A trend line tells you that your AI visibility moved. It rarely tells you why. Annotations close that gap: a dated note, pinned to the chart, recording the thing that actually caused the line to bend.
TL;DR
- Annotations are dated notes on your visibility charts — like the annotations in classic Google Analytics, built for AI visibility.
- Add them by hand (click a point, or the Add-annotation button) to mark website changes, prompt edits, launches — anything.
- Or let them happen automatically when you change your tracked prompts or providers — just tick a box as you save.
- Model updates can be broadcast to your account, so a new ChatGPT or Gemini release lands on your timeline with one click.
- They travel with your reports — annotations show on shared links and PDFs, so clients see the story, not just the line.
- Available now on every project.
Why we added annotations
AI visibility is volatile in a way that classic search rank isn’t. A model update, a prompt tweak, a rewritten homepage, a competitor’s new comparison page — any of these can move your numbers within a single scan cycle. Three weeks later, when you’re staring at a jump or a dip, the cause is gone from memory.
For agencies the problem is sharper still. When you hand a client a chart that climbs, the obvious question is “what did you do?” — and “I think we changed some prompts around then” is not a confident answer. The work was real; the record of it wasn’t.
Annotations are that record. They turn a chart from a picture of what happened into a narrative of what you did and what it caused — kept in the same place you already look.
What you can use them for
A few of the moments worth marking:
- Website & content changes. “Rewrote the homepage,” “published the comparison page,” “added FAQ schema.” When an L4 citation score climbs two weeks later, you’ll know which change to credit.
- Prompt edits. You added or removed tracked prompts — the makeup of what you measure shifted. Mark it so a step-change in the line reads as methodology, not magic.
- Provider changes. You switched the providers a project tracks. The baseline moved; the annotation explains it.
- Off-platform work. A PR placement, a big launch, a pricing change — context that lives outside BotScope but explains what’s inside it.
- Model updates. The models themselves change underneath you. When one does, we can broadcast it — and you choose whether to drop it onto your timeline.
A new ChatGPT model is live. Add it to your timeline so shifts after this date have context.
That last one matters because a model release is the one cause you can’t see coming and can’t control. Having it on the chart means a sector-wide shift reads correctly — as the platform changing, not your strategy failing.
How to use annotations
Add one by hand. On the Signal trace chart, click any point — or use the Add-annotation button beneath it. Pick a type, give it a title, optionally add a description, set the date, and choose whether it appears on client reports. That’s it.
Let them happen automatically. When you change a project’s prompts or providers in settings, you’ll see a “mark this change on the chart” checkbox as you save. Tick it, and BotScope drops the annotation for you — dated, categorised, done. No extra step, no forgetting.
Show them to clients. Every annotation has a “show on client reports” toggle. Leave it on and the marker — plus a tidy, dated key — appears on your shared report links and exported PDFs. Keep it off for internal-only notes you don’t want a client to see. Either way, the report freezes the annotations as they were when you created it, so a shared link is always a faithful snapshot.
Find them fast. Below every chart is a log of the annotations in the selected range — 7 days, 30, 90, or a year. Switch the range and the log follows. Even an annotation on a day with no scan still shows in the log, so nothing you record ever quietly disappears.
FAQs
Do annotations change my scores or data? No. They’re notes layered on top of your charts. Your scans, scores, and history are untouched.
Can clients see them? Only if you want. Each annotation has a “show on client reports” switch (on by default). Internal notes stay internal; the rest appear on shared reports and PDFs.
What’s the difference between manual and automatic annotations? Manual ones you write yourself for anything at all. Automatic ones are offered at the moment you make a change BotScope already knows about — editing prompts or switching providers — so the record matches the action exactly.
How do model-update broadcasts work? When a model we track gets a notable update, we can push a notification to your account. It appears in your in-app bell with the date pre-filled; you choose which projects (if any) to add it to. Nothing lands on your charts without your say-so.
What if there’s no scan on the day I annotate? The note still appears in the annotations log with its date. Once a scan runs near that date, the marker also snaps onto the line in the right place.
Can I edit or delete an annotation? Yes — click its marker or its row in the log to edit the details or remove it entirely.
Is this available on my plan? Annotations are available now, on every project, at no extra cost.
The best analytics tools don’t just show you a number — they help you remember the decision behind it. Annotations bring that discipline to AI visibility. Mark the change, watch the line, and next quarter you’ll know exactly which move paid off.