Zia Wasi
Zia Wasi researches how ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity choose and cite brands, with a focus on India and Hinglish. He co-founded Depra AI and leads its research, including the Hinglish vs English study published openly on IndicGEO.
Mohd Zia Wasi Khan on LinkedIn
IndicGEO on GitHubCo-founder and GEO researcher, Depra AIUpdated
Zia Wasi
Co-founder and GEO researcher, Depra AI
On LinkedIn as Mohd Zia Wasi Khan
What does Zia Wasi research?
Zia Wasi is co-founder of Depra AI and a GEO (generative engine optimization) researcher. He researches how AI engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity) choose and cite brands, with a focus on India and Hinglish, the mix of Hindi and English typed in English letters.
He leads the Hinglish vs English study (480 answers, August 2026) and its October 2026 re-run (479 answers), reported in section 6 of the study page. The August study's prompts, answers and scripts are public on IndicGEO (opens in a new tab). He also collected the "AI models and search indexes" research from public sources, which the research notes draw on.
Depra AI's action plan and recommendations come from a proprietary method he developed. Before Depra AI, he designed AI products.
Where should you start with Zia Wasi’s research?
- 01
Study
Hinglish vs English AI search: the 480-answer study and its October re-run
- 02
Research note
Which search index does each AI engine use?
- 03
Research note
How is an AI answer assembled?
- 04
Research note
Do indexing requests get you into AI answers?
- 05
Case study
How Depra AI used Depra AI to get named in AI answers from India
What has Zia Wasi published?
His guides, research notes, comparisons and case studies on this site, newest first.
74 articles on this site
- Comparisons
Best AEO Tools in 2026: Answer Engine Optimization Software
Engines per plan and starting price for 10 AEO tools, each price linked to the vendor page, plus a table of 9 tools built in India, checked 8, 14 and 19 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI alternatives: other AI visibility tools compared
Ten other tools that track how AI answers name your brand, compared with Depra AI on engines, price, India location, Hinglish and trial.
Updated
- Comparisons
How much do AI visibility tools cost in 2026?
The published starting price of 14 AI visibility tools, what each price includes, what each tracked answer costs, and the extras to budget for.
Updated
- Comparisons
I Tested Otterly, AITLAS, Semrush and Ahrefs Against Depra AI
Screens from my own accounts and each tool's public pages on 26 October 2026, with Depra AI shown through its home page demo: what each tool shows, what it does well, and what you do not get compared with Depra AI.
Updated
- Comparisons
Which AI visibility tools are best for D2C brands in India?
Eleven tools that track how AI answers name consumer brands, compared on engines, prices, India location, Hinglish and trials. Checked 8 to 19 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Comparisons
Which are the best AI visibility tools in India?
Thirteen tools that track how AI answers name your brand, compared for buyers in India on location, rupee billing, GST, UPI, languages, engines and trial.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs AITLAS: engines, marketplaces, pricing and who each fits
AITLAS by Shiprocket pairs AI visibility tracking with articles its HYDRA tool writes and publishes. Depra AI tracks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews on every plan, in English, Hinglish, French and most other major languages, plus code-mixed questions, and shows which marketplaces AI answers cite in your category. AITLAS checked 13 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Research
Which search index does each AI engine use? A map from public documentation
A source-by-source map of how Google AI Overviews, Gemini, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, Perplexity, Grok and Meta AI find web pages, what each vendor documents, and what it does not.
Updated
- Guides
AEO vs GEO vs SEO: What Is the Difference?
SEO wins a place in the list of links. AEO and GEO win a place inside the answer that ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or a Google AI Overview writes. Here is how the three terms fit together.
Updated
- Comparisons
Ahrefs Brand Radar alternatives: 6 tools, and who should stay with Ahrefs
What Ahrefs Brand Radar is, how it is sold and what it costs, with six alternatives compared on engines, entry price and free option. Checked 8 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Guides
AI search glossary: 42 terms for AEO, GEO and AI visibility
One plain definition for each word used in AI search: strategies, engines, prompts, metrics, sources and crawlers.
Updated
- Guides
AI share of voice: what it is and how to calculate it
The formula Depra AI uses, a worked example with four brands and 60 answers, how share of voice differs from visibility, and how to raise it.
