It gets you. It gets your customers. It connects the dots.
- Everything about your brand, your buyers and your rivals, sorted and connected.
- Then it works out what to say, where, when and why. It’s the brain behind every step.
Security 35 facts
RocMode shows you whether AI picks you or your rival, finds the work that changes it, builds that work, and sends it to you to approve. Then it proves what moved.
We ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity the questions your buyers ask, and show where they pick you and who they pick instead. Free, no login. What’s the Score? Or sign up free and try everything for 14 days.

Your website in. A whole marketing and sales team’s work out. RocMode learns your brand from your site, then does the work: strategy, website, ads, social, PR, partners, email, design, and the deck that wins the deal. You approve every piece.
Other tools do one job. This does all of them, as one story.
Other AI guesses. This works from your facts and proof.
Other tools stop at the post. This follows it to the signed deal, and learns what won.
None of this is your fault. Buyers changed how they choose, and most marketing hasn’t caught up.
The dashboards are green and the pipeline isn’t.
About half of new articles online are now written mainly by machines. Graphite, 55,400 URLs, 2026So AI and buyers hear five versions of you.
Not in a footnote. Nowhere.
Check yours free →Every era of marketing had its visibility number, and AI mentions are just the newest. Most AI tools still sell you visibility. But being mentioned isn’t being chosen, and for the first time you can measure the pick itself.
We ask the AI assistants your buyers use the questions they really ask, many times each, at every step of their journey. Then we show where you’re picked, where you’re passed over, and who wins instead.




RocMode runs on Seen Isn’t Selected and the free Selectability Playbooks. Read the thinking before you buy.
The book →We ask the assistants your buyers use, many times, at every moment, and report the rate with honest margins. Every finding has a receipt.
See a Score →The same system that finds the gap writes the page, the email and the deck that closes it.
How it works →Monday by Nine, the café bookkeeper from the book: who gets picked instead, where buyers are lost, and the three fixes that lift it most.
Open the sample →Same questions, same assistants, every month, with what we changed in between.
See our Score →The whole book. 206 pages, no email, no paywall. Plus the 10-minute manifesto and the Playbooks.
Read it free →Everything below runs on one BrandGraph, priced per brand. Start with the free Score, or try every plan free for 14 days. Cancel any time.
Your free Score shows where you’re picked, where you’re passed over, and who gets chosen instead.
Or sign up free →Your free Selectability Score asks the AI assistants the questions your buyers ask, without your name in them. You see who gets picked, at which moment, and the three gaps to fix first.
✓ Free✓ No login✓ Report by email, with a PDFEarned
PR and reviews put someone else's voice behind your claims, at the moment a buyer stops taking your word for it.
Every other build is Kestrel talking about Kestrel. At some point in every purchase, that stops being enough. The COO wants to talk to a plant like theirs. The investor wants another portfolio company to vouch. The assistant, asked "is Kestrel Advisory any good?", goes looking for what others have written. This build is the Earned category's second build, beside Being named: the outside voices a buyer trusts more than yours, earned rather than bought.
It has three parts, and most firms run only one of them:
The Earned category's three nods live here, each as a short section: analyst relations (rarely relevant to a firm of Kestrel's size, and said so), awards (worth entering only when the judges and the buyers overlap) and word of mouth (which this build can't buy, but can make easy).

PR and reviews lead 4 cells and 7 moments, all at the checking step, where buyers go looking for someone other than Kestrel:
| Moment | Who | Their question |
|---|---|---|
| Checking, by sector (4) | COO | "Can I talk to a plant like ours that's done this?" |
| Checking | Improvement lead | "Have they worked alongside an in-house team before?" |
| Checking | Investor | "Will other portfolio companies vouch for them?" |
| Checking | AI assistant | "Is Kestrel Advisory any good? Reviews and results?" |
But its reach is far wider than its lead. It supports 15 more cells, the widest support of any build except the website: the triggers for the COO, owner, finance director and investor (where the benchmark's press coverage frames the problem), the owner's and investor's options, comparing for the COO, owner, investor and assistant, the finance director's numbers at the board, the owner's and finance director's checking, and the owner's and investor's follow-on. In almost every one, the job is the same: Believed, from a voice that isn't Kestrel's.
