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Alert & Notification Setup Guide

🎯 Quick Summary​

  • Configure smart alerts to catch important changes in your AI visibility without constant manual checking
  • Set up notifications for citation rate drops, competitor movements, and content performance issues
  • Learn which alerts are critical vs nice-to-have based on your goals and resources
  • Implement alert workflows that drive action, not just noise

📋 Table of Contents​

  1. Alert Strategy
  2. Critical Alerts (Must-Have)
  3. Proactive Alerts (Recommended)
  4. Alert Configuration
  5. Alert Workflows
  6. Avoiding Alert Fatigue

🔑 Key Concepts at a Glance​

  • Alert Threshold: The condition that triggers a notification
  • Alert Severity: Critical (red), Warning (yellow), Info (green)
  • Action Trigger: Alert that requires immediate response
  • Trend Alert: Notification based on pattern over time
  • Alert Fatigue: Too many alerts = ignoring all alerts

🏷️ Metadata​

Tags: monitoring, alerts, notifications, automation Status: %%ACTIVE%% Complexity: %%MODERATE%% Max Lines: 400 (this file: 395 lines) Reading Time: 9 minutes Last Updated: 2025-01-18

Alert Strategy​

The Alert Pyramid​

         🔴 CRITICAL (act immediately)
         ═══════════════════════
              ↑ 2-5 alerts
              │
         🟡 WARNING (act within week)
      ══════════════════════════════
              ↑ 5-10 alerts
              │
         🟢 INFO (good to know)
   ═══════════════════════════════════
              ↑ 10-20 alerts

Alert Philosophy:

❌ Bad approach:
Alert on everything → 100 notifications/month → Ignore all

✅ Good approach:
Alert on 5 critical things → 5-10 notifications/month → Act on all

Alert vs Manual Check​

What deserves an alert:

✅ Alert-worthy:
- Citation Rate drops >5pp suddenly
- Competitor jumps >10pp in one month
- New negative sentiment citation detected
- Major content performing <10% CR

❌ Not alert-worthy (check manually):
- Citation Rate increases (good news, review weekly)
- Small fluctuations ±1-2pp (normal variance)
- Individual query performance

Critical Alerts (Must-Have)​

1. Citation Rate Drop Alert​

🔴 CRITICAL

Configuration:

Alert name: Citation Rate Drop
Severity: Critical (red)
Threshold: Citation Rate drops >5pp month-over-month
Frequency: Check daily, alert immediately

Example trigger:
Feb: 28% CR
Mar: 22% CR (-6pp)
→ Alert fires: "Citation Rate dropped 6pp"

Alert Message Template:

🔴 CRITICAL: Citation Rate Drop Detected

Your citation rate: 22% (was 28%)
Change: -6pp (-21% decline)
Period: February → March 2025

Top losing queries:
- "best CRM software": 45% → 18% CR (-27pp)
- "CRM for startups": 67% → 32% CR (-35pp)
- "CRM pricing guide": 38% → 28% CR (-10pp)

Possible causes:
⚠️ Content freshness (last update >6 months ago)
⚠️ Competitor launched new content
⚠️ Algorithm change

Action required: Investigate immediately
Dashboard: [Link]

Action Workflow:

Alert received
↓
1. Check dashboard (5 min)
2. Identify affected queries (10 min)
3. Review competitor changes (15 min)
4. Hypothesis: Why did this happen?
5. Create action plan (30 min)
6. Implement fixes (1-2 weeks)

2. Competitive Surge Alert​

🔴 CRITICAL

Configuration:

Alert name: Competitor Surge
Severity: Critical
Threshold: Any competitor gains >10pp ASoV in one month
Frequency: Check weekly, alert immediately

Example:

🔴 CRITICAL: Competitor Surge Detected

Competitor: Pipedrive
Change: 18% → 29% ASoV (+11pp in 30 days)
Your ASoV: 15% (unchanged)

Pipedrive now #2 (was #4)

Recent activity:
• Launched "CRM for Agencies" content hub (15 articles)
• Major PR campaign (TechCrunch, Wired coverage)
• Free trial extended 14→30 days

Impact on you:
- Lost #3 position to Pipedrive
- Gap widened: -3pp → -14pp

Action required: Competitive response within 2 weeks
Analysis: [Link to competitive dashboard]

3. Negative Sentiment Alert​

🔴 CRITICAL

Configuration:

Alert name: Negative Sentiment Citation
Severity: Critical
Threshold: ANY citation with negative sentiment
Frequency: Check daily, alert immediately

Example:

🔴 CRITICAL: Negative Sentiment Detected

Platform: ChatGPT
Query: "CRM software complaints"
Date: 2025-01-18

Citation text:
"Users commonly complain about [Your Brand]'s steep
learning curve and limited integrations compared to
alternatives like HubSpot."

