FRI, OCTOBER 02, 2026
Independent · In‑Depth · Practitioner‑Tested
Claude Productivity

Six Prompts to Audit What AI Answers Do With Your Content

Judge Mehta dismissed both publisher antitrust suits over Google AI Overviews on 2 October, holding that the implicit bargain between publishers and search was never an agreement. The legal route to compensation narrowed sharply that day. What is left is knowing precisely what your content is being used for and deciding what you want from that. These six prompts work it out from your own pages rather than from a tool's dashboard.

⌨️ 6 prompts 🕐 Updated Oct 2, 2026
💡 How to use these prompts: Replace everything in [BRACKETS] with your specific details before sending. Click Copy to copy any prompt to your clipboard instantly.
1
Work Out Which Pages Are Answer-Shaped
The last group is where traffic quietly disappears. Find it before the analytics do.
Here is a list of my published pages with their titles and opening paragraphs.<br/><br/>Sort them by how likely each is to be used as source material in an AI-generated answer, and say why for each.<br/><br/>The pages at highest risk are the ones that answer a specific question completely and early. The ones at lowest risk need the reader to work through them, or carry something that cannot be summarised - original data, a tested result, a judgement.<br/><br/>Then tell me which of my pages are in the worst position: high extraction value, low reason to click through.<br/><br/>PAGES:<br/>[paste]
2
Find What Only You Can Say
Category 3 is the whole defence. A page made entirely of categories 1 and 2 is a summary waiting to happen.
Here is a page of mine: [paste].<br/><br/>Separate its content into:<br/>1. Facts available from a dozen other sources<br/>2. Facts available but hard to find or assemble<br/>3. Things only I can state - my own measurements, tests, data, or direct experience<br/><br/>Tell me what proportion falls in each, and what the page would still be worth if categories 1 and 2 were summarised elsewhere.<br/><br/>If category 3 is empty, say so plainly rather than being generous about it.
3
Compare How Each Assistant Describes You
Run the same question across assistants monthly. The pattern in what gets cited is more useful than any single result.
I am going to paste how several AI assistants answered the same question about my topic.<br/><br/>For each: did it cite me, cite a competitor, or answer without attribution? If it used something recognisably from my page without citing it, quote the overlap.<br/><br/>Then tell me what the ones that cited me had in common - page structure, data, specificity, recency - and what the ones that did not had in common.<br/><br/>ANSWERS:<br/>[paste responses from different assistants]
4
Rewrite a Page to Be Cited Rather Than Consumed
The last constraint matters. Content designed to frustrate a summary usually frustrates a reader too.
Here is a page that is being summarised in AI answers without sending me traffic: [paste].<br/><br/>Restructure it so the summary is useful but incomplete without the page. Specifically:<br/>- lead with a finding that invites the question "according to whom?"<br/>- put the method, the caveats and the full data where a summary will not reach<br/>- make the claim attributable, so quoting it means naming me<br/><br/>Do not make it worse to read. If the only way to protect it is to make it annoying, say so and I will leave it alone.
5
Build the Evidence File
Reported deals between platforms and publishers are negotiated on evidence. Start collecting before you need it.
Help me assemble the record of how my content is being used in AI answers, in a form I could put in front of a platform, a partner or a lawyer.<br/><br/>Tell me what to capture and how: query, assistant, date, whether my page was cited, what was quoted, whether a link appeared, and what the user would have had to click to get the same thing.<br/><br/>Design it so a sample taken over several months is defensible rather than anecdotal - sampling method, sample size, what would make it biased.<br/><br/>CONTEXT:<br/>[your site and topic area]
6
Decide What You Actually Want
Most publishers have not chosen. Drifting into option one by default is a decision made badly.
Assume the legal route to compensation for AI use of my content is closed for a site my size.<br/><br/>Given that, help me decide what outcome I am actually pursuing. Argue each honestly:<br/>- citation and brand presence in answers, accepting fewer clicks<br/>- withholding content from crawlers and losing the presence<br/>- a direct commercial arrangement, if I am large enough to be worth one<br/>- changing what I publish so the answer cannot replace the visit<br/><br/>Tell me which my situation actually supports, and what I would be giving up.<br/><br/>SITUATION:<br/>[traffic, size, revenue model, topic]