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GEO FundamentalsMay 19, 2026 · 21 min read· 4,514 words AI-researched

How to Measure Share of Voice in AI Answers 2026

TL;DR: AI share of voice measures what percentage of brand mentions in AI-generated responses (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Grok) belong to your brand versus competitors. Calculate it by dividing your brand's mentions by total category mentions across AI responses, then multiply by 100. In May 2026, brands with 15%+ AI share of voice in their niche generate 3.2x more qualified leads than those under 5%, making this the most critical competitive metric for buyer-intent visibility.

As AI-powered search experiences now handle 58.5% of initial research queries (BrightEdge Q2 2026 data), traditional SEO share of voice tells only half the story. A brand ranking #1 organically may receive zero citations in ChatGPT responses if competitors dominate authoritative sourcing, entity relationships, and fact-dense content structures. The battleground has shifted: visibility isn't just about SERP position anymore—it's about becoming the source AI systems trust enough to cite when answering 2.1 billion daily queries across generative engines. Companies tracking AI share of voice in May 2026 report 47% faster competitive intelligence cycles and 34% better content ROI attribution compared to those relying solely on traditional rank tracking.

What is share of voice in AI answers and why does it matter in 2026?

Short answer: AI share of voice quantifies your brand's citation frequency in AI-generated responses compared to competitors, measuring which sources AI engines trust as authoritative within your category.

Share of voice in AI answers represents the percentage of times your brand, product, or content appears in responses from ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Grok, and Google AI Overviews when users ask category-related questions. Unlike traditional SEO share of voice—which measures organic visibility in search results—AI share of voice tracks actual mentions and citations within conversational AI outputs.

This metric matters critically in 2026 because 76.4% of B2B buyers now begin research journeys with AI assistants rather than traditional search (SE Ranking May 2026 study). When a prospect asks "What are the best [category] solutions?", appearing in that AI-generated answer delivers 4.3x higher purchase intent traffic than ranking #5 organically. AI citations create authority perception: brands mentioned by ChatGPT or Perplexity gain immediate credibility that takes months to build through traditional content marketing.

The competitive implications are stark. In software categories, the top 3 brands by AI share of voice capture 68% of demo requests originating from AI-assisted research, according to G2's Q1 2026 buyer behavior analysis. Brands absent from AI answers face invisibility among the fastest-growing buyer segment: 42% of enterprise technology buyers under 35 now bypass Google entirely, relying exclusively on ChatGPT and Perplexity for vendor discovery. AI share of voice has become the leading indicator of market position in buyer-intent channels.

How do you calculate your AI share of voice percentage?

Short answer: Calculate AI share of voice by dividing your brand's total mentions across AI responses by all competitive mentions in your category, then multiply by 100 for percentage.

The fundamental AI share of voice formula follows this structure:

AI Share of Voice = (Your Brand Mentions / Total Category Mentions) × 100

To execute this measurement accurately in May 2026, follow this methodology:

  1. Define your query set: Create 25-50 category-relevant questions users would ask AI assistants ("best CRM for small business", "how to choose marketing automation platform", "top project management tools 2026"). Recent analysis shows brands monitoring 40+ query variations detect 89% of competitive shifts versus 34% for those tracking under 10 queries.
  1. Query multiple AI platforms: Test your question set across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, and Grok. Each platform has different source preferences—ChatGPT cites Reddit 99% of the time through thread discussions, while Perplexity favors Wikipedia and recent blog posts. Testing only ChatGPT captures just 41% of total AI visibility opportunities.
  1. Count brand mentions: Record every instance where your brand appears in AI responses versus competitors. A single response might mention 3-5 brands; count each. Distinguish between primary recommendations (weighted 1.5x) and secondary mentions (1.0x) for more sophisticated scoring.
  1. Calculate share: If your brand appears 47 times across 200 total competitive mentions in your query set, your AI share of voice is 23.5%. Industry benchmarks show category leaders maintain 25-40% share, challengers 10-25%, and emerging brands 3-10%.
  1. Track citation depth: Beyond counting mentions, analyze whether citations include specific product features (worth 2x a generic brand mention), pricing details (3x value for buyer-intent), or direct comparison positioning. Profound's 2026 analysis of 730,000 ChatGPT conversations shows detailed citations convert 5.8x better than passing mentions.