Sentiment: Negative
Accuracy: Partially true (limited integrations)
          False (learning curve comparable to others)

Action required:
1. Verify claim accuracy
2. If false: Create corrective content
3. If true: Address product issue
4. Monitor for spread to other platforms

4. Content Performance Alert​

🟡 WARNING

Configuration:

Alert name: Underperforming Content
Severity: Warning
Threshold: New content <15% CR after 30 days
Frequency: Check weekly

Example:

🟡 WARNING: Content Underperforming

Article: "CRM Implementation Guide"
Published: 2024-12-15 (30 days ago)
Current CR: 8% (target: 25%+)

Performance:
- ChatGPT: 12% CR
- Claude: 6% CR
- Gemini: 4% CR
- Perplexity: 10% CR

Issues identified:
⚠️ No FAQ schema
⚠️ Outdated screenshots (2023)
⚠️ Missing comparison tables
⚠️ Thin content (1,200 words vs competitor 3,500)

Action: Optimize content within 2 weeks

5. Stagnation Alert​

🟡 WARNING

Configuration:

Alert name: Growth Stagnation
Severity: Warning
Threshold: No CR improvement for 3 consecutive months
Frequency: Check monthly

Example:

🟡 WARNING: Growth Stagnation Detected

Citation Rate trend:
- October: 22%
- November: 23% (+1pp)
- December: 23% (0pp)
- January: 22% (-1pp)

Net change: 0pp over 3 months

Expected growth: +1-2pp per month
You're missing: ~4-6pp growth

Possible causes:
• Content creation slowed (5 articles/month → 2/month)
• No major optimization efforts
• Competitors improving faster

Action: Review strategy, increase efforts

6. Query Loss Alert​

🟡 WARNING

Configuration:

Alert name: Key Query Lost
Severity: Warning
Threshold: Drop >20pp CR on priority query
Frequency: Check bi-weekly

Example:

🟡 WARNING: Priority Query Performance Drop

Query: "best CRM for agencies"
Classification: High-value (commercial intent)
Previous CR: 67% (ranked #1)
Current CR: 42% (-25pp)
New rank: #3

Who overtook you:
1. Pipedrive: 78% CR (was 45%)
2. HubSpot: 71% CR (was 65%)
3. You: 42% CR (was 67%)

Pipedrive's new content:
"Complete Agency CRM Guide" (published Jan 5)
- 4,200 words
- 12 agency case studies
- Free agency CRM template
- Video walkthrough

Action: Create superior agency content
Timeline: 2-3 weeks

Alert Configuration​

UnrealSEO Dashboard Setup​

Step 1: Navigate to Alerts

Dashboard → Settings → Alerts & Notifications

Step 2: Configure Alert Rules

Alert Rules:

1. Citation Rate Change
   ├─ Metric: Overall Citation Rate
   ├─ Condition: Decreases by
   ├─ Threshold: 5 percentage points
   ├─ Timeframe: Month-over-month
   ├─ Severity: 🔴 Critical
   └─ Notification: Email + SMS

2. Competitor ASoV Surge
   ├─ Metric: Competitor AI Share of Voice
   ├─ Condition: Increases by
   ├─ Threshold: 10 percentage points
   ├─ Timeframe: 30 days
   ├─ Severity: 🔴 Critical
   └─ Notification: Email + Slack

3. Content Performance
   ├─ Metric: Individual content CR
   ├─ Condition: Below
   ├─ Threshold: 15%
   ├─ Timeframe: After 30 days published
   ├─ Severity: 🟡 Warning
   └─ Notification: Email weekly digest

[Add more rules...]

