full methodology.
AI Visibility & Selection Audit
Hero SKU | Quarterly Deep-Dive | Q1 2026
Evidence: 46 outputs | 18 sources | 12 queries
Sample
Verdict:
High mention rate, low selection. Mentioned 18% of the time but shortlisted just 3%.
3%
Shortlist Rate
Low
Recommended in final set
42%
Selection Loss
High
Compared, then skipped
38 /100
Confidence
Low
Verifiability strength
Mention vs Shortlist
BrandMentionedShortlistedGap
Competitor A22%14%
Competitor B17%11%
Competitor C14%9%
Your Brand18%3%15 pts
Mentions are not selections.
Why AI skipped your SKU
Top blockers driving selection loss:
  • Pack size conflict
  • Claims not verified
  • Availability unclear
Most common: Pack size conflict
Top fix: Normalize pack size + claims across PDPs and brand.com
Selection Journey (sample)
QuerySurfaceEvidenceOutcome
Best snacks for kids ChatGPT Not cited Excluded
Made with real fruit Perplexity Cited: PDP Not Selected
Bulk for families Walmart AI Cited: Brand Included
Each outcome captured with exact AI response text.
Retailer Coverage
Walmart Present
Amazon Missing
Target Wrong SKU
Kroger Not detected
Coverage issues reduce selection confidence.
Priority Fix Ladder
1
Pack size consistency
Titles, bullets, PDP specs
High Low
2
Add decision FAQs
Use-case and comparison queries
High Med
3
Verify key claims
Trusted sources and citations
High Med
Ranked by impact and effort.
Who This Is For

Built for CPG teams that want clarity, not AI theater.

If AI is influencing discovery and purchase, this tells you what is actually happening to your SKUs and why.

Most engagements start with one hero SKU, then scale across the portfolio.

Great fit when you are responsible for:
  • Digital shelf performance across major retailers
  • Ecommerce content, PDP quality, and conversion
  • Brand visibility and competitive positioning
  • Category-level outcomes tied to specific SKUs
Not built for:
  • Teams looking for a shiny AI tool with vague outputs
  • One-time curiosity with no intent to act
  • Brand-only narratives that ignore SKU reality
Primary teams
Brand
You own positioning and trust.
You care about
  • How your products are described in AI answers
  • Whether your differentiators actually show up
  • Why competitors get framed as the better choice
You get
  • A language accuracy and differentiation readout
  • Evidence of where your brand story breaks
  • Fixes that make AI descriptions more specific and credible
Ecommerce
You own content and conversion.
You care about
  • Whether the right SKU appears as purchasable
  • Retailer coverage gaps and wrong-SKU matches
  • PDP completeness and consistency across channels
You get
  • A shoppability and retailer coverage diagnostic
  • PDP readiness findings tied to selection outcomes
  • A prioritized fix ladder your team can execute
Digital Shelf
You own visibility at the SKU level.
You care about
  • When you are mentioned but not shortlisted
  • Where selection losses are happening by query
  • Which signals AI seems to reward in your category
You get
  • Mention vs shortlist measurement across platforms
  • Query-level exclusion evidence and patterns
  • A clear plan for what to change first to move selection
About

From the Founder

Cary Tobey, Founder of Xiphos AI
Cary Tobey
Founder, Xiphos AI

The shelf has changed. More and more, AI is filtering what gets recommended and what gets skipped. Yet most teams don't have a clear picture of what AI actually says about their SKUs or why they're overlooked.

I've spent decades helping CPG manufacturers make sure their brands show up strong in buyer conversations. Now I'm applying that same lens to build Xiphos, ensuring AI systems recognize the right signals so your SKUs don't get skipped. Xiphos delivers a focused, evidence-based service that captures real AI outputs and turns them into a clear, prioritized plan to improve selection.

I lead every engagement, supported by a streamlined process that scales as needed and I personally ensure each finding and recommendation aligns with your category, your SKUs, and your competitive set.

If you're responsible for figuring out AI for your products, I'd love to talk.

Let's Talk

Schedule an AI Visibility Strategy Call

If you are responsible for a CPG brand and want a clear, grounded view of how AI is treating your SKUs today, let's talk. We will walk through your current situation, the surfaces that matter most to you, and whether an Xiphos audit makes sense for your team.

For CPG brand and ecommerce leaders looking to understand how AI is treating their SKUs today.

Common Questions

FAQs

Is this just SEO with an AI label on it?
No. SEO focuses on search rankings and website traffic. Xiphos focuses on how AI systems interpret, compare, and recommend your products across AI assistants, retailer ecosystems, and agentic commerce platforms. Different problem. Different methodology.
Do you just diagnose problems, or do you provide actual content?
Both. Every audit includes a companion set of AI-optimized product content: titles, bullet points, descriptions, FAQs, alt text, and schema recommendations, ready to deploy. The content is built from real consumer and AI query language in your category and aligned with the signals AI platforms rely on when selecting products. Your existing teams or agencies handle publishing. We give them exactly what to publish and why.
How technical does my team need to be?
If your brand, ecommerce, or shopper teams can act on clear recommendations, you can use Xiphos. The audit is designed for non-technical leaders, with technical elements like schema and structured data documented clearly for your dev team to implement.
How quickly will we see results?
Improvement depends on how quickly fixes are deployed and how often AI platforms refresh the sources they rely on. Content updates like titles, bullets, and FAQs typically move first. Infrastructure changes like schema and crawlability take longer but have deeper impact. The 90-day roadmap is structured so early fixes build momentum. We re-test on a defined schedule so you can see what changed and what still needs work.
What if we only have a few SKUs?
We can start with a single hero SKU. The value comes from precision at the SKU level, not volume for its own sake. Most engagements begin focused and expand based on what the first audit reveals.
Do you guarantee improved rankings or selection?
No service can guarantee placement within AI systems that are constantly evolving. Xiphos strengthens the signals that influence how AI platforms interpret and compare your products, and provides measurable evidence of movement over time.
What's up with the name, "Xiphos"?
A xiphos (ZIF-oss) is a double-edged ancient short sword built for close-range precision work. That is the idea.