# Daily watch

> How Daily watch gives you a daily pulse on rankings, the map and AI answers for much less than a full daily check, and how to read its trends.

## What Daily watch is

Full checks — every keyword on every device to full depth, a whole map grid, every prompt on every AI platform — are precise but expensive to run every day. **Daily watch** is a lighter check that runs each day on top of your normal schedule. It uses the cheapest request that still answers "did anything change?" so you notice a drop within a day, not a week.

Daily watch is **off by default** and is set per project.

## Turning it on

1. Open **Settings › Project › Advanced settings › Automation**.
2. Find **Daily watch** (point at the ⓘ for a short explanation).
3. Tick the parts you want: **Rank tracking**, **Map**, **AI visibility**. Each line shows the estimated credits per day and per month and how much cheaper it is than a full daily check.
4. Choose **How to check**: **Every item daily (cheapest request)** looks at every keyword, map area and prompt every day using the lightest request for each; **Sample 1/7 daily** checks a rotating seventh of your items each day, so everything is covered once a week — the cheapest option.
5. Click **Save daily watch**.

The estimate updates as you change the options. If a full check already ran in the last 20 hours, Daily watch does not charge for that part that day; the history shows "Full check".

## What each part does

### Rank tracking

In **Every item daily** mode:

- Every keyword is checked on **desktop** each day.
- The depth adapts to the keyword: a keyword at position 5 is checked only on the first page; one at position 18 is checked a little deeper. If a keyword is not found where expected, it is checked one page deeper once, at no extra cost to you.
- Keywords that have not been found for several days are checked to the top 20 daily and to the full depth weekly.
- **Mobile** is checked weekly.

**Starred** keywords and keywords that moved recently are treated as "hot" and checked more thoroughly. Star a keyword with ☆ in [Rank tracking](/docs/rank-tracking).

Daily checks appear in **Run history** as "Daily watch" or "Daily sample", so you can tell them apart from full runs.

### Map

The map part works as a **pulse**: each day it checks the point at your business and one of four sentinel points halfway out, rotating through them. Starred keywords get all five points. The full grid still comes from your **Map › Re-check** schedule ([Map grid scans](/docs/map-grid)).

In **Map**, tick **Daily sample** to show these points as a separate layer, each with "checked <date>". The daily points never change your scans, ARP, reports or charts — they are only a pulse.

### AI visibility

Every prompt is asked each day on the cheapest platform; the other platforms you selected are asked weekly. Answers already read are not processed again. Daily AI checks are kept separate from your normal runs: they do not become your "latest run" and they do not trigger AI alerts.

## Reading the trend

When at least one daily check exists, a trend card appears on the dashboard and small charts appear under Daily watch in settings:

| Line | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Rank | Average position of the keywords checked that day, plus counts in the top 3 and top 10 |
| Map | Share of checked points where you are in the top 3 |
| AI | Mentions of your brand in the daily answers, as a count and a percentage |

A day without a check is a gap in the line, not a zero.

> **Note:** In **Sample 1/7 daily** mode a different seventh of your keywords is checked each day, so the daily average can jump because the mix changed, not because rankings moved. Use **Every item daily** if you want a clean daily rank trend.

## Choosing a mode

- **Small local business, few keywords:** Every item daily for Rank and Map. You see any change the next morning.
- **Agency with many projects:** Sample 1/7 daily on most projects, Every item daily on the clients who care most.
- **AI visibility:** turn it on if AI answers matter to the business; the daily signal from one platform is usually enough to catch changes, and the weekly full picture comes from the other platforms.

## Common questions

**Does Daily watch replace my weekly or monthly checks?**
No. It adds a cheaper daily signal. Keep a full schedule for complete data and reports.

**Why does a day show "Full check" and no charge?**
A full check ran in the last 20 hours, so Daily watch skipped that part.

**Why aren't the daily map points in my reports?**
Daily points are a pulse layer only. Reports use full scans so the numbers are comparable.

**Can a client turn Daily watch on?**
No. It spends the agency's credits, so only the agency can change it.

**What happens if I run out of credits?**
That day's check is skipped and the next day tries again. The trend shows a gap.