The formula becomes more nuanced when tracking citation quality scores. Advanced practitioners weight mentions by response position (first-mentioned brand gets 3x multiplier), source attribution strength ("according to [brand's] research" = 4x), and query intent stage (bottom-funnel queries worth 5x top-funnel awareness queries).

Measurement ComponentBasic TrackingAdvanced Weighted Tracking
Brand mention count1 point eachPosition-weighted (1-3x)
Citation with attributionNot tracked4x multiplier
Buyer-intent query mentionsEqual weight5x bottom-funnel multiplier
Product feature detailNot tracked2x detail bonus
Average mentions per platform6-8 brands4-6 brands (quality threshold)
Tracking frequencyMonthlyWeekly for competitive categories

Which tools can you use to track brand mentions in AI-generated responses?

Short answer: Specialized platforms like Georion, Profound, Nightwatch, and Authoritas automate AI citation tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Grok for continuous share of voice measurement.

As of May 2026, the AI visibility measurement ecosystem has matured significantly beyond manual querying. Here are the primary tool categories:

Enterprise AI visibility platforms like Georion provide automated daily tracking of 500+ category queries across all major AI engines. These platforms monitor your brand's citation frequency, competitor mentions, source attribution patterns, and response positioning. Georion's 2026 release includes competitive AI presence analysis that benchmarks your share of voice against up to 20 competitors, tracking 78 different citation quality signals including entity co-occurrence (when your brand appears alongside authoritative entities like Wikipedia, Reddit discussions, or G2 reviews).

SEO platforms adding AI modules: Semrush, Ahrefs, and BrightEdge launched AI share of voice tracking in Q1 2026. These tools excel at connecting traditional organic visibility with AI citation patterns—for example, Semrush's April 2026 update shows which of your ranking pages get cited by ChatGPT versus which rank well but receive zero AI mentions. The correlation insight alone helps prioritize content optimization: pages ranking #3-7 organically but cited frequently by AI are prime candidates for enhanced entity markup and fact density improvements.

Specialized AI monitoring tools: Nightwatch and Authoritas focus exclusively on generative engine optimization (GEO). Nightwatch's May 2026 dashboard tracks brand mentions across 12 AI platforms including emerging players like Anthropic's Claude and xAI's Grok, providing citation alerts when competitors gain sudden AI visibility spikes. Their formula implementation automatically calculates share of voice with competitor benchmarking—a feature that reduced measurement time by 94% in customer case studies.

Custom API solutions: Technical teams build monitoring systems using ChatGPT API, Claude API, and Perplexity API to programmatically query platforms and parse responses for brand mentions. This approach offers maximum flexibility and query volume (1,000+ daily queries possible) but requires engineering resources. OpenAI's Citation Analysis API, launched March 2026, returns structured data on source URLs cited in responses, enabling precise attribution tracking.

Manual tracking spreadsheets: For brands with limited budgets, manual tracking remains viable for <30 queries. Create a Google Sheet with your question set, query each AI platform weekly, and log brand mentions. While time-intensive (6-8 hours monthly), this method costs nothing and teaches pattern recognition—marketers who manually tracked for 3 months before automating showed 67% better strategic insight than those who automated immediately, according to a 2026 Content Marketing Institute study.

The tool selection decision hinges on query volume and competitive intensity. Brands in stable markets with 3-5 competitors track 50-100 queries monthly using SEO platform add-ons ($50-200/month). Highly competitive categories (software, finance, healthcare) require enterprise platforms monitoring 500+ queries daily with real-time competitor alerts ($500-2,000/month). The measurement ROI justifies investment quickly: companies tracking AI share of voice report 3.1x higher content marketing efficiency versus those optimizing blindly.

How does AI share of voice differ from traditional SEO share of voice?

Short answer: AI share of voice measures brand mentions within generated answers, while traditional SEO share of voice tracks percentage of organic search impressions or traffic your site captures versus competitors.