Updated
- Comparisons
Best AI visibility tools for Shopify stores, compared
Nine tools compared on what a Shopify store needs. The table covers product-level tracking, catalogue reading, AI crawler checks, entry price and India support. Checked 7 Oct 2026, AITLAS on 13 Oct 2026, Listable Labs on 19 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Comparisons
Best Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Tools in 2026
14 GEO tools grouped by the four jobs they do, with engines, starting price and India and Hinglish coverage. Checked 8 Oct 2026; Ahrefs Brand Radar read again on 14 Oct 2026, Writesonic on 19 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Ecommerce
Best Shopify SEO apps and tools in 2026: 9 compared from their own listings
Six Shopify apps and three general SEO tools, each described only from its own listing or pricing page, read on 7 Oct 2026 and again on 8 Oct 2026. Prices are in the currency shown.
Updated
- Guides
ChatGPT SEO: How to Get ChatGPT to Recommend Your Brand
What OpenAI documents about ChatGPT search, five steps to get your brand named in its answers, and how to tell if the work paid off.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs AnsarAEO: two Indian AI visibility tools compared (2026)
AnsarAEO and Depra AI both start at ₹1,999 a month and both serve brands selling in India. Here is how they differ.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs AthenaHQ: features, pricing and who each fits
AthenaHQ tracks up to 11 AI models and adds a content optimisation agent, priced in dollars by credits. Depra AI tracks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews in 40 markets, in English, Hinglish, French and most other major languages, plus code-mixed questions, priced in rupees. Checked 8 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs Listable Labs: two India-built AI visibility tools compared (2026)
Listable Labs pairs AI visibility tracking with content writing, priced in US dollars. Depra AI tracks AI answers in 40 markets, India included, priced in rupees.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs Otterly: features, pricing and who each fits
Otterly is an Austrian AI search monitoring tool priced in US dollars, with Microsoft Copilot included. Depra AI tracks AI answers in 40 markets, in English, Hinglish, French and most other major languages, plus code-mixed questions, priced in rupees. Checked 8 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs Pallix: two India-built AI visibility tools compared (2026)
Pallix and Depra AI both track AI answers about brands in India and both price in rupees. Here is how they differ.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs Peec AI: features, pricing and who each fits
Peec AI is a Berlin-based AI search analytics tool priced in US dollars. Depra AI tracks AI answers in 40 markets, in English, Hinglish, French and most other major languages, plus code-mixed questions, priced in rupees. Facts checked 8 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs Profound: features and pricing compared
Pick Depra AI if your buyers are in India. It tracks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews in English, Hinglish (Hindi and English typed in English letters), French and most other major languages, plus code-mixed questions, from ₹1,999 a month. Pick Profound for up to 9 AI engines, data on what people ask AI, or content-writing agents, on a custom-priced Enterprise plan.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs Scrunch AI: features and pricing compared
Scrunch Core costs $250 a month for 4 AI engines in 1 country. Depra AI starts at ₹1,999 a month for ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, with questions in English, Hinglish (Hindi typed in English letters), French and most other major languages, plus code-mixed questions.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs Searchable AI: features, pricing and who each fits
Searchable AI is a London-based platform that tracks AI answers, writes articles and audits pages, priced in US dollars. Depra AI tracks AI answers in 40 markets, in English, Hinglish, French and most other major languages, plus code-mixed questions, priced in rupees. Checked 8 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit (2026)
For a brand selling in India, the main difference is focus. Depra AI asks your buyers’ questions from inside India on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, from ₹1,999 a month. It tracks English, Hinglish, French and most other major languages, plus code-mixed questions. The Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit adds AI tracking to the Semrush SEO suite, priced in US dollars. Its help pages do not mention Hinglish.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs Writesonic: which AI visibility tool fits your brand?
Writesonic pairs AI visibility tracking with AI article writing and site audits, priced in dollars. Depra AI tracks AI answers on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews in 40 markets, in English, Hinglish, French and most other major languages, plus code-mixed questions, priced in rupees. Writesonic checked 19 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Ecommerce
Ecommerce SEO: how to get your store found on Google and in AI answers
A practical guide for store owners: category and product pages, site structure, structured data, reviews and speed. Then how AI answers pick stores, and how to check that AI engines can read yours.
