Why We Publish Our MethodologyOpen Standards for AI Visibility
Keep methodology secret to protect it, or publish it to create the market? Sighted's IP strategy, informed by Google Analytics and PageRank precedents.
The Risk of Publishing vs. The Risk of Secrecy
Across this blog, Sighted has published our optimization methodology, scoring algorithm, citation pattern research, and our own improvement records.
"Why publish your methodology? Won't competitors copy it?" -- a fair question. But we believe the risk of not publishing far exceeds the risk of publishing.
Precedent: Companies That Published Standards and Created Markets
Google Analytics and the Standardization of Web Analytics
Before Google acquired Urchin and released Google Analytics for free in 2005, web analytics was an expert-only domain. By publishing measurement vocabulary and methodology for free, Google created the web analytics market itself.
Every marketer started speaking the same language -- and that language was defined by Google. Competitors that entered later competed within the conceptual framework Google established.
PageRank and the SEO Industry
Google's publication of the PageRank concept as an academic paper made public "what search engines value." This disclosure created the SEO industry. The more SEO companies proliferated, the deeper dependency on Google's search engine grew.
The Common Pattern
In both cases, the company that published its methodology became the "market architect." Had they kept their methods secret, the market would not have formed -- or it would have grown on someone else's terms.
Three Reasons Sighted Publishes Its Methodology
1. No market means no customers
The "AI Visibility" market is nascent. Companies need to understand the concept, start measuring, and invest in improvement. Keeping our methodology secret would stunt market growth. No market, no product-market fit.
2. Whoever defines the vocabulary owns the standard
Mention Rate, Citation Rate, Response Share, Placements, AEO Score -- if these terms, published by Sighted, become industry lingua franca, even competitors will compete on Sighted's conceptual framework. Question Space likewise.
3. Methodology can be copied; accumulated data cannot
A 5-phase methodology is replicable. But 109-question observation data, 120 days of causal records, 10-industry benchmarks, and thousands of Question Space measurements accumulated over time cannot be duplicated quickly. Publish the method, differentiate on data.
The Three-Layer Strategy: Open, Protect, Accumulate
Not everything is published. Sighted's intellectual assets are organized in three layers.
Open Layer: Thought, methodology, frameworks
AI Visibility definitions, measurement metrics, methodology, maturity model, benchmarks. Published broadly to create the market and standardize vocabulary. Every article on this blog belongs here.
Protection Layer: Core algorithms, patents
Scoring weight logic, Question Space discovery algorithm internals, cross-AI-engine normalization methods. Published at the conceptual level but implementation details are protected IP.
Accumulation Layer: Operational data, learning assets
Per-customer Question Space data, industry benchmark time series, intervention-outcome causal database, AI response change patterns. Grows with time and usage, constituting an unreplicable competitive moat.
What This Means for the Market
By publishing methodology, Sighted creates a virtuous cycle:
- Companies understand AI Visibility matters -- published methods and evidence rationalize investment
- A shared vocabulary emerges -- Mention Rate, Citation Rate, Question Space become common language
- Measurement demand grows -- companies that understand the concepts want to measure their own status
- Sighted's measurement platform is chosen -- as the concept originator, Sighted is the natural choice
- Data accumulates -- more usage enriches benchmarks and learning assets, increasing value further
This is structurally similar to "create the market with open source, monetize with enterprise." Thought and frameworks are open; implementation precision and data accumulation provide differentiation.
The Real Risk Is Staying Small
Publishing methodology carries minimal risk. The real risk is that when the concept spreads, your company is perceived as just another vendor rather than the one that defined the field.
Sighted's target position is not "a company that does AEO." It is the company that defined the market for measuring and improving how AI recognizes businesses. Creating that market requires publishing the methodology. No shortcut exists.
If you start using terms like Mention Rate and Question Space tomorrow, that itself validates our strategy.
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