---
title: "Topics and Prompts"
description: "The two primitives that drive every Optumus Analytics measurement."
---

## Prompt = a single tracked query

A **prompt** is one natural-language question your potential customer might ask an AI engine. Examples:

- *"best CRM for small business"*
- *"how to automate email marketing for ecommerce"*
- *"ChatGPT alternatives for enterprise"*
- *"longest range luxury EV available in the US"*

Each prompt runs on a schedule across the AI engines you've configured (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot, Grok). Every run produces a stored response with mention count, citations, sentiment, competitor mentions, and a visibility score for that prompt.

## Topic = a cluster of related prompts

A **topic** is a label you (or the AI suggestion engine) attach to one or more prompts. Topics group prompts by intent, theme, or product area:

| Topic | Example prompts |
|---|---|
| **Reliability** | *most reliable luxury sedan according to Consumer Reports*, *which luxury cars have lowest 10-year ownership cost* |
| **EV Range** | *longest range luxury EV available in the US*, *best electric SUV with 300+ mile range* |
| **Pricing** | *cheapest luxury brand to maintain long term*, *best executive sedans under $100k* |

Topics serve three purposes:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Aggregate analysis">
    The Topics page shows visibility per topic, so you spot which themes your brand owns and which it's losing.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Content planning">
    Content briefs are generated per topic, ensuring your editorial output covers your weakest themes first.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Prompt suggestions">
    When Optumus Analytics suggests new prompts to track, each suggestion comes with a topic label so you can see at a glance whether it expands an existing theme or opens a new one.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## How prompts get into the system

Three sources:

1. **Onboarding suggestions** — when you create a brand, Optumus Analytics' AI generates 10 starter prompts based on industry and description.
2. **Prompt Suggestions** in the Insights tab — periodically, Optumus Analytics analyzes your tracked prompts + competitor citations + topic gaps and suggests new prompts to add. Each comes with a one-click `+` button.
3. **Manual entry** — you can always add a prompt directly with custom text and platform/region selection.

## How topics get created

Two paths:

- **Auto-created from suggestions** — when a new prompt suggestion comes with a topic label that doesn't exist for your brand yet, accepting the prompt creates the topic too.
- **Manual** — you can rename, merge, or create topics on the Topics page. A prompt can belong to one topic at a time.

## Practical workflow

 A typical AEO operator's loop on Optumus Analytics:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Review Insights weekly">
    Check overall visibility delta. Drill into topics that dropped most.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Inspect prompts in losing topics">
    Find which prompts dragged the topic down — usually 1–2 prompts where a competitor surged.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Generate content briefs">
    Click "Generate Brief" on those opportunities; receive structured brief (title, outline, keywords, competitor angles).
  </Step>
  <Step title="Send to your CMS or workflow">
    Use the webhook integration to push the brief directly into Notion, Linear, Asana, or your editorial system.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Add new prompts from Suggestions">
    Pick up 1–3 fresh prompts each week from the Suggestions card to expand your tracked surface.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Card title="Continue: Add your first brand" icon="arrow-right" href="/guides/add-your-first-brand">
  Walk through the brand onboarding step by step.
</Card>