Updated
- Guides
GEO vs SEO: What Is the Difference?
GEO vs SEO side by side: goals, metrics and tools, the 4 parts of the work that carry over, the 5 that change, and how one buyer question from India gets different answers in English and Hinglish.
Updated
- Ecommerce
How to get your products shown in ChatGPT shopping
How ChatGPT shows and picks products, what OpenAI says about India, the routes open to a merchant, a 9-step Shopify checklist and how to check your own products.
Updated
- Engines
How to rank in Gemini and get your brand recommended
What Google documents about how Gemini uses Google Search, what the Google-Extended rule changes, a five-step plan, and how to check your results.
Updated
- Engines
How to rank in Perplexity and get your brand cited
What Perplexity documents about its search and its two crawlers, what it leaves undocumented, a five-step plan, and how to check your results.
Updated
- Guides
How to Track Brand Mentions in ChatGPT and AI Answers
A spreadsheet method you can run this week, with the columns, scoring rules and formulas to use, and the point where a tool saves you more time than it costs.
Updated
- Comparisons
HubSpot AEO Grader alternatives: 4 free checkers and 3 paid trackers
What HubSpot's free AEO Grader checks, and seven alternatives: four free checkers and three paid trackers that keep checking on a schedule. Checked 8 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Guides
LLM SEO: What It Is and How It Works
A plain guide to LLM SEO: what it means, what else it is called, how AI models pick the brands they name, seven steps that help, and how to measure the result.
Updated
- Ecommerce
Marketplace visibility in AI answers: how marketplaces show up when buyers ask AI
How marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa and Myntra can appear in AI answers. They can be cited sources, part of the written answer or the stores on ChatGPT product cards. With study numbers from India, and what to check if you sell on your own store and on marketplaces.
Updated
- Comparisons
Otterly AI alternatives: 8 tools compared on engines, price and India
Which Otterly AI alternative fits depends on where your buyers are. For brands selling in India, Depra AI includes Gemini and Hinglish on a rupee plan. Peec AI and Scrunch give more prompts on dollar plans. Checked 8 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Comparisons
Peec AI Alternatives: 8 Tools Compared for 2026
Eight tools that track how AI answers name your brand, compared on engines, published prices, India location, Hinglish (Hindi typed in English letters) and trials. Prices checked 8 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Ecommerce
Product-level AI visibility: how to see which of your products AI assistants recommend
Product-level AI visibility is how often AI assistants show or name one of your products, not only your brand. It is also called SKU visibility. A SKU (stock keeping unit) is one sellable item, such as a 50 ml sunscreen. You measure it product by product, over many answers.
Updated
- Comparisons
Profound Alternatives: 8 Tools Compared for 2026
Profound’s pricing page lists a free 7-day trial and a custom-priced Enterprise plan for brands. These eight tools publish their prices, compared on engines, cost per engine, India location, Hinglish and free trials.
Updated
- Ecommerce
Shopify MCP: how to connect a store to Claude and run AI visibility checks
Shopify MCP is the set of MCP servers and connectors Shopify makes so an AI assistant can work with Shopify. Store owners use its connector for Claude to read and manage a store from a chat. Developers use the Dev MCP server. Teams building shopping agents use its UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol) servers.
Updated
- Ecommerce
Shopify SEO: a plain guide and checklist for Google and AI answers
Shopify handles four technical SEO basics for you: a sitemap, robots.txt, canonical tags and structured data. Ten jobs are left to you, from titles and product copy to speed, links and AI access. This guide also shows how to check whether AI assistants recommend your store.
Updated
- Comparisons
The best AI SEO tools in 2026, grouped by the job they do
Ten AI SEO tools in four groups: writing and optimising content, research and audits, all-in-one suites, and tracking AI answers. Each has its starting price and its free plan or trial, checked 8 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Guides
What Is AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)?
The meaning of AEO in SEO and digital marketing, how answer engines pick what to say, a face wash question from India, and an 8-step checklist.
Updated
- Guides
What Is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?
GEO, also called GEO SEO, is the work of getting your brand named and cited in AI answers. This guide covers the full form, the term’s origin, how engines pick sources, an India example and an 8-step checklist.
Updated
- Comparisons
Which AI Visibility Tool Is Best in 2026?