What it reads, and never rewrites:
| From | It takes |
|---|---|
| Credentials | Every claim, and which ones outside voices could confirm |
| Content | The benchmark report, the only piece built to be quoted by others |
| Being named | The sources assistants cite, which decide where reviews and coverage matter |
| Email and Automation | The 90-day check, where a confirmed result becomes a reference or a review |
| The pitch | Which references each deal needs, by sector and role |
This build's part of the Selectability Score is Believed: the share of what's said about Kestrel that's accurate, and backed by someone other than Kestrel. It leads seven moments and touches Believed in 15 more cells.
| Kestrel today, the 7 moments PR and reviews lead | Answered | Believed | Preferred | Bought | Moment score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| COO · checking, by sector (inside deals) | 60 | 65 | 55 | 50 | 58 |
| Improvement lead · checking | 30 | 30 | 35 | 40 | 33 |
| Investor · checking | 20 | 30 | 30 | 35 | 28 |
| Assistant · "Is Kestrel Advisory any good?" | 10 | 20 | 15 | 15 | 2 |
The COO's checking scores well because Kestrel's references, when they're found, are good. Everything else is thin. The assistant moment is the clearest: asked about Kestrel by name, assistants mix it up with a mining-services firm, find no reviews, and cite an old directory listing.
The audit.
| Outside voice | What Kestrel has | What it misses |
|---|---|---|
| Press and research | No coverage in two years; one award (regional, 2023) | The trade titles that frame flat output and rising costs, which assistants cite |
| References | Four clients willing to take a call; none in food and drink or plastics; found by asking around, in two to three weeks | A reference per sector, ready within a week; an in-house improvement lead; an investor |
| Reviews | None on the review platforms assistants cite | Reviews from finance directors and plant managers, after confirmed results |
| Directories and lists | One old listing, mixed up with a mining firm | Correct entries in the four sector associations |
| Word of mouth | 22 of 31 fit calls came by referral | Nothing that makes referring easy, or thanks anyone for it |
That last row is the one to hold on to. Word of mouth is already Kestrel's biggest channel. It works despite the firm, not because of it.
The shape is the outside voices the category is judged by: who buyers ask, and who assistants read. It's knowable. Being named's first scan already counted the sources assistants cite for Kestrel's questions; add the people buyers ask in person.
| Voice | Who it speaks to | In Kestrel's category | Canon? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trade press | COOs, finance directors, assistants | Three manufacturing titles cited in a tenth of answers | Yes |
| Research reports | Finance directors, assistants, the press | Industry and productivity reports; competitors' studies | Yes |
| References | Every chooser at checking | Expected by every buyer; offered by every competitor | Yes |
| Review platforms | Assistants, owners, finance directors | Two B2B review platforms cited in the scan | Yes |
| Association member lists | Assistants, procurement | The four sector associations | Yes |
| Analyst firms (nod) | Large buyers' procurement teams | Rarely, for firms of Kestrel's size | No |
| Awards (nod) | Owners | Two industry awards whose judges are plant and operations leaders | Optional |
| Peers and advisers (word of mouth, nod) | Owners, investors | Industry groups, accountants, operating partners | The biggest, and not earned by asking |
Analyst relations, as a nod. For a 60-person firm selling to mid-sized plants, analysts don't shape the shortlist. Revisit only if large manufacturers' procurement teams start asking for analyst coverage.
Awards, as a nod. Enter only awards whose judges are the people Kestrel sells to, and only with a confirmed result. A business award judged by bankers moves no moment; an operations award judged by plant leaders can move an owner's checking.
The coverage unit is a judgement a buyer makes that needs someone else's voice: not "get more press", but "the finance director needs someone other than Kestrel to say the savings were real". For each of the 22 cells this build leads or supports, write down the judgement, whose voice would settle it, and where the buyer or the assistant would find it.
| Judgement | Moments | The voice that settles it | Where it's found |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Is this problem worth fixing, and is the capacity really in the line?" | Triggers: COO, owner, finance director, investor (22) | Trade press and research, quoting the benchmark | Trade titles; assistants' answers |
| "Is this firm worth a look?" | Options and comparing: owner, investor, COO, assistant (12) | Comparison articles; association lists; peers | Lists; assistants; industry groups |
| "Have they done it in a plant like mine?" | COO checking by sector (4) | A client in the same sector | A reference call |
| "Will they work with my team, not replace it?" | Improvement lead checking (1) | Another improvement lead | A reference call |
| "Will other portfolio companies vouch?" | Investor checking and follow-on (2) | An operating partner or portfolio COO | A reference call |
| "Are they any good?" | Assistant checking (1); owner checking (1) | Reviews; correct facts; peers | Review platforms; directories; people they trust |
| "Were the savings real?" | Finance director checking and building the case (8) | Another finance director | A review; a confirmed case |
| "Would I tell another owner?" | Owner follow-on (1) | The owner, to a peer | Word of mouth |
That's eight judgements across 52 moments. Each one names a voice, which tells you whether the job is press, a reference or a review.
