Comparing versions and trends

Every rerun becomes another version of the same audit. The versions you select decide how Palmata presents the report:

One version shows that run on its own.
Two versions compare the newer run with an earlier baseline.
Three or more versions show the audit as a trend over time.

Choose the versions

The version menu with three Manta Footwear runs and the current version selected

Open the date in the report header. The Versions tab lists every run in the audit:

Select one date to open that version.
Select a second date to compare the two.
Select three or more dates—or Select all—to enter Trends.

Palmata keeps the newest selected version open and reads a two-version comparison from the older baseline to that newer run. The header confirms the order, for example Jul 1, 2026 vs Aug 5, 2026.

Compare two versions

Select the two dates you want to compare. Comparison follows the same report structure as a single run, but adds the earlier values and change markers where the evidence can be matched.

Start with Brand Perception

Brand Perception metrics comparing the July baseline with the August report

The Brand Perception metric cards put the baseline beside the viewed version for Mentioned, Cited, Considered, and Positive perception. Read them together: visibility can rise while citation or perception falls.

The strategic narrative belongs to the version you are viewing. It is not a line-by-line diff of the earlier narrative.

Compare topics

A topic card showing changes since the July baseline

In Topics & Prompts, each changed topic has a CHANGES SINCE strip. It shows movement in ranking, opportunity, and connected actions. New means the topic exists only in the viewed version; Gone means it existed only in the baseline.

Open the topic and read the heatmap

An open topic comparing its summary and brand-by-prompt heatmap with the baseline

Open a topic to see the same comparison in context. The strip at the top keeps the topic-level movement visible while the heatmap shows how brand influence changed across its buyer questions.

Heatmap cells compare like-for-like prompts. A stronger or weaker cell shows where a brand gained or lost influence. A new prompt has no baseline cell; a prompt that disappeared remains part of the change summary as Gone. Use the prompt list below the heatmap to find the exact questions responsible for the movement.

Compare individual prompts

A prompt detail view comparing its signal, response, brand positioning, and cited sources

Open a prompt to inspect the evidence behind its change:

The change strip shows signal, mention, citation, perception, and action movement.
Brand Positioning shows influence changes for your brand and competitors.
Sources Cited marks a source New when it appears only in the viewed version and Gone when it appeared only in the baseline.
A source present in both versions shows its change in influence when that value moved.

The response text is the answer from the version you are viewing. Source highlighting applies to that response, while the comparison labels explain how its supporting evidence differs from the baseline.

Compare sources across the report

The Sources view showing perception, citation, prompt, and action changes for individual sources

The Sources view shows how a page’s role changed across all analyzed prompts. Each changed source can show:

Perception — how its net influence on your brand moved.
Cited — how often the page was used in answers.
Prompts — how many analyzed questions the page affected or was considered for.
Actions — how many recommendations now connect to that source.

Read these changes with the source’s current section: Sources Boosting You, Sources Working Against You, or Sources Considered. A page can become more frequently cited while becoming more negative, so frequency alone is not an improvement.

Compare actions

Actions use the same baseline-to-viewed convention. Their change strips show movement in predicted impact, effort, affected prompts, and pages. Open an action to read the current recommendation and simulation workspace; the comparison indicates what changed, while the open action always belongs to the viewed version.

Turn comparison off

Open the date menu and deselect either date. Palmata opens the version that remains selected.

Follow a trend over time

The version menu with all three Manta Footwear versions selected for Trends

Select at least three versions of the same audit. The header changes to the selected date range and shows Trends. Palmata plots the selected runs as individual points; it does not fill in the time between audits.

Trends keeps the three views that can be compared consistently across runs: Brand Perception, Topics & Prompts, and Sources. Actions, Strategic Analysis, and other single-run views stay hidden until you return to one or two versions.

Read the overall movement

Brand Perception trends for mentions, citations, AI perception, and brand positioning

Brand Perception starts with three charts:

Mentions — the share of analyzed prompts that named your brand.
Citations — the share that cited your pages, considered them without citing them, or did not consider them.
AI perception — the positive, neutral, and negative mix when your brand appeared.

Hover a point or bar for the exact date, percentage, and count. Below the charts, Brand Positioning follows your brand and competitors across the same runs, so you can tell whether a change was yours alone or part of a wider shift.

Find the topics and prompts that moved

Topic trend cards showing mentions, citations, and perception across three versions

In Topics & Prompts, switch between the topic and prompt lists. Each row uses the same dates and shows movement in mentions, citations, and perception. A gap means that topic, prompt, brand, or measurement was not available in that version; it is not a zero.

Open a topic to compare brands across its prompts and versions. Then open a prompt to follow its Brand Positioning, Sources Cited, and Sources Considered history. If the audit contains more than one answer engine, use the engine tabs to inspect them separately.

A prompt history showing brand positioning and source influence across versions

See which sources gained or lost influence

Source trend cards with citations and perception across the selected versions

The Sources view follows each page’s citations and perception across the selected runs. Narrow it to cited sources, considered-only sources, your domain, or third-party pages. Sort by biggest change when you want the pages whose influence moved most; use reach, citation count, perception, or domain order for a different question.

Filter the same slice across every run

The global filter dock applies the same funnel stage, signal state, and tags to every selected version, then recomputes the charts. Topic, prompt, and source search narrows the rows in the current view. This is useful when the overall line is flat but one audience, region, product, or buying stage moved.

To leave Trends, open the date range and reduce the selection to two versions for comparison or one version for a single report.

Compare another report

The Other Reports tab in the comparison menu

For a quick reference outside the version chain, open Other Reports and choose one report. Palmata compares it with the newest version of the audit and includes both report names in the header when they differ. Other reports cannot be added to a trend.

Separate reports may use different topics, prompts, dates, and audit settings. Use this view to investigate a specific contrast. Use versions of the same audit when you need the cleanest measure of change over time.