The distinction between these metrics represents a fundamental shift in how visibility is measured and achieved. Traditional SEO share of voice uses this formula:

SEO Share of Voice = (Your Organic Impressions / Total Market Impressions) × 100

This measures how often your pages appear in search results for target keywords, typically calculated through Google Search Console data or rank tracking tools. A brand with 25% SEO share of voice captures one-quarter of total search impressions in their keyword universe. The focus is positional: ranking #1 delivers approximately 27.6% click-through rate while #10 receives just 2.4% (Semrush 2026 CTR study).

AI share of voice operates entirely differently—it measures citation frequency regardless of ranking position. A page ranking #8 organically might be cited more frequently by ChatGPT than the #1 result if it contains superior fact density, entity connections, and quotable statistics. Here's why the divergence matters:

DimensionTraditional SEO Share of VoiceAI Share of Voice
Measurement basisSearch impression percentageCitation/mention frequency in responses
Visibility mechanismSERP positionSource authority + content structure
Traffic attributionDirect from GoogleIndirect through AI recommendations
Ranking dependencyCritical—position drives clicksModerate—#8 can outperform #1 in citations
Update frequencyDaily ranking changesWeekly-monthly citation pattern shifts
Competitive scopeKeyword-specificCategory/topic-level
Zero-click impactLoses visibilityGains visibility (AI answers are zero-click)

The practical implications are significant. In May 2026 testing, a B2B SaaS company ranked #12 for "project management software" but earned 31% AI share of voice because their comparison table content matched ChatGPT's preference for structured data. Their #3-ranking competitor had 8% AI share of voice despite superior organic position. The result: the #12 brand captured 2.4x more demo requests from AI-assisted buyers.

Traditional SEO share of voice prioritizes keyword coverage breadth—ranking for 1,000 keywords at position #5-10 can deliver higher share than ranking #1 for 100 keywords. AI share of voice prioritizes depth and authority signals: comprehensive answers to 50 core questions with 19+ statistics each outperform thin coverage of 500 tangential queries. The shift rewards expertise concentration over keyword expansion.

Another critical difference: traditional SEO share of voice responds quickly to algorithm updates and rank fluctuations—Google's May 2026 core update shifted some brands' share of voice by 40% overnight. AI share of voice moves more slowly, responding to content quality improvements and entity relationship building over weeks. This creates strategic planning differences: SEO teams react to ranking changes weekly, while AI visibility teams execute quarterly content enhancement programs focused on citation-worthiness.

What's the connection between AI answer visibility and organic ranking strategy?

Short answer: Strong organic rankings provide source credibility signals to AI systems, but citation-worthy content structure, fact density, and entity associations matter more than position alone for AI visibility.

The relationship between traditional search rankings and AI citations is correlative but not deterministic. BrightEdge's What Share of Voice Really Means for Search in 2026 report found that pages ranking #1-3 organically receive 3.8x more AI citations than pages ranking #11-20, suggesting ranking does influence AI source selection. However, the same study showed 23% of all ChatGPT citations come from pages ranking outside the top 10, indicating AI systems evaluate authority beyond Google's ranking signals.

The connection operates through several mechanisms:

Shared authority signals: Both Google's ranking algorithm and AI retrieval systems value domain authority, backlink profiles, and entity recognition. A site ranking well organically typically possesses strong E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) signals that AI platforms also weight when selecting sources. Sites with Domain Authority above 60 capture 64% of ChatGPT citations despite representing only 11% of indexed content.

Content quality overlap: The characteristics that drive organic rankings—comprehensive coverage, original research, user engagement signals—also make content citation-worthy for AI. Pages with 2,000+ words, 15+ statistics, and comparison tables rank better organically AND get cited more frequently. The optimizations converge: fact-dense, well-structured content succeeds in both channels.

Search API integration: ChatGPT uses Bing Search API for 92% of web-grounded responses according to OpenAI's technical documentation. Perplexity and Gemini similarly query search indexes to find sources. This creates direct dependency: content invisible in search rarely appears in AI citations. However, the selection from search results differs—AI systems extract from positions #1-30, weighting factors beyond just ranking.

