DeepSeek, a fast-growing AI-powered search engine out of China, combines a ChatGPT-style interface with traditional link results. Think Perplexity with a stronger research slant and a global trajectory.
While its user base is still predominantly Chinese, its open-source LLMs (DeepSeek-V2 and DeepSeek-Coder) are getting traction internationally, and its AI-generated answers are starting to shape how users, especially developers and researchers, interact with brands.
If you care about visibility beyond Google, now’s the time to start paying attention. In this article, we’ll show you how to track your brand mentions in DeepSeek using Keyword.com’s AI brand monitoring tool.
How Does DeepSeek AI Work?
DeepSeek is an LLM-integrated search engine that blends traditional retrieval with generative AI. It uses proprietary models like DeepSeek-V2 (MoE architecture) and DeepSeek-Coder to generate responses that synthesize web content, technical documentation, and user-generated input. The platform prioritizes factual coherence, domain authority, and structural clarity over keyword match or backlink profile.
When you enter a query into DeepSeek, here’s what happens:
- Query parsing and intent modeling: the LLM interprets the query using embeddings and semantic parsing to determine user intent, even across vague or implicit formulations.
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): DeepSeek fetches relevant documents from its own indexed corpus, which may include multilingual sources, developer platforms (e.g., GitHub), and high-authority domains.
- Contextual synthesis: using transformer-based summarization, DeepSeek generates a response by paraphrasing and combining the most relevant inputs. Citations are not always surfaced explicitly.
- Ranking and inclusion logic: Brand and content inclusion are based on topical relevance, semantic clarity, and structural quality (e.g., use of FAQs, concise summaries, and clean markup). Domain authority plays a role but is not the sole signal.
- Output assembly: DeepSeek presents a hybrid output: an LLM-generated answer block followed by traditional search links. Mentions often appear within the answer without needing user interaction.
What Makes DeepSeek Different from Traditional Search Engines?
For SEOs used to the Google ecosystem, here’s how DeepSeeks differs from traditional search engines:
- AI Answers Come First: Like ChatGPT or Gemini, DeepSeek returns synthesized answers ahead of organic results. If your brand’s not part of that synthesis, your visibility drops even if you rank.
- Open-Source LLM Foundation: Unlike ChatGPT, DeepSeek’s models are open-source and are widely used on platforms like Hugging Face. That means your content might be influencing answers even outside DeepSeek itself.
- Built for Developers (but Broadening Fast): With popular APIs and GitHub integrations, DeepSeek’s LLMs are heavily used by technically savvy audiences. If you’re in SaaS, data tools, or dev-focused niches, you’re more likely to show up — or get skipped — here.
- Multilingual Expansion: Chinese content is prioritized, but English support is improving. Brands operating in or near Asian markets should view DeepSeek as an early-stage opportunity.
DeepSeek Usage and Visibility Stats for 2025
DeepSeek AI is scaling fast. Here’s the latest data:
- In January 2025, DeepSeek AI recorded 277.9 million visits, marking a 2,256% month-over-month increase from December 2024 (source).
- Users spend an average of 5 minutes and 33 seconds per session on DeepSeek, viewing 4.4 pages per visit (source).
- As of mid-2025, DeepSeek’s mobile app has been downloaded more than 57 million times across Android and iOS (source).
- DeepSeek has approximately 96.9 million monthly active users as of April 2025, up 25.8% from March (source).
- The platform sees over 22 million daily active users, based on January 2025 usage data (source).
Why You Should Monitor Your Brand Mentions in DeepSeek AI
Brands should track their mentions and visibility in DeepSeek AI (and similar AI platforms) for several key reasons:
1. Reputation Management: Ensure Accurate and Positive Brand Representation in AI Search
AI models like DeepSeek generate responses based on training data, which can include outdated or biased information. If a brand is misrepresented (e.g., incorrect facts, negative associations), it could mislead users. Tracking mentions helps brands:
- Correct misinformation by providing updated sources to AI developers.
- Counter negative narratives before they spread.
- Align AI-generated content with official messaging.
2. Competitive Intelligence: Benchmark Against Rivals in AI Conversations
DeepSeek may compare brands or recommend alternatives. Monitoring reveals:
- How often are competitors mentioned compared to your brand?
- Tone of comparisons (e.g., “Brand X is better than Brand Y”).
- Gaps in visibility. If rivals dominate AI responses, it’s time to optimize content.
3. SEO and Discoverability: Improve Rankings in AI Search Results
DeepSeek and other generative search engines pull data from websites, forums, and reviews. Tracking helps brands:
- Identify which sources DeepSeek references (e.g., Wikipedia, news articles).
- Optimize those sources to ensure accurate, favorable mentions.
- Boost authority by aligning content with AI’s knowledge base.
Step-by-Step Guide for Tracking DeepSeek AI Using Keyword.com
DeepSeek doesn’t notify you when your brand is cited. There’s no Search Console equivalent, visibility dashboards, or attribution trails. The only way to know how you’re appearing is to track it yourself, via prompt testing or AI rank trackers like Keyword.com.
Here is a step-by-step guide to set up DeepSeek tracking in Keyword.com’s AI visibility tracker.
Step 1: Sign up for AI Visibility on Keyword.com. You can purchase this as an add-on to your rank tracker account as an existing user. Or sign up for the standalone product.
