A recommendation query is a question that asks an AI to name specific products, brands, or places — "best X for Y" — the query class where AI visibility is won or lost.
Informational queries ("what is a CRM?") produce explanations; recommendation queries ("which CRM should a 10-person startup use?") produce brand names. The second class carries the commercial intent, and it is the class an AI visibility index instruments.
Real recommendation queries come from real buyers: they include constraints ("free", "for agencies", "that integrates with Slack") and follow-ups. Good measurement mirrors that phrasing rather than inventing sterile benchmark questions.