AI search visibility is how often, and how prominently, AI assistants mention or cite your business when people ask about what you sell. It's the AI-era version of "where do we rank?" You can measure it for free, by hand, in about an hour, and the method below is the same one we use as the starting point of every audit.
Why it's worth measuring now
Customers increasingly ask AI instead of searching. According to BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, 45% of consumers use AI tools to find local businesses, up from 6% a year earlier. And AI is selective: SOCi's Local Visibility Index 2026 found ChatGPT recommended only 1.2% of the locations analyzed, versus 35.9% that appear in Google's local pack.
Ranking on Google doesn't tell you whether you're in that small group. You have to check.
The free method, step by step
1. Write your question list (10 to 15 questions)
Write them the way customers talk, not the way marketers do. Mix three types:
- Service questions: "Who does emergency AC repair in Phoenix?"
- Qualifier questions: "Spanish-speaking dentist in Houston open on Saturdays"
- Comparison questions: "Best immigration lawyer in Miami for work visas"
Include your city or area in most of them. Avoid using your business name: you want to know if AI suggests you without being prompted.
2. Ask each question in four places
- ChatGPT (with search enabled)
- Perplexity
- Gemini
- Google (look at AI Overviews or AI Mode when they appear)
Use a private or logged-out window where possible, so your history doesn't shape the answers.
3. Record the same five things every time
| Question | Engine | Mentioned? | Position in answer | Competitors named | Sources cited |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency AC repair Phoenix | ChatGPT | No | — | A, B, C | yelp.com, a-ac.com |
The "sources cited" column is the most useful one. It tells you which websites, directories and review platforms the AI trusts in your market, which is where you need to be present.
4. Score it simply
For each engine: the number of questions where you're mentioned, out of the total. "Mentioned in 2 of 15 on ChatGPT, 0 of 15 on Perplexity" is a clear baseline you can compare against next month.
5. Repeat monthly with the exact same questions
AI answers change from one run to the next. A single check is a snapshot; the trend over three to six months is what tells you whether your work is paying off.
Free data you should add
- Google Search Console: traffic from AI Overviews and AI Mode is included in the Performance report under the "Web" search type (Google). It doesn't isolate AI traffic, but it shows which pages earn impressions.
- Bing Webmaster Tools: the AI Performance report, in public preview since February 2026, shows citations in Copilot and Bing's AI summaries (Bing).
- HubSpot AI Search Grader: a free one-time snapshot of how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini describe a brand (HubSpot).
If you'd rather automate the monthly check, we compared paid trackers in our guide to AI SEO tools.
How to read your results
- You appear, but competitors appear first: look at the sources cited for them. They're often directories, review sites or articles where you're missing.
- You don't appear at all: check the basics first. Are your key pages indexed? Do they say clearly what you do, where, and for whom, in the first lines? Is your business name and contact information consistent everywhere?
- AI describes you wrongly: your information is inconsistent or outdated somewhere it reads. Fix your website first, then your profiles.
- Different engines, different results: normal. Each one uses different sources. Prioritize the engines your customers actually use.
What improves AI search visibility
The changes that tend to matter most, in order:
- A technically healthy site whose important pages are indexed.
- Clear, direct answers at the top of your service pages.
- Specific, evidenced claims: sources, numbers you can stand behind, real quotes. Research on generative engine optimization found these work better than keyword repetition.
- Consistent business information across your website and profiles.
- Presence on the sources AI already cites in your market.
Nobody can guarantee that an AI will recommend you. But you can measure where you stand, fix the reasons it can't, and see whether the trend moves.
If you want this done for you, with the questions written for your market and a prioritized list of fixes, that's our AI visibility audit: delivered in 5 days.