When someone asks ChatGPT for "the best bookkeeper in Austin" or "a CRM for a one-person business," the answer usually names three or four businesses. Nobody scrolls to page two. You are in the answer or you are not.
Most owners have never checked which one they are. You do not need a paid tool for the first look. You need about an hour, a private browser window, and a spreadsheet.
1. Write the prompts a buyer would actually type
Aim for 10 to 20. Mix four kinds:
- Category: "best [your service] for small businesses"
- Local: "best [your service] in [your city]"
- Comparison: "[your business] vs [competitor]"
- Problem: "how do I fix [the problem you solve]"
2. Run them on five engines, logged out
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Google (for AI Overviews and AI Mode). Use a private window so your own history does not tilt the answers.
3. Log what comes back
| Column | What to record |
|---|---|
| Engine and date | Where and when you ran it |
| Prompt | Exact wording |
| Mentioned? | Yes or no |
| Position | First, second, third, or lower |
| Cited? | Did the answer link your site? |
| Competitors | Every other business named |
| Sources | Sites the AI pulled from |
| Errors | Wrong prices, hours, services, location |
4. Run each prompt more than once
AI answers change from run to run. Two or three runs per prompt gives you a baseline you can trust. One run tells you almost nothing.
5. Check the free data most owners miss
Bing Webmaster Tools now has an AI Performance report that shows when your pages are cited in Copilot answers. If your site is not verified there, that is a free five-minute fix.
What to do with the results
The Sources column is the most useful one. If the AI keeps citing the same review sites, directories, or forums for your category, those are the places to get listed or mentioned. The Errors column is your quick-fix list: correct the facts on your own site and your main profiles first.
Repeat the check monthly. When tracking dozens of prompts by hand gets old, that is the point where a paid checker earns its keep.
The full guide has more sample prompts, a ready-to-copy scorecard, how to read your results, a 30-day plan, and a comparison of four paid checkers: AI search visibility checker guide.
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