| Moment | Stage | Bias | The job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triggers, all four choosers | Known | Familiar feels safe | Place the benchmark's findings in the three trade titles assistants cite, with Kestrel's people quoted by name |
| COO · checking, by sector | Believed | We follow others | One reference per sector, briefed and ready within a week; recruit food and drink and plastics first |
| Improvement lead · checking | Believed | Losses loom larger | An improvement lead who kept the methods, willing to take calls (Brennock's) |
| Investor · checking | Believed | We follow others | An operating partner or portfolio COO as a reference |
| Assistant · "any good?" | Believed | Familiar feels safe | Reviews from finance directors and plant managers on the two platforms assistants cite; the mix-up corrected |
| Finance director · checking | Believed | Losses loom larger | Reviews and cases where the client's finance director says, in their own words, how the savings were counted |
| Owner · checking | Believed | We follow others | An owner reference; an operations award judged by plant leaders |
| Owner · follow-on | Preferred | We follow others | Make referring easy: a paragraph the owner can forward, and a thank-you that isn't a payment |
Two rules come out of the jobs. Ask only after a confirmed result: a reference or review before the 90-day check is a favour; after it, it's evidence. And never write the outside voice yourself: an edited quote, a drafted review or a paid list place is Kestrel talking in a disguise, and assistants, editors and buyers are all getting better at noticing.
| Programme | What it produces | Judgements it settles | Signals | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| References | One briefed client per sector, plus an improvement lead, an owner and an investor; ready within a week | Plant like mine; my team; portfolio; owner's trust | Canon, coverage, strategy | P1 |
| Reviews | Reviews from finance directors and plant managers on the two cited platforms, asked for after a confirmed result | Any good?; savings real? | Coverage, strategy | P1 |
| Facts corrected | The mining mix-up fixed; four association entries correct (shared with Being named) | Any good?; worth a look? | Coverage | P1 |
| The benchmark in the press | Findings placed in the three cited trade titles, once a year, with follow-up articles by Kestrel's people | Worth fixing?; worth a look? | Canon, coverage, strategy | P2 |
| Comparison lists | A fact sheet and a sector case sent to the editors of the cited lists | Worth a look? | Canon, coverage | P2 |
| Word of mouth | A forwardable paragraph after every confirmed result; a thank-you note from the managing partner | Would I tell another owner? | Coverage | P2 |
| Awards | One operations award a year, entered with a confirmed case | Owner's trust | Coverage | P3 |
Seven programmes. Every judgement has one. The references and reviews come first because they're cheap, quick and decided by Kestrel's own clients. The press comes second because it depends on the benchmark, which comes once a year.
Rejected, with reasons:
| Asset | Parts, in order | Length |
|---|---|---|
| The story pitch (to an editor) | The finding, in one sentence, with its number · Why their readers care now · The method, in two lines · Who can be quoted, and their plant experience · What's attached | Under 150 words |
| The reference brief (to the client giving the reference) | Who'll call, their plant, their question · What they're likely to worry about · What you're happy to say, and what you'd rather not · How long it will take | Half a page |
| The reference card (to the buyer) | The client: plant, size, sector, problem · What changed, confirmed by whom · Their role, and what they can speak to · How to book the call | A third of a page |
| The review request | Thanks, for a specific result · The ask: one platform, one link · What helps other buyers (what you were worried about, what happened) · An easy no | Under 120 words |
| The correction request | What's wrong, in one line · What's right, with a link to proof · The exact text to replace it | Under 100 words |
| The forwardable paragraph (word of mouth) | Who Kestrel is, in the entity line · What it did for them, in their figures · How to get in touch | 60 words |
Four rules hold for every outside voice:
Two levels: the programme brief (once, for each of the seven programmes) and the asset brief (for each pitch, reference or request).
