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

# Create and use personas to segment your visibility data

> Define audience personas to generate targeted prompts and filter visibility analysis by buyer type, revealing how each segment discovers your brand.

A persona in Pharos represents a specific audience segment — a type of person who might ask an AI assistant about your category. When you attach a persona to a prompt, Pharos passes that audience context to the AI platform during analysis, producing responses that reflect how that buyer type actually discovers and evaluates brands like yours. Personas let you move beyond a single aggregate visibility score and understand which audiences find you — and which ones do not.

## What personas are used for

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Targeted prompt generation" icon="message">
    Pharos generates prompt variations written from the perspective of each persona, surfacing questions that audience would actually ask.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Segmented visibility data" icon="chart-bar">
    Filter the Responses, Heatmap, and Rankings tabs by persona to compare how visible you are across different buyer types.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Audience gap analysis" icon="search">
    Identify buyer segments where competitors outrank you so you can prioritize content that speaks to that audience.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Baseline comparison" icon="arrow-trend-up">
    Compare persona-specific AI responses against a neutral baseline to measure how much audience framing shifts your visibility.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Navigate to Personas

Go to **Settings** in the left sidebar, then select the **Personas** tab. The tab shows all personas you have created for the currently selected brand. Personas are brand-scoped — they are not shared across brands.

## Create a persona

You can create a persona from scratch or start from an industry suggestion.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="From scratch">
    <Steps>
      <Step title="Open the Add Persona form">
        Click **Add Persona** in the top-right corner of the Personas card.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Enter a name">
        Give the persona a concise, descriptive name that identifies the audience segment. Good names are short and role-based: `Enterprise IT Buyer`, `SMB Owner`, `B2B Procurement Lead`.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Write a description">
        Describe the persona's context, goals, and the problems they are trying to solve. The more specific you are, the more accurately Pharos can tailor prompt generation and AI analysis for this audience.

        **Example:** `A director of IT at a mid-market company (200–1,000 employees) evaluating SaaS security tools. Prioritizes compliance, vendor support, and integration with existing infrastructure. Researches using AI assistants before engaging sales.`
      </Step>

      <Step title="Save the persona">
        Click **Save**. Pharos immediately saves the persona and, in the background, extracts a structured profile (role, demographics, goals, pain points) from your description to improve prompt targeting.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="From a suggestion">
    When your brand has no personas yet (or has fewer than the 10-persona limit), Pharos displays industry-specific suggestions beneath the personas table.

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Browse suggestions">
        Scroll to the **Suggested for your industry** section. Suggestions are based on the industry you selected during brand setup.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Select a suggestion">
        Click any suggestion card to open it in the Add Persona form, pre-filled with a name and description.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Review and save">
        Edit the pre-filled content as needed, then click **Save**.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Note>
  Each brand supports up to 10 personas. The **Add Persona** button is disabled when you reach this limit.
</Note>

## Edit a persona

Click any row in the personas table to open the edit form. Update the name or description and click **Save**. Pharos re-extracts the structured profile in the background whenever the name or description changes.

## Delete a persona

Click the trash icon on the right side of a persona row. Confirm deletion in the dialog. Deleting a persona removes it permanently and untags any prompts that were associated with it — the prompts themselves are not deleted.

<Warning>
  Deleting a persona also removes all historical analysis data that was segmented by that persona. This action cannot be undone.
</Warning>

## Tag a prompt with a persona

After creating a persona, assign it to one or more prompts to start collecting persona-segmented data.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to your prompts">
    Navigate to the **Prompts** section in the left sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open a prompt">
    Click the prompt you want to tag, or create a new one.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign a persona">
    In the prompt editor, select a persona from the **Persona** dropdown. Only personas created for the current brand appear in this list.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save the prompt">
    Click **Save**. The next time Pharos runs an analysis cycle, it will use the persona context when querying AI platforms for this prompt.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Filter analysis views by persona

Once you have persona-tagged prompts and at least one completed analysis run, you can filter visibility data by audience.

* **Responses tab:** Use the persona filter at the top of the page to show only AI responses collected for a specific persona.
* **Heatmap tab:** Filter the prompt/platform grid by persona to see which AI platforms surface your brand for that audience.
* **Rankings tab:** Compare your rank and competitor positions specifically for persona-tagged prompts.

<Tip>
  To compare two personas side-by-side, open the same view in two browser tabs with different persona filters selected.
</Tip>

## Persona baseline runs

By default, Pharos also collects a neutral (no-persona) analysis run for every prompt that has a persona attached. This baseline lets you measure how much the persona context changes what AI platforms say about your brand.

You can disable baseline runs for persona-tagged prompts on the **Brand Profile** tab under **Persona baseline runs**. Disabling this saves approximately 25% on analysis costs when all prompts have personas attached.

## Use case examples

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="B2B SaaS — multiple buyer roles">
    A project management SaaS might create personas for `Economic Buyer (VP Operations)`, `Technical Evaluator (Engineering Lead)`, and `End User (Individual Contributor)`. Each persona asks different questions and weights different product attributes — understanding visibility across all three reveals which stage of the buying committee you are winning and which you are losing.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Enterprise IT security">
    A cybersecurity vendor could create `Enterprise CISO`, `IT Compliance Manager`, and `Procurement Officer` personas. Analysis often shows that CISOs find the vendor through technical depth questions, while procurement officers — who search for pricing and comparison questions — see competitors ranked higher. This points directly to content gaps.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="SMB-focused product">
    A payroll tool targeting small businesses might use `SMB Owner (1–10 employees)`, `Office Manager`, and `Accountant`. Visibility data often differs substantially across these three because their search intent and terminology vary — the owner asks "best payroll for small business", while the accountant asks about tax filing integrations.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Geographic segmentation">
    Combine personas with your brand's **Base Location** setting to understand regional audiences. Create `US Enterprise Buyer` and `UK Enterprise Buyer` personas for the same product to measure how AI platforms in each market frame your brand differently.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Brand setup" icon="building" href="/guides/brand-setup">
    Configure persona baseline run settings and other brand profile options.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Team management" icon="users" href="/guides/team-management">
    Control which teammates can create and edit personas.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>