The best AI visibility tool is the one that tracks your buyers’ AI engines, in their country and language, within your budget. For many engines, pick Profound or Scrunch on Enterprise, or Rankscale. For a $29 start, pick Otterly. For buyers in India asking in English and Hinglish, pick Depra AI. Checked 8 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Guides
Why Doesn't ChatGPT Mention My Brand?
Five causes explain most brands that ChatGPT leaves out. Each one leaves a different sign in the answers, and each has a check you can run today and a first fix.
Updated
- Guides
AI crawlers list: 46 AI and search bot user agents and what each one does
46 AI and search bot user agents, each looked up on its vendor's own crawler page where one exists: what the bot collects, whether it follows robots.txt, and how to block it.
Updated
- Guides
Brand monitoring in AI answers: track brand mentions where buyers now ask
What classic brand monitoring covers, what it cannot see inside ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, and the five things to monitor in AI answers, with setup steps.
Updated
- Ecommerce
D2C marketing in India: what it is, which channels to use and what to measure
D2C marketing is how a direct-to-consumer brand finds buyers and sells to them itself, mainly through its own website or app. This guide covers the seven channels an Indian D2C brand can use, when each works, how to pick by stage and what to measure.
Updated
- Comparisons
Depra AI vs AirOps: what AirOps is, what it costs and who each fits
AirOps is a content and AI search platform with a strategy team behind it. Depra AI tracks how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and every other major AI engine answer buying questions in 40 markets, in English, Hinglish, French and most other major languages, plus code-mixed questions, priced in rupees. AirOps checked 14 Oct 2026.
Updated
- Ecommerce
AI in ecommerce: how it is used today and what a small brand can do
Five places AI touches the shopper, each with one sourced example and a first step for a small Indian brand. Discovery through AI assistants gets two full sections.
Updated
- Research
AI search engines in India: ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode and the Perplexity AI search engine
A research-led guide by Zia Wasi: which AI search engines people in India use, how they differ from Google search, where each one gets its web results, and what 959 answers from India show about Hinglish.
Updated
- Guides
AI SEO, GEO and AEO services in India: hire an agency or run it with a tool?
What AI SEO services actually include, when your own team can run the work with a tool, when a done-for-you team is worth it, and the questions to ask any agency before you sign.
Updated
- Guides
GEO best practices: how to start generative engine optimization and measure it
Eight generative engine optimization best practices, a numbered 90-day plan, and a table of what to measure and where to find each number.
Updated
- Product
How Depra AI used Depra AI to get named in AI answers from India
Depra AI is the worked example of the Depra AI methodology, applied to our own brand: what we tracked, what we changed, what moved in two months and what has not, with every number and its source.
Updated
- Guides
How do you find and fix negative brand sentiment in AI answers?
What AI brand sentiment means, how to find negative or wrong descriptions of your brand, why they appear and how to fix the sources.
Updated
- Guides
What is a content AEO audit, and how do you run one?
A checklist for nine kinds of page, the rubric Depra AI used on its own 140 pages, a real client example, and what the free AI audit covers.
Updated
- Guides
What is AI SEO, and how do you start?
AI SEO means two things: getting AI answers to name your brand, and using AI tools for SEO work. Both are covered here, with a five-step plan for consumer brands in India.
Updated
- Guides
What is AI visibility?
AI visibility is how often AI answers name your brand, as a share of all answers to your buyers' questions. This guide also covers the formula, what a good score is, a free hand check and how to improve it.
Updated
- Ecommerce
What is an AI shopping assistant, and which ones can you use?
Seven AI shopping assistants and what each maker says about India. Then how they choose products, and what a brand owner can do.
Updated
- Guides
What is llms.txt? A plain guide with a free generator and checker
An llms.txt file is a short summary of your site, with links, written for AI tools. This page covers its format, what Google and the AI companies say, and how it works on Shopify and WordPress. It also has a free generator and checker.
Updated
- Guides
What is prompt volume in AI visibility, and how is it estimated?
A plain definition, why no one can count full ChatGPT questions, how four providers estimate demand, and how to use the numbers.
Updated
- Guides
AEO vs SEO: What Is the Difference?
AEO vs SEO compared on goals, metrics and tools, with the SEO habits that still pay off in answer engines, what to track instead of rankings, and one buyer question from India.
