Microsoft Clarity has added branded and non-branded query labels, filters, and Share of Authority breakdowns to its AI Citations dashboard.
The August 3 update helps marketers answer a basic question: Did an AI system look for your brand by name, or did it find your content while researching a broader topic?
Those are two different types of visibility:
Branded retrieval: The grounding query mentions your brand.Non-branded retrieval: The grounding query covers a broader category or topic.
Until now, marketers could review grounding queries one at a time. The new filters make it easier to measure and compare the two groups.
That gives chief marketing officers a clearer picture of where their AI visibility comes from and where competitors may have an edge.
What Changed in Microsoft Clarity #
Clarity’s AI Citations dashboard now includes:
- Branded labels on relevant grounding queries.
- Filters for branded and non-branded queries.
- Citation counts for each query type.
- Share of Authority reporting for each group.
Microsoft defines Share of Authority as the percentage of citations attributed to your domain compared with other cited domains.
There is an important detail behind that number. Microsoft calculates it daily and includes a query-day when your domain received a citation. The comparison covers citations from all domains within those included queries.
In plain English, Share of Authority shows how much visibility you earned in the queries where your domain appeared. It does not represent your share of the entire AI search market.
Clarity is free. Before viewing citation data, a project administrator must verify the domain using the Clarity tracking code, Google Search Console, or Bing Webmaster Tools.
What Branded and Non-Branded Queries Tell You #
A grounding query is a search an AI system uses to find web content before generating an answer.
These queries can differ from the words a person typed. They show what the AI searched for behind the scenes.
Branded Grounding Queries
A branded grounding query refers directly to your company or brand.
It may surface content such as:
- Product documentation.
- Pricing pages.
- Support articles.
- Company policies.
- Product specifications.
- Reviews and comparisons.
These citations show that your brand entered the AI system’s research process. They can also reveal whether the system uses your website as a source or depends more heavily on third-party publishers.
A high branded Share of Authority means your domain earned a large portion of the citations within the included branded queries.
Non-Branded Grounding Queries
A non-branded query covers a broader topic without referring directly to your brand.
Examples might include:
- Enterprise analytics platforms.
- Email marketing tools for retailers.
- Ways to reduce customer acquisition costs.
- Methods for understanding website behavior.
A citation from this group means your content appeared while the AI system researched a category, problem, or use case.
For marketers, non-branded Share of Authority can be a useful competitive signal. It shows how often your content earns citations alongside other sources covering the same topics. Branded citations show where your brand enters AI research. Non-branded citations show where your expertise enters the wider conversation.
Grounding Queries Are Different From User Prompts #
The branded label applies to the AI system’s grounding query. It may say something different from the user’s original prompt.
For example, someone might ask: “Which tools can help me understand how visitors use my website?”
The AI system could then search for several products by name. Clarity would classify those searches as branded, even though the user did not mention a brand.
This distinction matters because the data cannot prove what the user knew or intended.
A branded grounding query may show that the AI selected a company for further research. A non-branded query may show that the system was exploring a broader topic. Neither one confirms the customer’s awareness, buying stage, or likelihood to purchase.
Marketers should describe this data as AI retrieval behavior. Understanding customer intent requires other evidence, such as referral traffic, website behavior, surveys, sales conversations, and conversions.
Citations and Referral Traffic Measure Different Things #
Clarity tracks citations separately from AI referral traffic.
A page citation records how often an AI-generated answer referenced a page during the selected period. Microsoft says citation counts do not show where a source ranked or how prominently it appeared in the answer.
AI referral traffic measures the percentage of website sessions that came from AI assistants.
A page can earn citations without receiving visits. The answer may give users everything they need, or the source link may be hard to see.
Marketing teams should track three stages:
Citation visibility: How often AI systems reference your pages.AI referral traffic: How many sessions arrive from AI assistants.Business results: Leads, sales, pipeline, or revenue connected to those sessions.
Clarity provides citation and referral data. Measuring conversions and revenue requires your analytics, CRM, or attribution platform.
Keeping these metrics separate prevents teams from presenting citation growth as proven business growth.
A Simple AI Visibility Scorecard #
The new split lets marketers replace one broad citation total with a more useful scorecard.
Metric | What It Tells You | | Branded citations | How often your pages appear for brand-related grounding queries | | Branded Share of Authority | Your citation share within included branded queries | | Non-branded citations | How often your pages appear for broader topics | | Non-branded Share of Authority | Your citation share within included category or topic queries | | AI referral traffic | The percentage of sessions arriving from AI assistants | | AI-referred conversions | Business results measured through your analytics or CRM |
Review these numbers by topic and cited page. A straightforward monthly process can follow four steps:
Compare branded and non-branded citation trends.- Find the topics and pages driving the biggest changes.
- Review Share of Authority for each group.
- Choose a content or distribution action.
Weak branded visibility may point to gaps in documentation, pricing information, or product pages. Weak non-branded visibility may show a need for stronger category content, original research, or third-party coverage.
A rise in non-branded Share of Authority can support further investment in a topic. A decline can prompt a closer look at which competitors are earning more citations.
Understand the Limits of Clarity’s Data #
Microsoft describes the Citations dashboard as a representative view of activity across supported AI experiences.
Its official methodology includes several limits:
- The dashboard is built for tracking trends and comparisons.
- It does not provide a complete record of every citation or prompt.
- Very low-volume activity may be left out.
- Totals can vary between page and grounding-query views.
- Metrics may change as Microsoft processes more data.
Microsoft says its grounding infrastructure supports Microsoft AI experiences and partner platforms that use Bing for retrieval. It does not publish a complete list of covered platforms.
Reports should label the source clearly as Microsoft Clarity AI citation data. That keeps the claim within the scope of the data.
Microsoft also provides limited public detail about how it classifies branded queries. Brand names that are common words, abbreviations, product names, and queries mentioning several brands may create edge cases.
Key Takeaways for CMOs #
Separate branded and non-branded citations. A combined total hides two different types of AI visibility.Use Share of Authority as a competitive signal. It covers included queries where your domain earned citations.Treat grounding queries as AI search behavior. They do not reveal the user’s exact prompt or buying intent.Track citations, referrals, and conversions separately. Each measures a different stage of performance.Review the pages and topics behind the totals. That is where the data becomes actionable.Be clear about Clarity’s scope. Its dashboard provides a representative view across supported AI experiences, but not all of them.Turn changes into decisions. Use the findings to improve product information, category content, research, and digital PR.
Start with a baseline for branded citations, non-branded citations, and Share of Authority. Review it monthly, identify what changed, and focus your investment on the topics with the greatest business value.
More Resources:
Microsoft Clarity Now Flags Bots That Ignore Robots.txtHow To Track AI Traffic In GA4 Without Undercounting ItStop Treating AI Visibility As One Problem. It’s Actually Three, On Three Different Layers
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