SOCi Launches F.A.C.T.S. Model for Search Everywhere Optimization

SOCi developed the F.A.C.T.S. model to address visibility across search, social, reputation, and AI for multi-location brands. The framework covers Freshness, Authority, Consistency, Trust, and Semantic Relevance.

Background on Existing Frameworks

For years Google has used the E-E-A-T framework to assess web content quality through Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google also identifies Relevance, Distance, and Prominence as primary factors in local search rankings according to its document Tips to Improve Your Local Ranking on Google. No comparable framework existed previously for AI visibility that reflects multi-location marketer priorities across integrated channels.

The F.A.C.T.S. Model

F.A.C.T.S. stands for Freshness, Authority, Consistency, Trust, and Semantic Relevance. The model targets a holistic strategy for search everywhere optimization, according to MarTech.

Freshness

Freshness measures how recently content is published on websites and third-party profiles such as Google, Yelp, and Facebook. The average URL cited by AI platforms is 25.7% newer than those in traditional search. More than 70% of AI-cited pages were updated within the past 12 months. 76.4% of ChatGPT’s top-cited pages were updated within the past 30 days.

Authority

Authority reflects how a brand demonstrates industry leadership, such as listing years in business or professional certifications. Brands publishing authoritative content and earning recommendations from trusted sources are 40% more likely to appear in AI answers.

Consistency

Consistency involves uniform brand presence across key platforms that AI platforms cite most often. Google Maps, business websites, Yelp, and Facebook rank as the top sources for local queries on ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. 98% of studied brand locations had claimed Google profiles while only 80% had claimed Yelp profiles and 53% managed Facebook store pages. LLM citations for local brands reach about 79% accuracy.

Trust

Trust covers signals from ratings and reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp that AI tools use when recommending brands. 92% of consumers consult online reviews when choosing a local business. Businesses recommended by ChatGPT average 4.4 stars compared with 4.2 stars on Google and 3.1 stars on Yelp.

Semantic Relevance

Semantic Relevance requires brands to answer questions ideal customers may have across websites, landing pages, profiles, and posts. The average traditional search query contains four words while the average AI query contains 23 words.

The F.A.C.T.S. model provides a structured approach for multi-location brands seeking improved visibility in both traditional and AI-driven results, according to MarTech.