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Can ChatGPT and Gemini find your business? A free AI visibility test
A 30-minute manual test with a copyable prompt set, a scoring sheet and a table that tells you what to fix first.
You can test it yourself for free in about 30 minutes. In a fresh, signed-out or temporary chat, ask ChatGPT and Gemini 10 questions your customers would ask, plus 2 about your business by name. Run each one 3 times and record whether you're named, recommended and cited, and whether the facts are right. Repeat monthly, because answers vary from run to run.
Check the technical basics first. Our free website check tests whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Google can crawl and read your site in about ten seconds. If they're blocked, fix that before running the test below.
What do you need before you start?
- A scoring sheet. Download our free CSV and open it in Google Sheets or Excel.
- Your 12 prompts, filled in from the template below.
- Fresh sessions: signed out, a private window, or ChatGPT's temporary chat, so past chats don't shape the answer.
- Your location noted. ChatGPT search may use your approximate IP-based location, or precise location if you turn it on (OpenAI). Test from your service area, or say the town in the prompt.
- 30 minutes.
Which questions should you ask?
Copy these and fill in the brackets with your own details. They cover the main ways customers ask: by category, by location, by problem, by budget, by comparison, and by name.
- Category Who is the best [service] for [customer type] in [city or region]?
- Category Recommend 5 [service] companies that [your differentiator, e.g. offer same-day service].
- Local Who does [service] near [town]?
- Local What are the best-reviewed [category] businesses in [city]?
- Problem [Problem your customers have, e.g. my water heater is leaking]. Who can fix this in [city]?
- Problem How do I [task you do for customers], and should I hire someone in [city]?
- Budget I have a $[budget] budget for [service]. Who should I hire in [city]?
- Budget How much does [service] cost in [city], and which companies are worth it?
- Comparison Compare [your business] with other [category] companies in [city].
- Comparison Is [your business] or [main competitor] better for [need]?
- Branded What is [your business], where is it based, and what does it offer?
- Branded What do customers say about [your business]?
How do you run the test so the results are fair?
- Same tools, same mode every time. Test ChatGPT with search on and Gemini, and write down which mode you used.
- Fresh chat for every prompt. Don't ask follow-ups in the same thread.
- Three runs per prompt. Answers vary, so one run proves nothing.
- Record, don't judge. Note exactly who was named and which sources were cited.
- Look at the sources. OpenAI says search results and citations "can be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect" (OpenAI), and Google says not all Gemini responses include related links or sources (Gemini Help). Note when no source is shown.
How do you score the results?
Score each run on the same scale so you can compare months.
| Measure | How to score |
|---|---|
| Mentioned | Y if your business name appears anywhere in the answer, N if not |
| Recommended | 0 = not recommended; 1 = listed among options; 2 = recommended for the need, with a reason |
| Position | Where you appear in the list (1, 2, 3…), or blank |
| Your site cited | Y if your own website is linked or cited as a source |
| Third-party source cited | Which outside sites were cited (a review site, a directory, local news) |
| Facts accurate | 0 = wrong; 1 = partly right or out of date; 2 = correct (services, location, prices, hours) |
| Competitors named | Which competitors appeared, so you can study what they have that you don't |
The scoring sheet columns are: Date, Tool, Mode (search on or off), Location, Prompt, Run #, Mentioned (Y/N), Recommended (0–2), Position, Your site cited (Y/N), Third-party source cited, Facts accurate (0–2), Competitors named. Download the scoring sheet (CSV).
A worked example
Example Plumbing Co. is a fictional business, used only to show how the sheet works. It serves one mid-size town and runs the 12 prompts three times in ChatGPT and in Gemini.
- Branded prompts: both tools describe it, but ChatGPT lists hours the business changed last year. That's a fact-accuracy score of 1, traced to an old directory listing.
- Local and problem prompts: it's mentioned in 4 of 18 ChatGPT runs and recommended in 2. A competitor is recommended in 14, usually citing that competitor's review page and a local "best of" list.
- Budget prompts: it never appears. Its website has no prices or price ranges anywhere.
The fixes, in order: correct the old listing, add a pricing section with honest ranges, ask recent customers for reviews, and get on the local list the AI keeps citing. Then retest next month and compare.
What do your results mean, and what should you fix first?
| What you see | Likely cause | Fix first |
|---|---|---|
| Not found at all, even for your own name | Crawling or indexing problem | Allow OAI-SearchBot, check your CDN, verify Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. How |
| Found by name, but never for category questions | Not enough evidence you're a strong option | Reviews, relevant directories and clear service pages |
| Found, but the facts are wrong | Inconsistent details across the web | Make your site, Business Profile and listings say the same thing |
| Competitors cited from a directory or list you're not on | Missing third-party corroboration | Get listed where the AI is already looking |
| Named, but your site is never cited | Your pages don't answer the question directly | Add short, direct answers and pricing to the relevant page |
| Missing only in one town or region | Weak service-area signals | A useful page for that area and accurate service-area details |
Want help working through the list? See our AI search optimization service, or get the $595 Website & AI Visibility Audit, which includes a dated baseline across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, a competitor comparison and a ranked plan. It's credited toward any build.
Are free AI visibility checkers accurate?
They're useful for a quick look, with limits. Ahrefs' free AI Visibility Checker covers ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode with no signup, and shows a limited preview of the top 5 results per section (Ahrefs). Other free tools sample a handful of questions.
The manual test adds context those tools can't: your exact customer questions, your location, fact accuracy, and which sources are cited for your competitors. Our free website check covers a different layer: whether AI crawlers can reach and read your site at all.
Google also reports AI visibility now. Search Console's generative AI performance reports show impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode (impressions, not clicks, as of rollout), and Google says they reached all sites worldwide on August 31, 2026 (Google Search Central; Search Engine Journal).
How often should you retest?
Monthly, with the same prompts, tools, mode and location. Look at the trend across three or more months rather than any single result. Retest sooner after a big change, and remember that robots.txt changes take about 24 hours to affect ChatGPT search (OpenAI), while reviews and listings take longer to show up.
No one can guarantee what an AI assistant will say. What you can do is measure honestly and fix the gaps. Start with the free website check, or read how to get recommended by ChatGPT.
FAQ
Is there a free way to check if ChatGPT recommends my business?
Yes. Ask ChatGPT and Gemini the questions your customers ask, in a fresh chat, three times each, and record whether you're named, recommended and cited. It takes about 30 minutes. Free tools can help, but most sample only a few questions.
Why does ChatGPT give a different answer every time?
AI answers vary from run to run, and ChatGPT search can use your approximate location. OpenAI also says search results can be incomplete, outdated or incorrect. That's why you run each question three times and track the trend over months, not one answer.
Should I test signed in or signed out?
Signed out, or in a temporary chat, so your past conversations and saved memory don't shape the answer. Note the mode you used and keep it the same every month.
How often should I check my AI visibility?
Monthly is enough for most small businesses. Retest sooner after a big change, such as a new website, a fixed robots.txt or a new directory listing, but judge results over several months.
What's the difference between being mentioned and being recommended?
Mentioned means your name appears anywhere in the answer, even as "another option." Recommended means the AI suggests you for the customer's need, ideally near the top with a reason. Score them separately.
What should I do if AI gets facts about my business wrong?
Find where the wrong fact likely comes from, such as an old directory listing, and fix it at the source. Then make sure your website, Google Business Profile and main listings say the same thing. AI tools pick up corrections as they recrawl, which takes time.