Overview
Every week, DecaGEO sends hundreds of buyer-like questions to AI for each category, then reads which brands the answers recommend and in what order. The DECA Score condenses all of those answers into a single number per brand, so an entire category can be ranked on one scale.Only genuine recommendations count. A brand earns points only when AI recommends it as a solution — simple name-drops, negative references, and comparison filler are excluded. The score reflects real AI endorsement, not raw mention volume.
How the DECA Score is calculated
Position is the order in which a brand appears within a single AI response: if AI recommends five brands, the first brand listed is position 1, the second is position 2, and so on.Example: If an AI response lists 5 brands and HubSpot appears first, HubSpot earns 5 points. If it appears third, it earns 3 points. If it doesn’t appear at all, it earns 0. Repeat across hundreds of responses, normalize, and you get the DECA Score.A brand recommended in first position 40% of the time will score higher than a brand recommended in last position 70% of the time — where you appear matters as much as whether you appear.
DECA Score on a category chart
Why the DECA Score matters
It measures endorsement, not noise
A rising DECA Score can mean only one thing: AI is recommending you more often, in higher positions. Name presence alone can’t move it.It’s comparable across your whole category
Because the measurement conditions are identical for every brand, the score works as a benchmark. You see not just your own number, but the exact gap between you and every product above you.It shows whether your GEO work is landing
The score is refreshed every week under fixed conditions. Ship a change — new content structure, better third-party coverage — and the following weeks tell you whether AI noticed.Related metrics
Mention Rate
How often you’re recommended at all, regardless of position.
Rank & weekly movement
Where your score places you in the category, and how that changed this week.
Segment Position
Your rank inside a specific buyer segment, not just the overall chart.