# -*- coding: utf-8 -*- """AI Visibility Index: how stable is an AI answer? SparkToro's 2026 work found that asking an AI tool the same recommendation prompt repeatedly rarely returns the same list. Every published AI-visibility number, including ours, takes ONE draw per market and reports it as a rate. If the answer moves, that rate is one sample of a distribution nobody has measured. This measures the distribution. It deliberately does NOT change the main index: the monthly run keeps taking one draw per market so the series stays comparable with August and September. This is a sub-study on a seeded random SUBSET, which answers the question at about the cost of one ordinary run. avi_stability.py --dry-run show the plan and cost, call nothing avi_stability.py run it (default 10 markets x 5 repeats) AVI_SB_MARKETS=8 AVI_SB_REPEATS=7 avi_stability.py Output: ai_index/stability_.json """ import datetime, json, os, random, statistics as st, sys, time sys.path.insert(0, "/root/Desktop/SEMPITE Reports") import ai_visibility_index as avi # safe to import since 2026-09-20 from avi_matcher import mentioned, MATCHER_VERSION N_MARKETS = int(os.environ.get("AVI_SB_MARKETS", 10)) N_REPEATS = int(os.environ.get("AVI_SB_REPEATS", 5)) SEED = int(os.environ.get("AVI_SB_SEED", 20261001)) DRY = "--dry-run" in sys.argv OUT_DIR = "/root/Desktop/SEMPITE Reports/ai_index" # from the cron note: a 50-market full run costs about $1.75 across 4 calls each COST_PER_MARKET_COLLECTION = 1.75 / 50 MIN_BALANCE_HEADROOM = 5.00 ENGINES = ["chatgpt", "chatgpt_web", "google_ai"] # claude stays paused # ---------------------------------------------------------------- the subset markets = [(c, city) for c in avi.FULL["categories"] for city in avi.FULL["cities"]] rng = random.Random(SEED) subset = rng.sample(markets, min(N_MARKETS, len(markets))) collections = len(subset) * N_REPEATS est_cost = collections * COST_PER_MARKET_COLLECTION print(f"stability sub-study: {len(subset)} markets x {N_REPEATS} repeats = {collections} collections") print(f"seed {SEED}, engines {ENGINES}") print(f"estimated DataForSEO cost: ${est_cost:.2f} (a full 50-market run is ~$1.75)") print("\nmarkets:") for c, city in subset: print(f" {c} / {city}") if DRY: print("\nDRY RUN. nothing called, nothing spent.") sys.exit(0) bal = avi.dfs_balance() print(f"\nDataForSEO balance: ${bal:.2f}") if bal < est_cost + MIN_BALANCE_HEADROOM: sys.exit(f"balance ${bal:.2f} is under the estimate ${est_cost:.2f} plus ${MIN_BALANCE_HEADROOM:.2f} headroom. Not starting.") # ---------------------------------------------------------------- collect rows = [] for cat, city in subset: print(f"\n[{cat} / {city}]", flush=True) top3 = avi.maps_top3(cat, city) if not top3: print(" no maps data, skipping market"); continue q = (f"I need a {cat} in {city}. Who are the best {cat}s there? " f"Please recommend specific businesses by name.") row = {"category": cat, "city": city, "top3": top3, "repeats": []} for i in range(N_REPEATS): answers = {"chatgpt": avi.ask_chatgpt(q), "chatgpt_web": avi.ask_chatgpt(q, web=True), "google_ai": avi.ask_google_ai(cat, city)} rep = {"repeat": i + 1, "collected_utc": datetime.datetime.utcnow().isoformat(timespec="seconds") + "Z", "answers": {}} for eng, ans in answers.items(): if ans is None: continue # unavailable, never counted as a miss rep["answers"][eng] = { "top3_mentioned": [bool(mentioned(b["name"], ans, b.get("domain"))) for b in top3], "text": ans, } row["repeats"].append(rep) print(f" repeat {i+1}/{N_REPEATS}: " + ", ".join(f"{e}={sum(a['top3_mentioned'])}/3" for e, a in rep["answers"].items()), flush=True) time.sleep(1.5) rows.append(row) # ---------------------------------------------------------------- stability def analyse(rows): out = {} for eng in ENGINES: pairs = [] # (times_named, repeats_with_an_answer) per business per_repeat_rates = [] market_detail = [] for r in rows: reps = [rep["answers"][eng] for rep in r["repeats"] if eng in rep["answers"]] if len(reps) < 2: continue # cannot say anything about stability from one draw n = len(reps) counts = [sum(rep["top3_mentioned"][i] for rep in reps) for i in range(len(r["top3"]))] pairs += [(c, n) for c in counts] rates = [100 * (1 - sum(rep["top3_mentioned"]) / len(r["top3"])) for rep in reps] per_repeat_rates += rates market_detail.append({ "market": f"{r['category']} / {r['city']}", "repeats": n, "per_business_times_named": counts, "invisibility_by_repeat_pct": [round(x, 1) for x in rates], "spread_pct": round(max(rates) - min(rates), 1), }) if not pairs: out[eng] = {"status": "insufficient repeats"} continue always = sum(1 for c, n in pairs if c == n) never = sum(1 for c, n in pairs if c == 0) sometimes = len(pairs) - always - never ever = always + sometimes spreads = [m["spread_pct"] for m in market_detail] out[eng] = { "businesses_observed": len(pairs), "always_named": always, "never_named": never, "sometimes_named": sometimes, "unstable_share_of_ever_named_pct": round(100 * sometimes / ever, 1) if ever else None, "invisibility_mean_pct": round(st.mean(per_repeat_rates), 1), "invisibility_sd_pct": round(st.pstdev(per_repeat_rates), 1) if len(per_repeat_rates) > 1 else 0.0, "market_spread_pct": {"median": round(st.median(spreads), 1), "max": round(max(spreads), 1)}, "markets": market_detail, } return out stability = analyse(rows) stamp = os.environ.get("AVI_STAMP") or datetime.date.today().strftime("%Y-%m") out = { "run": stamp, "study": "stability sub-study", "generated_utc": datetime.datetime.utcnow().isoformat(timespec="seconds") + "Z", "design": { "why": ("Published AI-visibility rates, including our own, take one draw per market. " "This measures how much a single draw moves when the same prompt is repeated."), "markets_sampled": len(rows), "repeats_per_market": N_REPEATS, "seed": SEED, "selection": "seeded random sample of the 50-market frame; the frame itself is unchanged", "engines": ENGINES, "matcher": MATCHER_VERSION, "note": ("The monthly index still takes ONE draw per market so the series stays " "comparable with earlier editions. This sub-study does not replace it."), }, "stability": stability, "rows": rows, } path = f"{OUT_DIR}/stability_{stamp}.json" if os.path.exists(path): path = f"{OUT_DIR}/stability_{stamp}_{datetime.datetime.utcnow():%d%H%M}.json" json.dump(out, open(path, "w"), ensure_ascii=False, indent=1) print("\n=== STABILITY ===") for eng, s in stability.items(): if s.get("status"): print(f"{eng:12} {s['status']}"); continue print(f"{eng:12} of {s['businesses_observed']} top-3 businesses: " f"{s['always_named']} always named, {s['sometimes_named']} sometimes, {s['never_named']} never") print(f"{'':12} {s['unstable_share_of_ever_named_pct']}% of those ever named were NOT named every time") print(f"{'':12} invisibility {s['invisibility_mean_pct']}% mean, sd {s['invisibility_sd_pct']} points, " f"median market spread {s['market_spread_pct']['median']} points") print("\nsaved:", path)