Does ChatGPT Recommend Your Business? How to Check

To check whether ChatGPT recommends your business, ask it the questions your customers would ask, then see if your name comes up. Open ChatGPT and prompt it with real buying questions for your industry and area, such as “who are the best family solicitors in Cambridge” or “recommend a garage door company near Norwich”, and note whether you appear, how you are described, and which competitors it names instead. Repeat across a set of prompts and across other assistants like Google’s AI Mode, Gemini and Perplexity, because each pulls from different sources. This free manual check takes half an hour and tells you exactly where you stand. This guide gives you a repeatable protocol, prompt templates, and what to do when you are not being mentioned, as of July 2026.

Why this matters now

A growing share of customers ask an AI assistant for recommendations before they ever open a search results page. When someone asks ChatGPT or Google’s AI answers “who should I use for X near me”, the assistant returns a short list of businesses, and being on that list is the new version of ranking on page one. If your business is invisible to these tools, you are missing enquiries you never even see, because the customer never reaches a search result to click. The reverse is also true: being named and described well by an AI assistant is a powerful, unearned endorsement. Checking where you stand is the first step, and unlike much of AI search, it is free and quick to do yourself. You cannot improve what you have not measured, and most of your competitors have not thought to look at all.

The free manual checking protocol

Here is a repeatable protocol you can run in half an hour and repeat monthly to track changes. Keep your findings in a simple spreadsheet.

1. List the 8 to 12 questions a real customer would ask an assistant to find a business like yours.
2. Open ChatGPT in a fresh chat (so past conversations do not bias it) and ask each question.
3. Record whether your business is mentioned, in what position, and how it is described.
4. Note which competitors are named, because those are the businesses the AI currently trusts.
5. Repeat the same questions in Google’s AI answers, Gemini and Perplexity, since each uses different sources.
6. Ask a follow up such as “why did you recommend those” to see which sources and signals the assistant relies on.
7. Log everything with the date, so you can see whether your visibility improves over time.

Running this consistently turns a vague worry (“are we in AI answers?”) into a tracked metric you can actually move.

Prompt templates to use

Use natural, customer style questions rather than searching for your own brand name, because you want to see whether you surface unprompted. Adapt these templates to your industry and area.

• “Who are the best [service] in [town]?”
• “Recommend a reliable [service provider] near [area].”
• “I need [specific problem solved]. Which local companies should I consider?”
• “What are the top rated [type of business] in [town]?”
• “Compare the main [service] providers in [area].”
• “Who should I call for [urgent version of your service] in [town]?”

Then, and only after, test brand awareness directly: “What do you know about [your business name]?” and “Is [your business name] a good [service provider]?”. The unprompted questions tell you whether you are discoverable; the brand questions tell you what the AI already believes about you, and whether that description is accurate. If the assistant gets your details wrong, that is a signal your online information needs tidying.

What to do if you are not mentioned

If your business does not appear, do not panic, because AI visibility is earnable, and the work overlaps almost entirely with good SEO. AI assistants tend to recommend businesses that already rank well, have consistent information across the web, earn genuine reviews, and publish clear content that answers real questions. So the fixes are familiar: strengthen your rankings for the terms customers search, keep your name, address and phone number consistent everywhere, build a steady flow of genuine reviews, and make sure your website answers the questions customers ask in clear, self contained passages an AI can lift. Being cited by trusted third party sources such as reputable directories and local press also helps, because assistants draw on those. Our guide to optimising for AI Overviews covers the on page approach, and GEO rank tracking explains how to monitor AI visibility as it grows.

When to move from manual checks to a tool

Manual checking is free and perfectly adequate when you are starting out or run a single business, but it does not scale and it only captures a moment in time. If you manage AI visibility for several locations or clients, or you want continuous tracking rather than a monthly spot check, a dedicated tool becomes worthwhile. Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit, for example, tracks how often ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode mention your brand, which sources they cite and how your share of voice compares with competitors, running your tracked prompts automatically every day. That turns the manual protocol above into an ongoing measurement. It is not necessary for most small businesses yet, but it earns its place once AI referrals are a real channel for you. Our Semrush AI Toolkit guide covers what it tracks and who genuinely needs it. For free ways to start, see our best free SEO tools list, and browse the SEO tools hub for more.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if ChatGPT mentions my business?

Open a fresh ChatGPT chat and ask the real questions your customers would ask to find a business like yours, such as “who are the best [service] in [town]”. Note whether you appear and how you are described. Repeat across several prompts and other assistants to build a clear picture.

Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitors and not me?

Usually because those competitors rank better in search, have more consistent information and reviews, or are cited by sources the assistant trusts. AI recommendations lean heavily on the same signals as good SEO, so the fix is to strengthen your rankings, reviews and content, not to game the AI directly.

Can I control what ChatGPT says about my business?

Not directly, but you can influence it strongly. AI assistants draw on your website, third party sources and reviews, so keeping your information accurate and consistent, earning genuine reviews and publishing clear content shapes what they say. If an assistant states something wrong, tidying your online information usually corrects it over time.

Do I need a paid tool to track AI visibility?

No, not at first. A free manual check across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI answers, repeated monthly, is enough for most small businesses. A paid tool such as Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit becomes worthwhile once you manage several locations or clients, or want continuous automated tracking.

Which AI assistants should I check?

Check ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini and Perplexity, because each draws on different sources and may recommend different businesses. A gap in one does not mean a gap in all. Checking the main assistants gives you the full picture of your AI visibility.

How often should I check my AI visibility?

Monthly is a sensible rhythm for most businesses, logging the date each time so you can track changes as you improve your SEO and reviews. Check more often if AI referrals are already a meaningful source of enquiries, or after making significant changes to your site or listings.