TL;DR — Filter the GEO Matrix to Funnel Stage: TOFU to see which awareness-stage topics include your brand across each AI provider. Check Compare > By Funnel on the TOFU tab to see how you rank against competitors at the awareness stage. Use Strategy > Content Opportunities to identify informational content gaps you can fill. Pro tip: if your TOFU score is significantly lower than your MOFU score, AI knows your brand but does not associate it with educating users — you need more foundational content.
The Question
“How visible is my brand at the top of the funnel in AI search?”Top-of-funnel AI queries are the informational questions people ask when they are first learning about a problem or category: “what is X”, “how does X work”, “best practices for X”. These queries generate the initial impressions that shape whether AI models associate your brand with a topic at all. If you are invisible at TOFU, you rarely get a second chance — the consideration and purchase stages both inherit the brand associations formed at awareness. You might also be wondering:
- “Which TOFU topics is my brand already appearing for in AI responses?”
- “How do my TOFU visibility scores compare to competitors?”
- “What content should I create to improve my top-of-funnel AI presence?”
Where to Go in Qwairy
Start here: Overview > GEO Matrix (TOFU filter)
Navigate to Overview > GEO Matrix and apply the Funnel Stage: TOFU filter.
The matrix now shows only your top-of-funnel prompts, with rows representing topics and columns representing AI providers.
Each cell displays your Brand Mention Visibility for that specific TOFU topic-provider combination — dark cells are awareness gaps.
Go deeper: Visibility > Prompts (TOFU-tagged prompts)
Navigate to Visibility > Prompts and filter by Tag: TOFU (or by the funnel stage if your workspace uses that taxonomy).
Review the individual prompt texts to understand exactly which informational queries are being monitored.
Click into any prompt to see its full response history across providers — this reveals whether your brand appears and what context surrounds the mention.
Complete the picture: Compare > By Funnel (TOFU tab) + GSC
Open Compare > By Funnel and select the TOFU tab to see a side-by-side competitive ranking for awareness-stage prompts.
Then cross-reference with Strategy > Google Search Console — look for informational queries (how, what, why, guide) driving organic traffic, as these often map directly to the TOFU prompts where AI visibility matters most.
What to Look For
GEO Matrix — TOFU Filtered View
With the TOFU filter active, the matrix becomes a map of your awareness-stage AI presence. Strong TOFU visibility means AI models introduce your brand to users who are still in the “learning” phase — the most influential moment in the buyer journey for long-consideration purchases.| Element | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Cell color intensity | Darker = higher Brand Mention Visibility for that TOFU topic on that provider |
| Empty cells | Topics where your brand is completely absent at the awareness stage |
| Row averages | Your overall TOFU visibility per topic across all providers |
| Column averages | Which AI providers are most likely to mention your brand for TOFU queries |
Compare > By Funnel — TOFU Competitive Ranking
The funnel comparison view ranks you and your tracked competitors by their average Brand Mention Visibility on TOFU prompts. This is the single most direct answer to “are we visible at the top of funnel compared to who we compete with.”Pro Tip: A brand can have high overall visibility but weak TOFU presence, meaning AI models only mention it at the comparison or purchase stage. Check whether your TOFU score is proportionally lower than your MOFU score — that gap signals a brand awareness problem, not just a GEO problem.
Filters That Help
| Filter | How to use it for this question |
|---|---|
| Funnel Stage | Apply TOFU in GEO Matrix and Prompts to scope all views to awareness-stage data |
| Provider | Identify which AI model has the worst TOFU visibility for your brand — this is often the platform to prioritize with informational content |
| Period | Use 90 days for TOFU analysis — awareness-stage visibility builds slowly and short windows may underrepresent progress |
How to Interpret the Results
Good result
Brand Mention Visibility above 35% across TOFU-tagged prompts, with at least two major providers (ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini) showing consistent inclusion in informational responses. Your brand appears in the GEO Matrix on your core category topics even when the query has no purchase intent. The Compare > By Funnel TOFU ranking places you in the top 3 among tracked competitors.Needs attention
Brand Mention Visibility below 15% on TOFU prompts, or a pattern where your brand appears frequently on MOFU/BOFU queries (comparisons, purchase intent) but is largely absent from TOFU (informational) queries. This “bottom-heavy” visibility profile means AI models know your brand exists but do not associate it with educating users — you are dependent on users already knowing to look for you, which limits new audience acquisition.Example
Scenario: Your travel platform ranks well for “book flights to Bali” (BOFU) but wants to understand whether AI models mention your brand when travelers search “best time to visit Southeast Asia” or “how to plan a backpacking trip” (TOFU).
- Open Overview > GEO Matrix and apply Funnel Stage: TOFU. The matrix shows your brand in 3 out of 22 monitored TOFU cells — you appear in the “travel insurance tips” topic row on Perplexity, but are absent from “destination guides”, “travel planning basics”, “visa requirements”, and “budget travel tips” across all providers.
- Navigate to Visibility > Prompts, filter by TOFU, and click into the “how to plan a trip to Japan” prompt. Read the ChatGPT response — Lonely Planet, TripAdvisor, and Nomadic Matt are mentioned by name as authoritative planning resources. Your platform is not referenced despite having 40+ Japan destination pages.
- Open Strategy > Content Opportunities to identify which informational travel content themes lack coverage on your domain. Create or expand a “destination planning hub” with comprehensive guides targeting the 4 topic gaps identified in the GEO Matrix — starting with the highest-search-volume destinations. Set a 90-day review reminder to track whether the new content earns AI citations for awareness-stage travel queries.
Go Further
Export TOFU visibility data
Export top-of-funnel visibility data by topic and provider as CSV for your content team
TOFU performance dashboard
Build a TOFU performance dashboard in Looker Studio using the tag-performance data source filtered to awareness queries
Funnel strategy for GEO
Read the GEO Guide for strategies on dominating the top-of-funnel in AI-powered search
Related Questions
Does AI recommend my brand in the comparison/consideration phase?
Move down the funnel — measure MOFU visibility for comparison-stage queries
Where in the funnel am I losing to competitors?
Find the specific funnel stage where competitor mentions outpace yours
How visible is my brand in AI-powered search engines?
Your overall AI visibility baseline before breaking it down by funnel stage