How to Check if ChatGPT Recommends Your Business (Free Method)
Write down ten questions a customer would ask, such as "best dentist in Leeds for nervous patients". Ask each one in a new ChatGPT chat with web search on, three times, and note every business named. Repeat on Google to see its AI Overview. The share of answers that include you is your AI visibility.
The free method, step by step
- Write ten customer questions. Mix the obvious ("best plumber in Denver") with the specific ("plumber open Sunday Denver", "cheap boiler repair near Capitol Hill").
- Use a fresh chat each time, with web search on, so earlier conversation doesn't steer the answer. Say the city in the question rather than relying on location.
- Ask each question three times. Answers change between asks — in BrightLocal's measurements only about 23% of the businesses repeat — so one ask is an anecdote.
- Record every business named, in a spreadsheet: question, ask number, names, and whether you were one.
- Do the same on Google and note the AI Overview, if one appears.
- Count it: of the 30 ChatGPT answers, how many named you? That percentage is your baseline. Note who appears most often instead.
- Repeat monthly. A single month tells you where you are; the trend tells you whether your fixes work.
What to look at besides your own name
- Who is named instead — and what they have that you don't: more reviews, a clearer website, a spot in a local roundup.
- Which sources the answer cites. If several answers lean on one local article you are missing from, that article is your first target.
- Wrong details. An outdated address or hours in an answer points to a listing you need to fix.
The catch with doing it by hand
Done properly, this is 60 to 100 questions a month, every month, with careful notes — which is why most people try it once and stop. Vouchly AI runs it for you: 16 customer questions, asked twice each on ChatGPT and Google, scored, with the competitors named instead and a fix list in order of impact, re-checked every month. Plans start at $29 a month.
Questions people ask
Why does ChatGPT give different answers each time?
Its answers are generated fresh for each request and draw on whatever web pages it finds at the time. BrightLocal measured only about 23% overlap between ChatGPT's results for the same search repeated.
Is there a free way to check AI visibility?
Yes: ask ChatGPT and Google the questions your customers ask, several times each, and record how often you are named. It is free, but slow to do thoroughly every month.
See whether ChatGPT recommends you
Vouchly AI asks ChatGPT and Google 16 customer questions about your business, shows who is named instead, and tells you what to fix first. Start with the free readiness score, or run a real check from $29 a month.