How to Check What AI Assistants Say About Your Business | How-to Guide

A repeatable, free way to see what ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Copilot and Gemini say about your business, which sources they lean on, and how to record what you find.

Customers now ask assistants things they used to type into a search box. You cannot see those conversations, but you can ask the same questions yourself and read the answers. An hour with a simple spreadsheet tells you more than most paid dashboards.

Write the question list first

Before opening any assistant, list about ten to fifteen questions in three groups:

  • Discovery: questions that do not name you. "Who does same-day boiler repair in Salford?" "Best family dentist in Halifax for nervous patients."
  • Comparison: "Is [your business] or [competitor] better for a loft conversion?"
  • Facts: "What are [your business]'s opening hours?" "Does [your business] take NHS patients?" "How much does [your business] charge for a callout?"

Use the words customers actually use. Your enquiry emails and phone notes are the best source.

Which assistants to test

Run the same list in ChatGPT with search turned on, Google's AI Mode or a search that triggers an AI Overview, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini. Use a private browser window where you can, since signed-in history and memory can shape answers. Location matters for local questions, so test from your area or name the town in the question.

Answers vary between runs. Ask each important question two or three times on different days before drawing a conclusion.

What to record

For each answer, note in your sheet:

  1. Were you named at all?
  2. Was anything about you wrong: address, hours, prices, services you do not offer?
  3. Which competitors were named?
  4. Which sources were cited or linked?

The fourth column is the most useful. ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Copilot and Google's AI features show their sources. If the same directory, review site or local article keeps appearing, those are the places assistants trust for your trade and town.

Reading the results

If you are missing from discovery answers but correct on fact answers, assistants know you exist but have little reason to pick you. That usually means thin service pages, few reviews, or absence from the directories being cited.

If fact answers are wrong, trace each error to a source. OpenAI's help pages note that ChatGPT can make mistakes and that search results link to the pages used, so the citation is your trail. Old addresses often come from a stale directory; wrong prices often come from an old page on your own site.

If you are absent everywhere, check the basics. Are your pages indexed in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools? Does robots.txt allow OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Bingbot and Googlebot? Does your page source contain your words, or only a script tag?

How often to repeat

Every two or three months is enough for most small businesses, plus a check after you move, change hours or add a service. Keep the same question list so changes are comparable.

Be careful with tools that promise tracking

Many products now sell "AI visibility scores". Some are useful, but answers are personalised and change run to run, so a single score hides a lot. Your own repeated questions, with sources written down, remain a sound method.

Once you know which questions matter, the fix is usually a clear page per question on your own site, and SEO God Mode can draft those for a We.Inc site from your services, then email you to publish or skip each one.

Frequently asked questions

Why does ChatGPT give a different answer each time?

Answers are generated fresh and can draw on different search results each run. Ask important questions several times on different days and look for the pattern.

Do I need a paid AI visibility tool?

Not to start. A fixed list of customer questions, asked in each assistant every few months with the cited sources written down, shows you what to fix.

Which assistant matters most for a local business?

Test the ones your customers use. Google's AI features reach the most searchers, but ChatGPT, Copilot and Perplexity each have audiences, and checking all five takes under an hour.

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