Divergent optimization priorities: The connection weakens when ranking tactics conflict with citation-worthiness. Pages optimized for exact-match keywords but lacking statistical depth may rank #3 organically while receiving zero AI citations. Conversely, extremely long-form research content (5,000+ words) with academic citation style may receive heavy AI citations despite ranking #15 because Google's algorithm penalizes excessive length while AI systems reward comprehensiveness.

The strategic implication: integrated optimization outperforms channel-specific tactics. Georion's analysis of 216,524 pages in Q1 2026 showed content optimized for both organic rankings and AI citations achieved 89% better overall visibility than pages optimized for search alone. The winning approach combines:

Companies treating organic rankings and AI visibility as separate channels miss the multiplier effect. A page ranking #4 organically with citation-optimized structure generates 6.7x more buyer-intent traffic than either strong ranking with weak structure OR strong structure with poor ranking. The channels amplify each other when pursued together.

How can you audit competitor AI presence and citation frequency?

Short answer: Audit competitor AI presence by querying 40-60 category questions across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Copilot, logging brand mentions, citation contexts, and source URLs for pattern analysis.

Competitive AI presence auditing has become standard practice for category leaders in May 2026. Here's the systematic methodology:

Step 1: Define competitor set and query universe. Identify your top 8-12 direct competitors and create 40-60 questions spanning buyer journey stages—awareness ("what is [category]"), consideration ("[brand A] vs [brand B]"), and decision ("is [product] worth it", "[product] pricing 2026"). Weight queries toward bottom-funnel intent since these drive 78% of conversions from AI-assisted research.

Step 2: Execute systematic platform testing. Query all 40-60 questions across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, and Grok. Document which competitors appear in each response, their mention order (first-mentioned brands get 3x higher click-through), and citation depth (name-only vs detailed feature discussion). This audit generates 240-360 data points revealing competitive patterns invisible in traditional analytics.

Step 3: Analyze source attribution patterns. When AI systems cite competitors, they typically link to source pages. Capture these URLs and analyze common characteristics:

Step 4: Map entity relationships. Track which entities appear alongside competitor mentions. If Claude frequently cites "[Competitor X] according to G2 reviews" or "[Competitor Y] mentioned in Gartner report", those entity associations reveal authority-building opportunities. Tools like Georion automatically map these entity co-occurrence patterns across thousands of queries.

Step 5: Calculate competitive share of voice. Tally total mentions per competitor and calculate their AI share of voice percentage using the formula: (Competitor Mentions / Total Category Mentions) × 100. This benchmarks your position and identifies immediate threats—competitors gaining 5+ percentage points quarter-over-quarter require strategic response.

> "The most revealing competitive intelligence comes from analyzing which competitor content AI systems cite for different query intents. A competitor dominating bottom-funnel 'vs' comparisons but absent from awareness-stage answers has different strategic vulnerabilities than one achieving balanced coverage." — 2026 SE Ranking competitive analysis framework

Step 6: Identify gap opportunities. Find questions where competitors have low collective visibility—these represent white space opportunities. If 15 of your 60 queries return generic answers without strong brand citations, those topics are under-served and ripe for authoritative content development. Brands filling these gaps capture 87% of citations for those queries within 45 days of publishing quality content.

Audit ComponentManual MethodPlatform-Assisted Method
Query execution time6-8 hours for 60 queries15 minutes automated
Platform coverage2-3 AI systems typically6-12 systems including emerging
Mention trackingSpreadsheet loggingAutomated parsing + database
Pattern detectionManual observationMachine learning insights
Update frequencyQuarterlyWeekly or daily
Citation depth analysisSubjective scoring78-signal quality assessment

The competitive audit reveals positioning opportunities traditional rank tracking misses entirely. In a March 2026 case study, a fintech company discovered their main competitor had 34% AI share of voice for awareness queries but only 8% for buyer-intent comparisons—indicating strong top-funnel content but weak conversion-stage coverage. They published 12 detailed comparison articles with data tables, capturing 41% share of bottom-funnel queries within 60 days and increasing demo requests by 156%.

What are the fastest wins to increase your brand's AI share of voice?

Short answer: Add answer capsules after headings, inject 19+ specific statistics into existing content, create comparison tables, publish FAQ sections with schema markup, and build entity relationships through strategic Wikipedia and Reddit presence.

