Set Up Alerts

Alerts tell you when something important changes in your AI search visibility, without requiring you to log in and check every day. Set them up once and Outercite will reach out to you when the numbers move.

What you'll learn

• The three main alert types and when to use each
• How to configure thresholds and delivery channels (email and Slack)
• How to test an alert before relying on it

Alert types

Outercite supports three alert categories for organisation workspaces.

Each type can be configured independently with its own threshold and routing.

Step 1: Open the Alerts screen

1. Log in and go to your Dashboard.
2. Click Notifications in Settings. The URL is /settings/notifications.
3. Click New Alert in the top-right corner.

Step 2: Choose an alert type

Select one of the three types from the dropdown. The form changes to show the relevant settings for that type.

Lost citation alert

A lost citation alert fires when a keyword that previously cited your brand returns a result that no longer mentions you.

• Engines: Choose specific engines or select "Any engine". Tracking all six is the most complete setup.
• Sensitivity: "Immediate" fires on the first lost citation. "Confirmed" waits for two consecutive check cycles before alerting. Confirmed is better for stable monitoring; Immediate is better if you want early warning.

New competitor alert

This alert fires when auto-discovery surfaces a brand you are not already tracking.

• Threat level filter: You can choose to alert only on Medium or High threat levels. This keeps notifications focused on rivals that genuinely overlap with your keyword set.

Surge alert

A surge alert fires when citation rate rises by more than a set percentage within a rolling window.

• Direction: "My brand" to catch your own upswings. "Competitor" to watch a rival. You can create separate alerts for each.
• Threshold: The default is a moderate relative increase over a short rolling window. Raise this if you get too many notifications; lower it if you want early signals.
• Window: 7-day rolling is the standard. A 24-hour window is available for high-frequency monitoring.

Step 3: Choose a delivery channel

Each alert can be sent to one or more channels.

Email

Enter one or more email addresses separated by commas. Every person on the list receives the notification. This is the simplest option and requires no additional setup.

Slack

1. In the channel field, click Connect Slack.
2. Authorise the Outercite app in your Slack workspace.
3. Select the channel where notifications should appear (for example, #seo-alerts or #marketing).
4. Click Save.

You can combine email and Slack on the same alert. For example, send lost-citation alerts to a Slack channel so the whole team sees them, and send surge alerts to your personal email for async review.

Step 4: Name and save the alert

Give the alert a short, clear name (for example, "Lost citations - any engine" or "Competitor surge - Perplexity"). You will see this name in your notification and in the Alerts list. Click Save Alert.

Step 5: Test the alert

After saving, click the three-dot menu next to the alert name and select Send test notification. This sends a sample message to every configured channel so you can confirm routing is working before a real event occurs.

Managing existing alerts

The Alerts screen lists all saved alerts with their type, threshold, and last triggered date. You can:

• Edit any alert to change thresholds or routing without losing its history.
• Pause an alert temporarily (useful during a planned site migration when citation drops are expected).
• Delete an alert you no longer need.

Tips for a low-noise alert setup

• Start with one lost-citation alert on Confirmed sensitivity and one surge alert for competitors. Add more once you understand your citation patterns.
• Review alerts quarterly. Thresholds that were right at launch may need adjusting as your citation volume grows.
• Use separate Slack channels for different alert types so the team can act on the right signals without distraction.

Try this in Outercite

Create your first alert in under two minutes.

Open Alerts in Outercite

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