Category Exclusivity for AI Visibility Work

WebPossible works for one vendor per AI Shortlist Index category per engagement. Exclusivity is granted with the first signed Retainer at the top of the band, covers the implementation work in that category, and ends when the Retainer does.

It exists because the firewall makes it necessary. We cannot do work for two vendors competing for the same answer and keep the measurement honest.

How is exclusivity granted?

The first vendor in a category to sign an AI Visibility Retainer at the exclusivity tier, the top of the $5–8k band, holds the seat. There is one seat for each of the 20 Index categories, from resident benefits platforms and multifamily access control to EV charging and affordable housing compliance.

The seat is documented in an exclusivity addendum that lists the category and the subcategories it covers. That way there is no argument later about whether a resident rewards platform is inside a resident benefits seat.

If two vendors in the same category ask in the same week, the first signed agreement wins, and the second is told so. A Sprint alone does not grant exclusivity. During a Sprint we will not take a second Sprint in the same category, because both would target the same ten sources, but only a Retainer holds the seat.

What does it cover?

Sprint and Retainer work in the named category and subcategories: source entry, owned pages, entity cleanup, the quarterly data asset and the monthly movement report. While the seat is held, we decline that work from every other vendor in the category, at any price, and we say so when they ask.

What does it not cover?

1. The Index. Every tracked vendor in the category is measured on the same prompts, and the seat holder’s row is disclosed as a client and never edited. The publication policy applies to the seat holder exactly as it applies to a competitor.
2. Audits. An Audit is a diagnosis of a public measurement, and we will deliver one to your competitor. Its 90-day fix could be executed with anyone else; what they cannot buy from us is the execution.
3. Other categories. A vendor in two Index categories needs two seats. Adjacent categories not listed in the addendum are open.
4. Comparison pages, badges and re-checks, all of which run on their published criteria for every vendor.

How does it end?

With the Retainer. Thirty days’ notice from either side ends the Retainer and opens the seat at the end of the notice period.

A lapse for non-payment pauses work first and opens the seat after the same thirty days. Dropping from the exclusivity tier to the base of the band, by agreement, releases the seat too.

There is no renewal fee and no right of first refusal. A vendor that leaves and wants back in waits for the seat to be open.

Why does it exist?

The firewall says paying WebPossible never affects Index placement, and that clients buy the work that earns a position, not the position. Working for two vendors in one category would break the second half.

Both would be paying for entry into the same ten sources and for pages answering the same prompts. Every decision about which one to pitch first would be a decision about who gets named, and we would be choosing the answer instead of measuring it.

One vendor per category removes the choice. It also means the case studies, when they exist, will show a client’s movement against competitors we were not also working for.

The trade is that we turn away paying work. If you want the seat in your category, book a 20-minute call, or start with the Audit form below and ask about it after delivery. The practice hub covers the rest of the products.