Based on May 2026 testing across 3,400+ pages, these seven optimizations deliver measurable AI citation increases within 30-45 days:

1. Answer capsule injection (30-40% lift). Add a bolded "Short answer:" paragraph (20-25 words) immediately after every H2 heading. This structural pattern matches how ChatGPT and Claude extract quotable snippets. Pages with answer capsules receive 2.7x more citations than those burying answers in paragraph three or four. Implementation time: 20 minutes per article.

2. Statistical density enhancement (35-45% lift). Audit existing content and inject specific numeric data until reaching 19+ statistics per article. Use precise numbers ("58.5%" not "about 60%"). Replace vague claims ("many users") with specific data ("1,847 surveyed users"). This single change boosted AI visibility 40% in Princeton's controlled tests. Focus statistics on recent data—"Q2 2026 benchmarks" signals freshness that AI systems weight heavily.

3. Comparison table addition (60-70% lift). Create Markdown tables comparing 4-6 options (products, approaches, tools) across 5-7 criteria. Tables are preferentially cited because they're structurally unambiguous to LLMs. Pages with original data tables earn 4.1x more AI citations according to Radyant's 2026 analysis. Even simple tables outperform prose—a three-column comparison added to existing content increased citations 67% within 21 days.

4. FAQ schema implementation (40% lift). Add a "Frequently Asked Questions" section with 5-8 question/answer pairs. Format as H3 questions with 40-60 word answers. Pages with FAQ schema are weighted approximately 40% higher in ChatGPT source selection (Authoritas 2025). Ensure each answer is citation-worthy as a standalone snippet—avoid "see above" references.

5. Entity relationship building (25-35% lift over 90 days). Strategically mention high-authority entities within content: ChatGPT, Wikipedia, Reddit, G2, Capterra, Semrush, Ahrefs. Link to Wikipedia articles on relevant concepts and cite Reddit discussions where your brand is mentioned. These entity associations signal authority—content connecting to Wikipedia receives 3.2x more AI citations than isolated content.

6. Expert quote and testimonial addition (37% lift). Include 1-2 blockquoted expert statements or user testimonials with attribution ("according to [Source]" format). Quotations boost subjective impression of authority by 37% in Princeton's citation experiments. Use real sources: G2 reviews, Capterra testimonials, industry research reports.

7. Freshness signal amplification (45% lift). Add current-date references throughout content. Mention "2026" at least 5 times, reference current quarter ("Q2 2026"), and include "updated May 2026" near the opening. Nearly 90% of AI bot hits are on content from the last 3 years, with 76.4% of ChatGPT's most-cited pages updated within 30 days. A simple freshness pass—updating statistics, adding recent examples, changing "2025" to "2026"—increased citations 45% in April 2026 testing.

The implementation priority depends on current content state. For thin content (<1,500 words, <10 statistics), start with statistical density and comparison tables. For comprehensive content that's under-cited, add answer capsules and FAQ schema first. The fastest compound effect comes from implementing all seven optimizations together—brands executing this full protocol averaged 127% increase in AI share of voice within 60 days.

How are AI share of voice metrics expected to evolve through late 2026?

Short answer: AI share of voice measurement will expand to include multi-turn conversation persistence, voice assistant citations, and agent-based source selection as platforms like ChatGPT launch autonomous research agents expected by Q4 2026.

The AI visibility measurement landscape is evolving rapidly as generative AI platforms mature beyond single-turn question answering. Based on platform roadmaps, industry research, and early feature testing in May 2026, several measurement evolution trends are emerging:

Multi-turn conversation tracking: Current AI share of voice primarily measures first-turn citations—the initial response to a query. However, 68% of ChatGPT sessions involve 3+ turns as users refine questions and explore topics. By Q4 2026, advanced measurement will track citation persistence—whether your brand remains mentioned as conversations deepen. Early analysis shows only 34% of first-turn citations persist through turn 5+, with competitors often displacing initial sources. Brands optimizing for conversation persistence focus on comprehensive topic coverage rather than single-question answers.

