Visus tool
AI citation checker: does your business get cited by AI tools?
An AI citation checker tests whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews mention your business when buyers search for your services. Visus is free — enter your URL and get a score out of 100 with your top citation gaps in under 60 seconds. Run the free check.
What an AI citation check actually tests
A one-off prompt ("does ChatGPT mention me?") gives you a single data point — and AI answers change with every session. A proper citation check evaluates the underlying signals your page sends to AI systems:
AI crawler access
Does your robots.txt allow GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, and Bingbot? Blocked crawlers can't index your content.
Entity clarity
Is your business name, type, and location stated clearly enough for AI to identify who you are without guessing?
Answer-ready content
Can your page's key facts be quoted directly in an AI answer? AI systems prefer content with clear, citable statements.
Schema markup
Do you have LocalBusiness, Organization, or FAQPage schema? Structured data removes ambiguity about your business type.
Third-party corroboration
Reviews, directory listings, and press mentions cross-verify your claims. AI is more likely to cite businesses it can verify from multiple sources.
llms.txt compliance
llms.txt is a file that tells AI crawlers about your business. An absent or incorrect llms.txt is a missed opportunity.
Check your AI citation score
Free. No credit card. Your score out of 100 plus your top 3 citation gaps.
Run free citation checkWhich AI platforms does it cover?
The Visus audit checks signals relevant to all four major AI answer platforms:
- ChatGPT — training data patterns, entity clarity, answer-ready passages
- Perplexity — real-time web index, PerplexityBot access, source authority signals
- Google AI Overviews — E-E-A-T, FAQPage schema, Google Business Profile completeness
- Bing Copilot — Bingbot access, structured data, factual accuracy signals
Each platform weights signals differently but all share a core: entity clarity, answer-ready content, and third-party proof. Fixing the fundamentals improves citation likelihood across all four.
How it's different from an SEO tool
Traditional SEO tools (Semrush, Ahrefs, Screaming Frog) check keyword rankings, backlinks, and technical crawl health. These matter for Google's link-based results. AI citation checking goes further:
- AI crawler access is separate from Googlebot access — a site can rank in Google and still block GPTBot
- Schema types that matter for AI (FAQPage, HowTo, Speakable) differ from basic SEO schema
- Answer-ready content — passages AI can quote directly — is not measured by keyword density tools
- Entity clarity (does AI know unambiguously who you are?) has no direct SEO equivalent
Visus is purpose-built for AI citation checking. It does traditional SEO checks too, but its scoring prioritises what matters for AI recommendation likelihood.
What a good citation score looks like
Visus scores pages out of 100. Based on the benchmark across 60 UK businesses:
- Under 40 — significant citation gaps; AI systems struggle to identify or verify the business
- 40–65 — some signals present but inconsistencies or missing elements reduce confidence
- 65–80 — solid foundation; most gaps are in third-party signals and off-page corroboration
- 80+ — strong citation readiness; Fozias reached 80 and became the #1 Perplexity result in their category
Read the Fozias case study — a Liverpool restaurant that improved from 23 to 80 in 90 days.
Frequently asked questions
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What is an AI citation checker?
A tool that tests whether AI systems like ChatGPT and Perplexity have enough clear signals to confidently mention your business in their answers. It checks on-page signals, not just whether your name appears in a single prompt response.
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Which AI platforms does the Visus check cover?
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Bing Copilot. The core signals overlap significantly across platforms.
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How is this different from an SEO tool?
SEO tools check rankings and backlinks. AI citation checking focuses on entity clarity, AI crawler access, answer-ready content, and third-party corroboration — signals that determine AI recommendation likelihood, which don't map directly to traditional SEO metrics.
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Is the check really free?
Yes. Enter your URL, get a score out of 100 and your top 3 gaps — no credit card required. The Fix Pack (£19 one-off) gives you the full prioritised fix list with copy-paste content.