Organisation quickstart
Get your Outercite workspace running in your first session, from account creation to your first report, with a Day 1-5 plan.
You can go from a blank account to a live citation rate report in a single session; times vary depending on your setup. This guide walks you through exactly that, then gives you a practical five-day plan to build momentum.
What you'll learn
- How to create your account and configure your workspace
- How to add your first keywords and competitors
- What to expect on Days 1 through 5
Day 1: Create your account and workspace
Step 1: Sign up and name your workspace
Go to /onboarding and create your account. When prompted, enter your organisation name. This becomes your workspace name and appears on all reports, so use your trading name exactly as customers know it.
If you are part of a larger group, use the name of the specific brand you are tracking, not the parent company. You can create additional workspaces later if you need to track separate brands.
Step 2: Add your business details
Outercite uses your business name, website, and a short description to identify citations correctly across six AI engines: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI, Grok, and DeepSeek.
Fill in:
- Business name (exactly as AI engines typically spell it)
- Website URL (your primary domain)
- One-sentence description (what you do and where, e.g. "A Sydney-based accounting firm for small businesses")
The description helps the verification pipeline match citations accurately when your name is common or ambiguous.
Step 3: Add your first keywords
This is the most important setup step. Keywords in Outercite are actually prompts: the questions real customers type into AI search engines when they are looking for what you sell.
The your first keyword guide covers this in depth. For now, add between 5 and 15 prompts. A retail pharmacy in Perth, for example, might start with:
- "pharmacy near me open now"
- "where to buy a blood pressure monitor in Perth"
- "best pharmacy for script delivery"
Click Save keywords when you are done.
Day 2: Add competitors and wait for your first data
Step 4: Add up to five competitors
Go to /competitors and add the URLs of your closest competitors. Outercite tracks their citation rates alongside yours so you can see share of voice (your proportion of AI citations compared to the field).
You do not need to add all competitors on day one. Start with the two or three you care about most. You can add more any time. See how to add a competitor for the full steps.
Step 5: Let the first checks run
Outercite submits your keywords to all six AI engines and runs each response through the two-model verification pipeline. The first full sweep typically completes within a few hours. You will see a notification when your first report is ready.
Outercite submits every keyword to all six AI engines and verifies each response through a two-model pipeline. Your first results may take up to 12 hours if verification volumes are high.
Day 3: Read your first report
Open /reports. You will see your overall citation rate and visibility score at the top, followed by a per-engine breakdown.
The reading your first report guide explains every number in detail. For now, focus on two things:
- Which engines cite you? Some engines (Perplexity, Grok, ChatGPT) tend to cite more often than others (Google AI). If you have zero citations on Google AI, that is normal at this stage.
- Which keywords get zero citations? These are your priority gaps.
Day 4: Act on one insight
Do not try to fix everything at once. Pick the single keyword with the biggest gap between your citation rate and the aggregate benchmark (48%) and investigate the AI response for that prompt.
Common reasons for zero citations on a keyword:
- Your website is not clearly associated with that topic
- A competitor has more authoritative content on the subject
- The prompt is too generic and AI engines cite category pages instead of specific businesses
Your insights feed will surface suggested actions. Mark one as complete after you have taken it.
Day 5: Set up alerts and invite your team
Set up a surge alert
Go to /settings/notifications and create a surge alert for your most important keyword. A surge alert fires when your citation rate on that prompt changes significantly, up or down, so you hear about big shifts before your weekly report.
See how to set up alerts for the full configuration guide.
Invite a colleague
If a colleague owns content or SEO, invite them to the workspace. Go to Settings > Team and send an invite. They can view reports and insights without needing to manage the account. See how to invite your team.
A quick Day 1-5 summary
| Day | Task | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Create account, add business details, add first keywords | /onboarding |
| 2 | Add competitors, wait for first checks | /competitors |
| 3 | Read your first report | /reports |
| 4 | Act on one insight | /dashboard |
| 5 | Set up alerts, invite team | /settings/notifications |
Try this in Outercite
Ready to start? Open the onboarding flow and complete Steps 1 through 3 now. First results typically arrive within a few hours of your initial checks running.
Related
Your first keyword
How to choose prompts that reflect real buying intent, with examples and guidance on how many to start with.
Reading your first report
What every number in your first report means, and what to action first.
What is a citation?
Understand exactly what Outercite counts as a citation and how the verification pipeline confirms it.
How to add a competitor
Step-by-step guide to adding competitors and interpreting share of voice.