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How to calculate self-reported revenue:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\nInclude AI tools as an option in your survey, and allow more than one answer.<\/li>\n Use actual deal values, because each answer is tied to a real customer.<\/li>\n Work out what percentage of respondents’ revenue came from AI, then apply it to all your new-customer revenue for the quarter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
Let me break down that last point in a bit more detail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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It’s very unlikely you’ll get a 100% response rate to your “How did you hear about us?” survey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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For that reason, start with the customers who did<\/em> answer that quarter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Add up the revenue from those who chose an AI tool, and divide it by the total revenue from everyone who answered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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That gives you the percentage of respondents’ revenue that came from AI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Then apply that same percentage to the revenue from all<\/strong> your new customers that quarter, including those who didn’t answer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Example: If respondents brought in $100k and $10k of it came from people who chose an AI tool, that’s 10%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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So, if all your new customers brought in $400k that quarter, you can reasonably estimate your AI revenue at $40k.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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That leaves you with the “Value” part of the equation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Now that you have your costs and your revenue estimate (or estimates), you can work out your return.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Remember the equation from earlier? Take away your cost from your revenue figure, divide the result by your cost, then multiply by 100.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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AI search ROI = (AI revenue \u2212 AI cost) \u00f7 AI cost \u00d7 100<\/code><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
For example, if you spent $27k in a quarter, a:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\nTracked revenue<\/strong> of $36k gives you (36 \u2212 27) \u00f7 27 \u00d7 100 = 33% ROI<\/li>\nSelf-reported revenue<\/strong> of $54k gives you (54 \u2212 27) \u00f7 27 \u00d7 100 = 100% ROI<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It’s worth pointing out that a 33% ROI is a very good thing. It means that for every $1 you put in, you get that dollar back plus an extra 33 cents in profit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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If you’ve only used one method, that’s your ROI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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If you’ve used both, I’d lead with the higher figure and report the other alongside it so leadership can see the full picture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Then repeat the process every quarter to see whether your return is growing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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AI search ROI calculations will never be 100% precise, but working them out the same way each quarter keeps your numbers comparable, so you can see whether your return is heading in the right direction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Out of curiosity, I wanted to see what our AI visibility would be worth if we’d paid for it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n