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Most issues with Linkstonic have straightforward explanations and quick fixes. This page walks through the most common problems grouped by area, with specific steps to resolve each one. If you work through the relevant section and the issue persists, contact the support team — details are at the bottom of this page.

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AI tracking

If your brand isn’t appearing in tracking results, the most likely causes are:Your keywords may not be specific enough. AI engines generate contextual answers for specific queries. Generic keywords like “marketing tools” or “software” rarely trigger brand mentions for any individual company. Try using more targeted queries that reflect how a real user would ask about your category — for example, “best email marketing tools for small businesses” instead of “email marketing.”Your brand name may appear differently in AI answers. If your brand uses an acronym, a stylized name, or is commonly abbreviated, the AI may reference a version of your name that doesn’t match your tracking profile. Check the full response text in your results to see how the AI actually phrases your brand name, and update your brand profile to include alternate names if needed.Tracking results take a few runs to stabilize. AI model responses vary between runs. A single run may not represent consistent behavior. Run tracking two or three times across different time windows and compare the results before concluding your brand isn’t appearing. If you’re on Pro or Agency, Hybrid mode in TrueTrace averages across multiple passes and gives a more reliable picture of your baseline.
Refine your keywords toward queries your customers are actually asking AI tools — category questions, use case queries, and comparison searches tend to produce the most revealing tracking results.
AI model responses are not deterministic — the same query can produce a different response on consecutive runs. This is normal behavior across all four platforms. A single tracking run captures a snapshot of how the AI responded at that moment, not a guaranteed or permanent representation of your brand’s presence.If results look inconsistent or surprising, try these steps:
  • Run tracking again and compare the results across multiple runs. Look for patterns rather than treating any single result as definitive.
  • Switch to Hybrid mode in TrueTrace. Hybrid mode runs multi-model validation and cross-references results across platforms, which smooths out the variance inherent in single-pass AI responses.
  • Check for brand name collisions. If another company has a similar name, AI models may conflate the two brands or rank the other brand’s mentions alongside yours. Review the full response text to confirm the AI is actually referring to your brand.
If the results consistently look wrong across multiple runs and you’ve ruled out the above, contact support with the specific keyword and platform where you’re seeing the issue.
The Starter plan includes tracking on ChatGPT and Gemini only. Tracking on Claude (Anthropic) and Perplexity requires a Pro or Agency plan.To add all four platforms, upgrade to Pro from Settings → Billing. Pro includes a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, so you can verify the additional platforms are useful before your first charge.

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TrueTrace

A low LLM Citability Score indicates that AI models are unlikely to cite your content for the queries you’re targeting. The score reflects gaps across several dimensions that TrueTrace evaluates:
  • Content structure — AI models favor content that is clearly organized, uses headers, and answers specific questions directly. Long blocks of undifferentiated prose are harder for AI to extract and cite.
  • FAQ gaps — TrueTrace’s FAQ gap analysis identifies specific questions that AI models expect content on your topic to address. If your content doesn’t answer these questions, it won’t be cited when users ask them.
  • Authority signals — Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trust (E-E-A-T) signals influence AI citability alongside traditional SEO. Missing author information, no About page, lack of HTTPS, or absent trust signals all reduce your citability score.
  • Topical depth — Thin content that treats a subject at a surface level is less likely to be cited than content demonstrating genuine depth and expertise.
Your TrueTrace results include specific, prioritized recommendations for each of these areas. Work through the highest-impact items first — FAQ gaps and structural improvements typically have the fastest impact. See the TrueTrace documentation for a detailed breakdown of what each audit section covers.
This is expected. Hybrid mode runs multi-model validation across platforms and cross-references results between AI engines. That process takes more time than a single-pass Quick analysis.Quick mode returns results in under 10 seconds because it runs a single AI model against your input. Hybrid mode runs multiple passes across platforms, which makes its results more accurate and reliable — especially for content strategy decisions — but the tradeoff is a longer wait. If you need a fast directional check, use Quick mode. If you need high confidence in the results before making significant changes, Hybrid is worth the extra time.
Competitor Mode in TrueTrace is exclusive to the Agency plan. If the option is grayed out or not visible in your dashboard, your current plan doesn’t include it.Competitor Mode lets you compare your citability score against one or more competitor URLs side by side, which is most useful when you know a competitor is being cited more often than you are and want to understand specifically what they’re doing differently.To access Competitor Mode, upgrade to Agency ($149/mo) from Settings → Billing.

