> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://faii.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Running Campaigns

> How FAII monitoring sessions work - from scheduling to execution to results. Understand what happens during each intelligence-gathering cycle.

<Info>
  **Quick Answer:** A monitoring session (or "run") is when FAII actively queries AI platforms and scrapes Google for your keywords. Sessions run automatically on your schedule, or you can trigger them manually.
</Info>

## What You'll Learn

* What happens during a monitoring session
* How scheduling works
* How to trigger manual sessions
* How to interpret session status

## What Is a Session?

A session is a complete monitoring cycle that:

1. Queries all configured AI platforms with your keywords
2. Scrapes Google SERPs for rankings and AI Overviews
3. Analyzes all responses for brand mentions
4. Calculates scores and comparisons
5. Updates your dashboard with fresh data

### Session scope

Each session covers:

| Component               | What's Processed                             |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| **Chat Intelligence**   | All keywords × all platforms × AIQ questions |
| **SERP Intelligence**   | All keywords × configured locations/devices  |
| **Competitor Analysis** | All competitors across all keywords          |
| **Score Calculation**   | Updated AI Authority Rank and sub-scores     |

## Session Scheduling

### Automatic scheduling

Sessions run on your configured schedule:

| Frequency | Sessions/Month | Best For                  |
| --------- | :------------: | ------------------------- |
| Weekly    |        4       | Most brands (recommended) |
| Bi-weekly |        2       | Lower-activity brands     |
| Monthly   |        1       | Baseline monitoring only  |

### Choosing your schedule

Configure in **Campaign > Settings > Scheduling**:

* **Day of week** - When to run
* **Time** - What time to start
* **Timezone** - Based on your account timezone

<Tip>
  Schedule sessions for early morning. Results are typically available within 1-2 hours, giving you fresh data by the start of your workday.
</Tip>

## Manual Sessions

### When to run manually

* After publishing new content (to see impact sooner)
* After a competitor makes a major move
* Before a client presentation (fresh data)
* When testing content changes

### How to trigger

1. Go to your campaign dashboard
2. Click **Run Session** (or **Run Now**)
3. Confirm the manual run
4. Results available in 1-2 hours

<Note>
  Manual sessions count toward your plan's session limit (if applicable). Most plans include unlimited sessions.
</Note>

## Session Execution

### What happens during a session

<Steps>
  <Step title="Question generation">
    AIQ generates natural-language questions from your keywords, using your configured personas and brand context.
  </Step>

  <Step title="AI platform queries">
    Questions are sent to each configured AI platform:

    * ChatGPT receives questions via API
    * Claude receives questions via API
    * Perplexity receives questions via API
    * Grok receives questions via API
    * Gemini receives questions via API
  </Step>

  <Step title="Response collection">
    All AI responses are collected and stored for analysis.
  </Step>

  <Step title="SERP scraping">
    Google searches are performed for each keyword:

    * Desktop and/or mobile results
    * Configured location and language
    * AI Overviews captured when present
    * Top 10/20/30 results recorded
  </Step>

  <Step title="Brand detection">
    Each response is analyzed for:

    * Your brand mentions (name, URL, products)
    * Competitor mentions
    * Mention position and context
    * Sentiment and framing
  </Step>

  <Step title="Score calculation">
    All data is aggregated into:

    * Updated AI Authority Rank
    * Component scores (Chat, SERP, Sentiment, Competitive)
    * Per-keyword performance
    * Trend analysis vs. previous sessions
  </Step>

  <Step title="Dashboard update">
    Results populate your dashboard:

    * All metrics updated
    * Alerts triggered if configured
    * Reports available for export
    * Displacement events logged
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Session Status

Track session progress on your dashboard:

| Status         | Meaning                          |
| -------------- | -------------------------------- |
| **Scheduled**  | Session is queued for future run |
| **Running**    | Session is actively executing    |
| **Processing** | Data is being analyzed           |
| **Complete**   | Results are ready to view        |
| **Failed**     | An error occurred (rare)         |

### Session duration

Typical session times:

| Keywords | Platforms | Approximate Duration |
| :------: | :-------: | :------------------: |
|    25    |     4     |     30-60 minutes    |
|    100   |     5     |       1-2 hours      |
|   500+   |     5     |       2-4 hours      |

## Viewing Results

After a session completes:

1. **Email notification** (if enabled) confirms completion
2. **Dashboard updates** automatically with new data
3. **Score changes** are highlighted
4. **Alerts fire** for significant events
5. **Reports** can be generated with the latest data

## Session History

View all past sessions:

| Data               |     Available    |
| ------------------ | :--------------: |
| Session date/time  |        Yes       |
| Duration           |        Yes       |
| Keywords processed |        Yes       |
| Platforms queried  |        Yes       |
| Results summary    |        Yes       |
| Full raw data      | Yes (Enterprise) |

Access via **Campaign > History** or **Campaign > Sessions**.

## Tips

* **Don't run sessions too frequently** - Weekly gives good data without unnecessary cost
* **Run manually after big content publishes** - See the impact sooner
* **Check session status if results seem stale** - Ensure sessions are completing successfully
* **Compare session-over-session** - The trend between sessions matters more than any single session

## Related Articles

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Campaign History" icon="clock-rotate-left" href="/docs/campaigns/campaign-history">
    View historical session data
  </Card>

  <Card title="Campaign Settings" icon="gear" href="/docs/campaigns/campaign-settings">
    Configure session scheduling
  </Card>
</CardGroup>