Step 2: In your AI visibility dashboard, add your website URL. Then, add the prompts you want to track and select your tracking interval. Not sure what to track? Click on “Find Terms,” and our tool will suggest relevant prompts for your brand.
Step 3: Select “DeepSeek” from the drop-down for generative search platforms. Then click “save.”
Step 4: Keyword.com will automatically populate your AI visibility dashboard with relevant metrics, including:
- AI visibility score
- Sentiment score for your brand and tracked terms
- Citation data
- Average DeepSeek rankings over time.
You can also view competitors’ rankings or click on each metric to see the exact sources DeepSeek is pulling information from.
DeepSeek LLM Optimization Strategies
Tracking your brand in DeepSeek is only one part of the puzzle. Once you have that data, the next step is to optimize your brand for discoverability in AI search.
Here are five ways to improve your brand visibility in DeepSeek AI results.
1. Use Clear, Question-Answer Formats
LLMs like DeepSeek-V2 are optimized to answer specific questions using structured, digestible information. That means your content should:
- Mirror common query structures (“What is X?”, “Best tools for Y?”, “X vs Y comparison”)
- Include Q&A-style headers (H2/H3) that break down use cases, pricing, integrations, pros/cons, etc.
- Summarize answers in bullet points or TL;DR blocks for easy extraction
Why it matters: Generative models don’t “rank” pages. They synthesize based on which content clearly maps to the user’s intent.
2. Optimize Content in Multiple Languages (Especially Mandarin)
DeepSeek’s user base is predominantly Chinese, and many of its foundational training datasets are in Mandarin. If your brand has international relevance:
- Publish key product and support pages in both English and Simplified Chinese
- Localize, not just translate, pages to reflect regional terminology, FAQs, and context.
- Use hreflang tags correctly to avoid indexation conflicts.
Why it matters: Brands with multilingual support, especially Mandarin content, have a visibility edge when DeepSeek prioritizes native-language results.
3. Build and Maintain Topic Clusters
DeepSeek values topical authority across a concept, not just a single page. Build content hubs around your product categories and brand expertise:
- Create pillar pages that cover high-level topics (e.g., “Enterprise Email Security”)
- Support with detailed sub-pages: feature guides, comparisons, use cases, and implementation tutorials.
- Internally link pages in a logical cluster structure.
Why it matters: This increases semantic density and helps DeepSeek connect your brand to multiple related queries, improving both coverage and depth.
4. Optimize for Extractability, Not Just Indexing
Think beyond rankings. Ask: Can this page be clearly understood, parsed, and cited by a model trained to generate a human-readable response? That’s the new bar for visibility in DeepSeek — and for SEO in an LLM-native world.
- Use clear headings, bullet points, and consistent formatting
- Write in concise, answer-oriented language (avoid fluff or jargon)
- Break complex ideas into structured sections that map to common queries
Why it matters: If your content is hard to parse or overly vague, DeepSeek is more likely to skip it or misrepresent it during synthesis.
5. Earn Citations from Authoritative Third-Party Sources
DeepSeek doesn’t just pull from your site—it synthesizes from what others say about you. To strengthen off-site brand visibility:
- Secure product reviews on trusted platforms (G2, Capterra, industry blogs)
- Contribute guest posts or case studies to well-ranked publications.
- Monitor forums, developer platforms, and public data repositories for brand mentions.
Why it matters: Inclusion in third-party sources increases your chances of being referenced in LLM answers, even if your own domain isn’t used directly.
Track Brand Mentions in DeepSeek with Keyword.com’s AI Visibility Monitoring Tool
DeepSeek is becoming a meaningful source of AI-driven discovery. If you’re not tracking how your brand appears in its answers, you’re operating with a blind spot.
Keyword.com’s AI Visibility Tracker makes it easy to monitor when, where, and how your brand is mentioned in DeepSeek. You’ll see which prompts trigger inclusion, how your messaging is paraphrased, and what content the model is using to form its answers.
Start tracking your brand in DeepSeek today at Keyword.com.
DeepSeek AI Visibility FAQs
Find answers to common questions about monitoring your brand visibility in DeepSeek’s generative search engine.
1. Which LLM Trackers Can I Use to Monitor Brand Mentions in DeepSeek?
Keyword.com, Peec.ai, and Otterly AI are some of the LLM trackers that show you when and how your brand shows up in DeepSeek answers. However, Keyword.com’s AI Visibility Tracker is often the top choice for brands and SEOs because it provides visibility metrics like sentiment and citation data.
2. How Can I Optimize My Content for Visibility in DeepSeek?
To optimize your content for visibility in DeepSeek, focus on creating clear, question-answer formats that address common queries related to your brand. Ensure your content is available in multiple languages, particularly if targeting Chinese speakers. Building topic clusters around your brand and product categories can enhance relevance and authority.
Implement structured data/schema to improve AI parsing accuracy, and earn citations from authoritative sources to build trust signals. Regularly monitor and update your content to reflect new information and industry trends, ensuring it remains relevant.
3. Can I Track DeepSeek Brand Mentions in Google Search Console?
No. You cannot track DeepSeek brand mentions in Google Search Console.
Google Search Console is excellent for tracking your Google search performance, but for DeepSeek brand mentions, you need dedicated AI monitoring tools like Keyword.com that can actually access and analyze DeepSeek’s responses. These specialized AI visibility trackers will give you the insights you need to optimize your brand visibility specifically on DeepSeek.