PROGRAMME References
JUDGEMENTS Plant like mine (by sector); my team; portfolio; owner's trust
MOMENTS COO · checking (4); improvement lead · checking; investor ·
checking;
owner · checking
THE BENCH Packaging: Brennock (plant manager; improvement lead)
Food and drink: Calloway (finance director)
Metal and engineering: a fabricator's managing director
(owner)
Plastics: none yet; Hartwell after its 90-day check
Investor: none yet
READY WITHIN One week of a request
ASKED After the 90-day check, by the lead engineer who did the work
LIMIT No client takes more than four calls a year
OWNER Managing partner
MEASURE Days from request to call; deals that move after the callASSET Reference brief: Brennock's improvement lead, for Hartwell's
THE CALLER Sam Ito, improvement lead, Hartwell Plastics (260 staff)
THEIR QUESTION "Will they work with us, or replace us?"
LIKELY WORRY That the review will be read by the COO as a verdict on Sam's
team
THE REFERENCE Brennock's improvement lead, who led the changes and ran the
next
review without Kestrel
AVOID Asking them to say anything about price or the other bidders
TIME 20 minutesThree assets, one from each of the main programmes. Kestrel, its clients, its people and the editor are invented.
1. The story pitch, to the editor of a manufacturing title assistants cite.
2. The reference card, sent to Hartwell's improvement lead.
3. The review request, to Calloway Foods' finance director, after the 90-day check confirmed the savings.
What to notice. The pitch leads with a number and a reason to run it now, and offers the method before the editor asks. The reference card tells the buyer exactly what the reference can speak to, so the call is about their question, not a general endorsement. The review request asks after the result, suggests what's useful without suggesting what to say, and makes saying no easy. Three assets; Kestrel needs about 40 of them a year.
The reference bench (one row per client willing to take calls)
| Client | Sector, size | Person and role | Problem solved | Confirmed result | Can speak to | Calls this year (max 4) | Last called |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The review tracker (one row per confirmed result)
| Client | Person | Confirmed result and date | Asked on | Platform | Reviewed? | Thanked? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The press log (one row per pitch)
| Title | Editor | Cited by assistants? | The finding pitched | Sent | Response | Published | Moments it should move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The reference brief
CALLER [name, role, plant, size] THEIR QUESTION [in their words] LIKELY WORRY [what they'll really want to know] THE REFERENCE [who, and what they can speak to] AVOID [what the reference shouldn't be asked to cover] TIME [minutes]
Most campaigns make a claim; this build supplies the outside voice that makes it believable. The rule: no campaign makes a claim without naming the outside voice that backs it.
| Kestrel campaign | The claim | The outside voice |
|---|---|---|
| The annual benchmark | "Mid-sized plants lose 4% to 9% of margin to capacity they own" | Coverage in the three cited trade titles; a quote from a client finance director |
| "Before you buy another line" | "Find out what this line can do first" | A reference who didn't buy the line (Brennock); a review saying the same |
| Board season | "The numbers will stand up" | A finance director's review; a finance director reference |
| Owners' round table | "Owners like you chose Kestrel" | The speaker is the outside voice; the write-up in the association newsletter |
| Investor 100 days | "We start inside 100 days" | An operating partner reference, once there is one. Until then, the claim isn't made |
The last row matters. A campaign can wait for its outside voice. It can't make one up.
Who owns what. At Kestrel, the managing partner owns the reference bench, because references are relationships, not marketing. The marketing lead owns the press log and the review tracker. Every request to a client comes from the person who did the work.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| After every 90-day check that says "yes" | Thank the client; ask whether they'd be a reference, and separately whether they'd write a review |
| When a deal reaches checking | A reference card to the buyer within two days; the call within a week |
| After every reference call | Thank the reference; note what was asked, so the next brief is better |
| Monthly | The review tracker and the facts: any new review, any wrong fact in the scan, any listing out of date |
| Quarterly | The bench: gaps by sector and role; no client over four calls a year |
| Yearly | The benchmark to the press; one award entry, if a judged one fits |
Word of mouth, as a nod. It can't be run, but it can be made easy and noticed. After every confirmed result, send the client the forwardable paragraph. When a new enquiry names who referred them, the managing partner thanks that person in writing the same week. Kestrel's 22 referrals last year went unthanked.
