Real buyer questions per industry, grouped by intent — the starting point for a prompt set that measures discovery rather than your own brand name.
For B2B SaaS, AI visibility is decided in the shortlist phase: a buyer asks an assistant which tools solve a problem, and two or three names come back. Tracking that means running the questions buyers actually ask — category best-of, head-to-head comparisons, integration questions, pricing questions and switching questions — rather than your own brand name.
In e-commerce the AI answer often replaces the category page: a shopper asks for the best product for a situation and receives three recommendations with links. Visibility here is product- and use-case-shaped rather than brand-shaped, so the prompt set has to follow how shoppers describe problems, constraints and budgets.
For local service businesses, AI answers behave like a referral: the assistant names two or three providers for a place and a job. What decides inclusion is rarely brand strength — it is whether the service, the area served and the practical details are stated plainly somewhere an engine can retrieve and attribute.
Agencies are chosen through questions that mix capability, price and trust, and AI assistants answer them by describing categories of agency rather than naming many brands. Tracking that means measuring both whether you are named and whether the description of your specialism matches what you actually sell.
Fintech answers are constrained by caution: assistants hedge on money questions, prefer regulated and well-documented sources, and often describe categories instead of naming providers. Visibility work here is about being the clearly documented, verifiable option rather than the loudest one.
Healthcare answers are the most heavily hedged of any category: assistants add safety language, prefer institutional sources and often decline to name providers. Visibility work for a clinic is therefore about being the clearly documented, verifiable local option in the answers that do name providers, and about owning the procedural questions patients ask before they choose one.
Legal answers hedge and point to official sources, but they answer process and cost questions in detail — which is exactly where firms can be cited. Visibility work here means owning the "how does this actually work" questions in a jurisdiction, not competing for "best law firm" answers that engines mostly decline to give.
Real-estate answers mix local market facts with process guidance, and they lean on portals and official data far more than on agencies. The measurable opportunity is the process and cost questions around a transaction, plus neighbourhood-level questions where a local source can genuinely be the best available answer.
Education answers are comparison-heavy and outcome-focused: learners ask what a course leads to, what it costs and whether it is recognised. Providers become visible by documenting curriculum, outcomes and recognition in plain text — the facts an engine needs to justify naming a programme.
Travel is one of the categories AI answers reshaped fastest: itinerary planning, comparison and logistics questions are now answered in one place. Operators and destinations become visible through specific, current, checkable detail — opening times, transfer durations, seasonal conditions — rather than through evocative description.
Restaurant answers are recommendation-shaped: a diner describes an occasion, a location and a constraint, and the assistant names two or three places. Being named depends on whether the practical facts — cuisine, price band, dietary options, opening hours, booking method — exist in text that an engine can retrieve and trust.
Industrial buyers ask specification-shaped questions, and AI answers respond with categories, standards and occasionally named suppliers. Visibility for a manufacturer comes from publishing specifications, tolerances, certifications and lead times as text — the facts that let an engine match a requirement to a supplier.
Logistics answers are procedural and cost-driven: a shipper describes a route, a volume and a deadline, and the assistant explains options rather than naming carriers. Providers become visible by documenting routes, transit times, customs requirements and incident procedures in plain, current text.
Nonprofit answers split between people seeking help and people seeking to give, and both groups ask questions where trust signals decide who gets named. Visibility comes from documented programmes, published financials and plainly written eligibility information rather than from mission language.
Recruitment answers serve two audiences with opposite questions, and both are answered mostly from market data and advice content rather than from agency pages. Visibility comes from publishing dated salary and market information and from answering process questions that employers and candidates actually ask.
Insurance answers are exclusion-driven: the useful information is what a policy does not cover and what happens when a claim is made. Insurers and brokers become visible by documenting cover, exclusions and claims process in plain text, because comparison sites already own the price question.
Automotive answers are comparison- and cost-heavy, drawing on reviews, manufacturer specifications and owner communities. Dealers and garages become visible on the practical questions — service intervals, running costs, common faults, local availability — where specific, current facts beat generic model overviews.
Construction answers are scoping and cost questions with a regulatory layer, and they are answered from building authorities, trade bodies and consumer guides. Contractors become visible by publishing realistic cost ranges, process timelines and permission requirements for the specific jobs they do.
Beauty and wellness answers combine treatment explanations with safety caveats, and they cite health sources alongside specialist publishers. Providers become visible by documenting treatments, contraindications, aftercare and pricing clearly — the practical detail clients ask for before booking anything invasive.
Fitness answers are dominated by programming and technique questions rather than by gym brands, and they cite health and coaching publishers. Gyms and coaches become visible by publishing genuinely useful programming and injury-management content, plus the practical membership facts people compare before joining.
Security answers are risk- and compliance-shaped, and they cite standards bodies, advisories and established technical publishers far more than vendor pages. Visibility comes from publishing technical explanations and detection guidance that hold up to scrutiny, not from claiming coverage the documentation does not support.
Publishers sit on both sides of AI answers: they are the most-cited sources in many categories and the most exposed to zero-click substitution. Visibility work means measuring where the publication is cited, which topics it owns, and how much of its traffic value is being absorbed by the answer layer.
Gaming answers draw heavily on community sources — wikis, forums, video transcripts — and studios are usually described through them rather than through their own pages. Visibility work means measuring which community sources define your game and making official documentation good enough to be cited alongside them.
Hardware answers are specification comparisons built from review sites, retailer data and manufacturer documentation. Brands become visible by publishing complete, current specifications and compatibility information in text, because an engine comparing two devices can only use the numbers it can read.
Crypto answers are heavily hedged and safety-conscious: engines avoid recommendations, warn about risk and cite documentation, regulators and established explainers. Projects become visible by documenting mechanics, custody and risks precisely, because precision is the only thing engines are willing to quote in this category.
Consulting answers describe approaches rather than firms: an assistant explains how to tackle a problem and what a sensible engagement looks like, usually without naming anyone. Visibility comes from publishing method — the actual steps, artefacts and decision rules — because that is the only consulting content an engine can quote.
Accounting answers are rule-based and jurisdiction-bound, and engines cite tax authorities before anyone else. Firms become visible by being the clear practical explainer next to the official rule — the page that says what it means for a specific kind of business, with the date it applied.
Life-science answers are the most conservative of any category: engines cite regulators, trial registries and peer-reviewed literature, and hedge on anything clinical. Visibility work means being present and accurately described in those authoritative sources, and owning the procedural questions — trial participation, access, regulatory pathways — that are legitimate to answer directly.
Energy answers mix consumer cost questions with technical installation detail, and they cite regulators, price comparison services and official incentive pages. Suppliers and installers become visible by publishing specific numbers — tariff structures, payback periods, installation requirements — with dates attached.
Event answers are constraint-matching: a date, a headcount, a budget and a set of requirements. Venues become visible by publishing the constraints they satisfy — capacities by layout, access, catering rules, technical facilities — in plain text that an engine can match against a question.
