You create a monitor in two steps: first the website, brand, location, language and AI models, then the prompts. Before you start, check the location and the language. You cannot change either one after the monitor is created.
To monitor another location or language later, you create another monitor. It uses another monitor slot and its own prompts from your allowance.
What you need before you start
A new monitor needs a free monitor slot and at least one free prompt. If you have none left, Create new monitor opens the message "You've reached the limit of your plan." instead. AI Search Watcher limits: monitors and prompts explains how to make room.
Step 1: website, brand, location, language and AI models
Select Create new monitor. If you have no monitors yet, AI Search Watcher opens this page on its own.
Under Website, type your domain, for example
example.com. You can paste a full URL: AI Search Watcher removes the path and keeps the web address, sohttps://www.example.com/blogbecomeswww.example.com.Under Brand, type your brand name as people write it. If the field is empty, AI Search Watcher fills it in from the website, so check it. The brand must be 2 to 50 characters, without commas or brackets.
Under Brand name variations, add other ways people write your brand. This field is optional.
Choose the Location and the Language. Both are permanent.
Under LLMs to monitor, choose the AI models to check.
Select Next: Prompts.
Add brand name variations
AI answers often name a brand in a different way, for example by its domain, a short form or a common misspelling. Add those forms as brand name variations, so AI Search Watcher recognizes them as your brand.
Press Enter or type a comma after each variation. You can add up to 10, each 2 to 50 characters long. You can change the variations later in Settings.
Location and language cannot be changed
A monitor's location and language cannot be changed after you create it. In step 1, a warning icon next to Location and Language says "This setting is permanent and cannot be changed later." when you point at it.
The form starts with United States and English. Choose the country your customers are in, and the language they ask AI tools in.
If you choose the wrong one, the only fix is to create a new monitor with the right location or language. Delete the wrong monitor afterwards to free its slot and prompts.
Choose the AI models
ChatGPT Search and Google AI Overviews are selected at the start. Tick the others you want to check. Each AI model checks all of the monitor's prompts. You can change the AI models later in Settings, but removing a model deletes its results for the monitor.
Google AI Mode is available only in some countries. For other locations, the option is greyed out. Point at it and AI Search Watcher says "AI Mode is currently not supported for selected location, try creating a monitor with another location." To monitor AI Mode, create the monitor for a supported country.
Step 2: add your prompts
AI Search Watcher suggests prompts for your brand, website, location and language. The suggestions are generated by AI, so review them and remove any that do not fit your brand. Select Regenerate suggestions for a new set.
To add your own, type a prompt and press Enter. To add many at once, paste a column from a spreadsheet: each line becomes one prompt.
The counter shows how many prompts you entered and how many you have available, for example "3 entered | 2 available". On the free AI Search Watcher plan, the suggestions fill all 5 prompts. Remove the ones you do not need before you add your own.
If you enter more prompts than you have available, the counter shows how many are "over limit". It says "Delete some of the prompts or Upgrade your account to proceed." Create monitor does nothing until you delete enough prompts. When the counter is within your limit, select Create monitor.
Which prompts are accepted?
A prompt is 5 to 500 characters long.
Each prompt in a monitor must be different. "This prompt already exists" means the same prompt is already in the list, even with different capital letters.
Write prompts in the monitor's language, as a customer would ask them.
"Monitor for brand ... already exists"
You cannot create two monitors for the same brand and website in the same location. Capital letters and a leading www. make no difference. When you select Next: Prompts, AI Search Watcher shows this message under Brand and stays on step 1. Open the existing monitor instead, or choose a different location.
After you create the monitor
AI Search Watcher says "Monitor created successfully" and opens the monitor's Brand dashboard. The dashboard shows "Collecting your brand insights from AI search platforms". The screen says this usually takes about 10 minutes, and longer when the AI models are slow to respond. The page refreshes on its own when the results are ready.
Until the first results arrive, Prompts, Citations, Recommendations, Share & Looker Studio, API & MCP, Settings and the Add prompts button are greyed out. These items become available on their own when the data is ready. If the monitor is still collecting long after that, see Why your monitor shows no data yet.
After the first check, AI Search Watcher checks the monitor once a week, on Tuesdays. To understand the results, read How AI Search Watcher works.