Aria is good at answering precise questions and merely adequate at answering vague ones. The difference is almost entirely in how you ask — and the fix takes about five extra words.
There is no cost to asking. TrackIQ does not cap usage, so this is about getting a better answer, never about spending fewer questions.
Prefer to watch? Seventy-four seconds on the four things a good question carries.
The four things a good question carries
A period. “Last month”, “the last 30 days”, “February” — not “recently”.
A subject. A product, a campaign, a keyword, a marketplace. “My ads” covers hundreds of things doing different jobs.
A measure. ACoS, spend, sessions, days of cover. Say which one you mean, because “performance” means six things.
A decision. What you would do with the answer. This is the one people leave out, and it changes the reply more than the other three.
The decision is the trick
Compare two questions that ask for the same underlying data:
“How is my advertising doing?”
…returns a description. Accurate, and you still have to decide what to do.
“Which campaigns should I cut budget on this month?”
…returns a ranked list with a reason against each, because you have said what the answer is for.
Ask for the decision, not the data. Aria is doing the analysis either way — you may as well have it point at an action.
Before and after
| Instead of | Ask |
|---|---|
| How are my ads? | Which campaigns had ACoS above 40% in the last 30 days? |
| Is inventory OK? | Which products have under 21 days of cover? |
| How's the new product? | Sessions and conversion for ASIN X, last 14 days vs the 14 before |
| What should I do? | Where am I spending most with the least return this month? |
| Am I ranking? | Which of my tracked keywords dropped out of the top 10 this week? |
The pattern in every right-hand column: a measure, a threshold, a period.
Say the state you mean
This one silently changes answers, and it catches people out.
Only enabled campaigns are counted by default. Ask “how many campaigns do I have?” and you get the active ones. If you want the full picture, say “including paused and archived”.
The same applies to a marketplace or brand — every answer is scoped to the brand in your top bar unless you say otherwise.
Ask one thing at a time
Three questions bundled into one produce a summary of all three rather than an answer to any.
“How are my ads and inventory doing and what about rank?”
Split it. Ask the first, read the answer, then ask the follow-up — and the follow-up is where the value usually is. The second and third questions are the ones that get specific, and nothing stops you asking them.
Follow up rather than restart
Aria holds the thread of a conversation. Once you have a list of campaigns, you can say “now show spend and orders for those” without naming them again.
That makes a conversation cheaper to steer than a perfect first question. Do not agonise over the opening question — ask something reasonable and refine.
Asking about a period is not the same as asking about a trend
“What was my ACoS last month?” gets a number. “How has my ACoS moved over the last six months?” gets a direction.
If you want a comparison, say both periods: “this month versus last”. Aria will not assume you wanted a comparison.
Note the grain limits when you ask for a trend: daily breakdowns cover the last 30 days, Search Query Performance is weekly, and AMC is monthly. See The Full MCP Tool Reference for why.
When the answer looks wrong
Read the plan and the data queries Aria shows before disputing the figure. Nine times in ten the answer is right and the question was read differently — a different brand, a different range, enabled-only.
See Checking Aria's Work When an Answer Looks Wrong and What Aria Can and Cannot Answer.
When not to ask at all
A question you ask every week belongs in a Studio or a scheduled Business Report, so it is waiting when you open it and consistent week to week.
Monitoring belongs in alerts and rules. Asking repeatedly whether something broke is a worse way to find out than being told — alerts run whether you ask or not, and rules act the moment a threshold is crossed.
For a starting set of questions worth asking, see Aria Prompt Library: 40 Questions Worth Asking.
Related
- Reading Aria's Plan and Data Queries — checking it understood you.