How do I establish a baseline for signals before tracking changes?

Start by selecting a short measurement window and the key signals you already report, such as discovery, retrievals with approved facts, and confirmed referrals in that window. Record their starting values in that window. Signals can be affected by caching or platform differences, so treat them as verifiable evidence rather than guarantees. Then agree with your client on what counts as progress for those signals—coverage, consistency, and useful outputs—before you implement any changes. After you apply improvements, re-measure using the same window and compare the same signals to show how knowledge and visibility have evolved. Present the before-and-after clearly, with caveats about limitations, and avoid promising rankings or leads.