Step 3: Notification Channels

Configure where alerts go:

🔴 Critical Alerts:
☑ Email (immediate)
☑ SMS (for founders/executives)
☑ Slack #llm-alerts channel
☐ Push notification

🟡 Warning Alerts:
☑ Email (daily digest)
☐ SMS
☑ Slack #llm-monitoring
☐ Push notification

🟢 Info Alerts:
☑ Email (weekly digest)
☐ SMS
☐ Slack
☐ Push notification

Custom Alert Scripts​

For advanced users - webhook alerts:

// Receive UnrealSEO webhook, trigger custom actions

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.post('/webhook/unrealseo-alerts', (req, res) => {
  const alert = req.body;

  if (alert.severity === 'critical') {
    // Send to PagerDuty
    sendToPagerDuty(alert);

    // Post to Slack with @channel
    slackNotify('#llm-alerts', `@channel ${alert.message}`);

    // Create Jira ticket
    createJiraTicket({
      project: 'LLMO',
      summary: alert.title,
      description: alert.details,
      priority: 'Critical'
    });

    // Email leadership team
    emailLeadership(alert);
  }

  res.status(200).send('Alert processed');
});

app.listen(3000);

Alert Workflows​

Critical Alert Workflow​

When you receive a critical alert:

🔴 Alert Received
↓
Within 1 hour:
├─ Acknowledge alert
├─ Check dashboard
├─ Assess severity
└─ Assign owner

Within 4 hours:
├─ Root cause analysis
├─ Impact assessment
├─ Hypothesis formation
└─ Action plan created

Within 1 week:
├─ Implement fixes
├─ Test changes
├─ Deploy updates
└─ Monitor results

Within 1 month:
└─ Verify issue resolved

Example: Citation Rate Drop Workflow

Alert: Citation Rate dropped 6pp

Hour 1: Acknowledge & Assess
├─ Owner: Marketing Director assigned
├─ Dashboard reviewed
├─ Queries affected: 15 high-value queries
└─ Severity: High impact on business

Hour 4: Root Cause Analysis
├─ Competitor "Pipedrive" launched major content
├─ Our content last updated 6 months ago
├─ Hypothesis: Freshness + competitor quality
└─ Plan: Update content + create new comparison

Week 1: Implementation
├─ Updated 10 affected articles
├─ Added FAQ schema to all
├─ Created "vs Pipedrive" comparison
├─ Published 5 new niche articles
└─ Deployed: Jan 20

Month 1: Results
├─ Citation Rate: 22% → 26% (recovered 4pp)
├─ Still 2pp below previous peak
├─ Continue optimization
└─ Alert resolved

Avoiding Alert Fatigue​

Alert Tuning​

If you're getting too many alerts:

Problem: 50 alerts per month → ignoring all

Solution: Increase thresholds

Before:
- Alert on >3pp change → 30 alerts/month

After:
- Alert on >5pp change → 8 alerts/month

Result: Only significant changes alert

Weekly Digest vs Immediate Alerts​

Use digests for non-critical:

❌ Bad: Immediate alert for every small change
"Citation Rate increased 0.5pp" → Email
"New content published" → Email
"Competitor changed 1pp" → Email
= 100 emails/month

✅ Good: Weekly digest for minor updates
Monday morning email:
"Weekly LLMO Digest:
- Citation Rate: +0.8pp (good)
- 3 new articles published
- Competitor movements: Minimal
- Action required: None"
= 4 emails/month

Alert Hierarchy​

Only critical = immediate, rest = batched

Immediate Alerts (SMS + Email):
🔴 Citation Rate drops >5pp
🔴 Competitor surges >10pp
🔴 Negative sentiment citation

Daily Digest (Email):
🟡 Content underperforming
🟡 Query losses >20pp

Weekly Digest (Email):
🟢 Small improvements
🟢 New competitor entered market
🟢 Minor content updates needed

Monthly Report (Email):
📊 Overall performance summary
📊 Trend analysis
📊 Strategic recommendations

📚 Related Topics​

Other Monitoring:

Platform:

Metrics:

🆘 Need Help?​

Alert Setup Support:

Integration Help:

Last updated: 2025-01-18 | Edit this page

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