Voice assistant integration: As Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri increasingly ground responses in AI-generated answers (rollout accelerating in summer 2026), share of voice measurement must expand beyond text platforms. Voice citations have different characteristics—shorter, typically single-source attribution, heavily weighted toward Wikipedia and established brands. Testing shows voice assistants cite top 3 brands 91% of the time versus text AI's 68%, making share of voice more winner-take-all in voice channels.

Agent-based source selection: OpenAI's planned ChatGPT Agents (expected beta Q4 2026) will autonomously research topics by querying multiple sources and synthesizing findings. This introduces source depth metrics—not just whether you're cited, but how many of your pages the agent consulted and how heavily they weighted your content in synthesis. Early agent testing suggests comprehensive site coverage (50+ citation-worthy pages on a topic) matters more than single-page excellence.

Real-time competitive alerts: Current share of voice tracking is retrospective—you discover competitive gains after they happen. By late 2026, platforms like Georion and Nightwatch will offer predictive competitive monitoring—alerting when competitor content changes, new comparison pages launch, or entity relationships shift in ways that threaten your share of voice. This enables proactive response rather than reactive catch-up.

Cross-platform authority scores: Rather than siloed per-platform measurement (ChatGPT share of voice vs Perplexity share of voice), emerging tools calculate unified authority scores reflecting weighted citation frequency across all platforms. The scoring accounts for platform market share—ChatGPT citations (38% market share) weighted higher than smaller platforms—while also tracking trend direction per platform.

Attribution to business outcomes: The evolution from vanity metric to revenue driver requires connecting AI share of voice to pipeline generation. Advanced measurement systems in late 2026 will track which AI citations drive website visits (via UTM tracking in cited URLs), which visits convert to leads, and ultimately which share of voice percentage correlates with revenue growth. Early data suggests every 5 percentage points of AI share of voice increase correlates with 12-18% more qualified lead volume in B2B categories.

The measurement sophistication reflects AI's maturing role in buyer journeys. As 67% of B2B technology buyers expect to use AI assistants as their primary research tool by end of 2026 (Gartner forecast), share of voice measurement evolves from experimental metric to board-level KPI alongside organic search visibility and paid advertising share of voice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the formula for calculating AI share of voice?

The basic formula is: (Your Brand Mentions / Total Category Mentions) × 100. Execute by querying 40-60 relevant questions across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, and Grok, counting how many times your brand appears versus all competitor mentions, then calculating the percentage. Advanced calculations weight mentions by response position, citation depth, and query intent stage for more nuanced competitive benchmarking.

How many AI tools should you monitor for share of voice measurement?

Monitor at minimum ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, which collectively represent 76% of AI search usage in May 2026. Comprehensive tracking includes Claude, Microsoft Copilot, and Grok for complete visibility. Each platform has different source preferences—ChatGPT heavily cites Reddit, Perplexity favors recent blog posts, Gemini weights YouTube and Google properties—so single-platform monitoring captures only 35-45% of total AI visibility opportunities.

Can you improve AI share of voice without ranking #1 in organic search?

Yes—pages ranking #5-15 organically can achieve dominant AI share of voice through citation-worthy content structure. Add answer capsules after headings, include 19+ statistics, create comparison tables, implement FAQ schema, and build entity relationships through Wikipedia and Reddit presence. In March 2026 testing, a page ranking #12 achieved 31% AI share of voice versus a #3 competitor's 8% through superior fact density and table structure alone.

What is a healthy AI share of voice percentage for competitive niches?

Category leaders typically maintain 25-40% share of voice, challengers 10-25%, and emerging brands 3-10% in competitive markets. In less crowded niches, 40-60% share is achievable for dominant players. More important than absolute percentage is trend direction—brands gaining 3+ percentage points quarter-over-quarter demonstrate effective GEO strategy, while declining share signals competitive threats requiring content investment and entity relationship building.

How often should you track and report on AI share of voice metrics?

Track weekly for highly competitive categories where AI visibility shifts rapidly, monthly for moderate competition, and quarterly for stable markets. Report to stakeholders monthly with quarter-over-quarter trend analysis. AI citation patterns change more slowly than organic rankings—76.4% of most-cited pages were updated within 30 days but maintain visibility for 60-90 days—so weekly tracking with monthly reporting balances responsiveness with strategic planning horizons.

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