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SEO audit

Most audits complete in under 60 seconds. If yours is taking significantly longer, the most common reason is that the page being audited is heavy or slow — Linkstonic’s checks rely on fetching and parsing your page, and slow server response times extend the overall audit duration.If your audit has been running for more than five minutes:
  1. Refresh the page and check whether the audit completed in the background
  2. Try re-running the audit — transient network issues occasionally cause a run to stall
  3. If the problem persists across multiple attempts, contact support with the URL you’re trying to audit
Avoid navigating away or closing the browser during an audit. If you lose the results page, check your audit history to see if the run completed.
A low E-E-A-T score means your site has gaps in one or more of the four pillars that Google’s quality raters — and AI models — use to assess credibility:
  • Expertise — Does your content demonstrate genuine knowledge of the subject? Linkstonic checks for named authors with biographical information, credentials, and topical depth.
  • Experience — Does your content reflect real-world, first-hand knowledge? Case studies, testimonials, and specific examples with documented outcomes all contribute.
  • Authority — Is your site recognized by other credible sources? A well-written About page, industry backlinks, and mentions in third-party publications strengthen authority.
  • Trust — Is your site safe and transparent? HTTPS, a privacy policy, a contact page, and clear disclosure of ownership are the fastest signals to address.
The fastest E-E-A-T improvements are often technical: enabling HTTPS, publishing a privacy policy, and adding a contact page. Author bios and a solid About page come next. See the E-E-A-T scoring documentation for a detailed breakdown of each pillar and specific fixes.
The Starter plan includes 3 SEO audits per month. Once you’ve used your three audits, you’ll need to wait for your limit to reset at the start of your next billing period — or upgrade to Pro, which includes unlimited audits.If you’re regularly running into the audit cap, Pro is likely the right fit. It also extends your historical score tracking from 7 days to 90 days, unlocks TrueTrace, and adds Google Search Console integration. Pro includes a 14-day free trial — you can upgrade from Settings → Billing.

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Integrations

If GSC data isn’t appearing in Linkstonic, work through these checks in order:
  1. Wait 24–48 hours after first connecting. GSC data doesn’t sync instantly after you authorize. If you connected recently, give it up to two days before expecting data to appear.
  2. Check your OAuth authorization. Go to Settings → Integrations → Google Search Console and confirm the connection status shows as active. If it shows an error or prompts you to reconnect, re-authorize the connection.
  3. Verify the correct GSC property is selected. A mismatch between https://example.com and http://example.com, or between the www and non-www version of your domain, means Linkstonic is pulling from a different property than the one with your data. Confirm the selected property matches the exact URL prefix of your site as it appears in Search Console.
If data still isn’t appearing after 48 hours and the above checks pass, contact support with your domain and the GSC property URL.
If the import isn’t working, check the following:
  • Sharing settings. The sheet must be shared so that anyone with the link can view it. If the sheet is private or restricted to specific accounts, Linkstonic can’t read it.
  • Keyword placement. Keywords must be in column A, one per row. If you have a header row (like “Keywords” or “Keyword”), either delete it or move your keywords to start in row 1.
  • Sheet URL format. Make sure you’re pasting the full Google Sheets URL, not a shortened link or a link to a specific cell range.
After verifying these, try the import again. If the issue persists, open the sheet in a private browser window (to simulate non-authenticated access) and confirm the data in column A is visible.
If you’re not receiving Discord notifications, check the following:
  1. Verify the webhook URL is correct. Go to Settings → Integrations → Discord and confirm the webhook URL is pasted correctly with no extra spaces or truncation. Discord webhook URLs start with https://discord.com/api/webhooks/.
  2. Test the webhook in Discord. In your Discord server, open the channel’s settings, find the webhook under Integrations → Webhooks, and use Discord’s built-in Test button to confirm the webhook itself is working. If the test message doesn’t arrive, the issue is in Discord’s configuration, not Linkstonic.
  3. Confirm alert triggers are enabled. In Linkstonic, go to Settings → Alerts and verify that the specific alert trigger (AI mention rate change, keyword position shift, etc.) is toggled on for the keywords you want to monitor.
If all three checks pass and alerts still aren’t firing, contact support with the keyword and trigger type you’re expecting to receive alerts for.

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Account and billing

TrueTrace is only available on Pro and Agency plans. If you’re on the Starter plan, the TrueTrace section won’t appear in your dashboard.To access TrueTrace, upgrade to Pro (49/mo)orAgency(49/mo) or Agency (149/mo) from Settings → Billing. Pro includes a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. URL mode and Brand mode are available on Pro; Competitor mode requires Agency.
You can cancel your subscription at any time through the billing portal or by contacting support. To access the billing portal, go to Settings → Billing and click Manage Subscription. From there, you can cancel your plan, and your subscription will remain active through the end of your current billing period.If you have trouble accessing the billing portal or prefer to cancel through support, reach out to the team at the contact details below and they’ll handle it for you. Your account data is retained after cancellation, so you can reactivate and pick up where you left off if you decide to return.

Still need help? Contact support

If you’ve worked through the relevant section and the issue isn’t resolved, the support team is here to help. Reach out with a description of the issue, the URL or keyword involved, and what you’ve already tried — this helps the team diagnose and fix the problem as quickly as possible. Agency plan customers receive priority support with faster response times.