Updated
- Ecommerce
Amazon and Flipkart SEO for AI answers: how to build a listing buyers find and AI engines name
A listing checklist sourced to Amazon and Flipkart seller pages, study numbers on which marketplaces AI answers cite in India, and what Depra AI shows about marketplaces and what it does not.
Updated
- Research
Do indexing requests get you into AI answers? What Google, Bing and IndexNow actually promise
What a recrawl request, the Google Indexing API, IndexNow and Bing AI Performance do, which crawler controls matter for each AI engine, what llms.txt is for, and a short checklist.
Updated
- Engines
Google AI Mode for brands: how it differs from AI Overviews and Gemini
Three Google surfaces that can give three different answers. What each one is, how it finds pages, what Google lets you measure, and what a brand should track on each.
Updated
- Product
Holy Strips case study: the AI visibility baseline for a vitamin strip brand
What the Depra AI audit of holystrips.com found on 13 October 2026, the corrections the Depra AI team is making end to end, and what will be measured. Results are added to this page as they come in.
Updated
- Research
How is an AI answer assembled? From model knowledge to the citation
The six layers between a buyer question and the brand an AI engine names, what a brand can observe at each one, how to define the numbers, and which claims a visibility tool should never make.
Updated
- Guides
SEO automation with AI agents: what to automate with Claude and MCP
SEO automation means software does the repeating parts of SEO work on a schedule: collecting data, checking pages and drafting reports. With an AI agent such as Claude, the safe pattern is to let it read data and write drafts. A person checks facts and approves every change.
Updated
- Comparisons
The best MCP servers for SEO and marketing teams
Nine MCP servers a marketer can connect to an AI app such as Claude or Cursor. Each was read from its maker's documentation on 7 Oct 2026 and not tested hands-on. For each: who makes it, what data it gives, whether it can change anything, and what it needs.
Updated
- Guides
What does utm_source=chatgpt.com mean, and how do you track AI traffic in GA4?
What the tag means, where to find visits from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot in Google Analytics 4, a channel rule you can copy, and the part of AI search that no traffic report shows.
Updated
- Ecommerce
What is agentic commerce, and what should Shopify and consumer brands do about it?
What AI shopping assistants are, what ChatGPT, Shopify and Google run today, what vendors confirm for India, and what to fix first.
Updated
- Engines
What is query fan-out, and which searches does AI run behind an answer?
A plain definition, the searches ChatGPT really ran for buying questions in India, and how a brand can write pages that answer them.
Updated
See what AI says about your brand
Free AI audit: 5 English questions on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. No signup, no card.
Make AI answers your next sales channel
See where ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and every other major AI engine name you today, and get a ranked list of fixes to change it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who Zia Wasi is, what he researches and where to find his open data.
Zia Wasi is co-founder of Depra AI and a GEO (generative engine optimization) researcher. He studies how ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity choose and cite brands, with a focus on India and Hinglish. His LinkedIn profile uses his full name, Mohd Zia Wasi Khan.
He co-founded Depra AI with Ifham Baig. He leads Depra AI’s research and writes its guides. Guides and comparisons on this site carry his byline. The owner says Depra AI’s action plan and marketplace intelligence use a proprietary method that Zia Wasi developed.
He leads the Hinglish vs English study: 480 answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity in India, collected in August 2026. Its October 2026 re-run used the same design and has 479 answers. He also collected the "AI models and search indexes" research from public sources. The research page lists his research notes and the studies he is preparing now.
The prompts, answers and scripts of the August 2026 Hinglish vs English study are public in the IndicGEO repository on GitHub (opens in a new tab). Anyone can check the numbers. The repository takes issues and pull requests from anyone who wants to replicate, extend or disagree with the work.
Email team@depra.ai, the address the research page gives for questions about the studies. Zia Wasi is also on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab) as Mohd Zia Wasi Khan.
Yes. Depra AI’s own brand is the worked example of the proprietary Depra AI methodology. The owner says Depra AI was built without paid backlinks or paid marketing. The Depra AI case study shows how Depra AI used Depra AI to get named in AI answers from India.
Be the brand AI recommends
Track your brand on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and every other major AI engine, and get a ranked list of fixes that help AI name you.