| The mistake | The stage it breaks | The bias it ignores | At Kestrel | Instead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Press releases about the firm | Known | Familiar feels safe | News of a new hire, sent to nobody in particular | Pitch findings the editor's readers need |
| References "on request" | Believed | We follow others | Two to three weeks to find one; deals cooled | A bench, by sector and role, ready within a week |
| The same reference for everyone | Believed | We follow others | A COO's reference offered to a finance director | Match the reference to the reader's role and question |
| Asking before the result | Believed | Losses loom larger | A review request in the final report | After the 90-day check, and only after a yes |
| Writing the outside voice | Believed | We follow others | Drafting quotes for clients to approve | Their words, unedited; brief them on the question, not the answer |
| Wearing out the bench | Believed | Losses loom larger | One loyal client taking every call | No more than four calls a year each |
| Paying for places or reviews | Believed | We follow others | A paid spot in a "best of" list, presented as editorial | Earn the place; if it's paid, it's labelled as an ad |
| Leaving wrong facts in place | Believed | Familiar feels safe | The mining mix-up, repeated by assistants for a year | Correct the sources, not just the site |
| Judging by mentions | All, unseen | Good enough beats best | "Featured in three titles" with no moment moved | Judge by the judgement each voice was meant to settle |
The bias to watch in the team: reticence about asking. Most professional firms feel that asking a client for a reference or a review imposes on them. A client whose savings are confirmed usually wants to help; not asking leaves the next buyer to take Kestrel's word for it.
| Measure | What it tells you | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| Days from reference request to call | Whether checking stalls (today: two to three weeks) | Believed |
| Deals that move forward within a week of a reference call | Whether the reference answered the buyer's question | Believed |
| Reviews on the cited platforms, and their share from finance directors and plant managers | Whether the assistant's "any good?" has an answer | Believed |
| Assistant answers to "Is Kestrel Advisory any good?" with the right facts | Whether the mix-up is fixed (shared with Being named) | Believed |
| Coverage in the cited trade titles, and answers that quote it | Whether the benchmark is travelling | Known |
| Referrals thanked within a week | Whether word of mouth is noticed | Preferred |
Each quarter the Loop (step 11) reads the bench, the reviews and the press log beside the Score's Believed, and asks: for each judgement a buyer makes, is there now a voice other than Kestrel's to settle it?
| What the Loop finds | What it means | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Believed rises at checking, but not at comparing | References work inside deals; nothing outside them | Reviews and comparison lists, so the voice reaches buyers before they call |
| Reviews appear, the assistant still says "no reviews found" | The platforms aren't the ones assistants cite | Check the scan's citations; move effort to the cited platform |
| Coverage published, framing answers unchanged | The coverage isn't in a source assistants read, or doesn't carry the finding | Pitch the cited titles; lead with the number |
| Reference calls held, deals still stall | The wrong reference, or the wrong question | Match by role; brief on the buyer's real worry |
| A sector with no reference | A gap the next win must fill | Ask the next client in that sector, after their 90-day check |
What Kestrel's first year would look for. References within a week by the end of the first quarter, with a plastics reference once Hartwell's savings are confirmed. Reviews from finance directors on both cited platforms by mid-year, and the assistant's answer to "is Kestrel any good?" naming the right firm, with a review. Then the benchmark's coverage, which moves the slowest and the furthest: the moment a trade title quotes Kestrel's 4% to 9%, every assistant answer that cites it carries Kestrel's name into a trigger moment Kestrel has never reached.
| Business type | Typical mode | The outside voices that usually carry the most weight |
|---|---|---|
| B2B professional services | Committee or owner-led | References by sector and role, trade press, peer referrals, a few reviews |
| B2B software | Committee | Software review platforms, analyst coverage for larger deals, customer case studies, community answers |
| Considered consumer (finance, health, education) | Considered personal | Review sites, comparison sites, consumer press, regulators' ratings |
| Ecommerce | Quick choice or habitual | Product reviews and ratings, creators' reviews, "best of" lists |
| Local services | Owner-led or considered personal | Map reviews, neighbours' recommendations, local community groups |
| Marketplaces | Varies on each side | Reviews on both sides, press about trust and safety, sellers' stories |
You should be, a little. One firm: eight judgements across 52 moments, seven programmes, a reference bench by sector and role that can answer within a week, reviews asked for only after confirmed results, a benchmark placed in the titles assistants read, and wrong facts chased down wherever they've spread. Most firms send a press release when they hire someone and call it PR.
RocMode does part of the heavy lifting:
Or go back to the playbooks, read the book, or get your own score.