Self-check
Am I visible in AI search? A 5-minute self-check for any business
To check if you're visible in AI search: open ChatGPT and Perplexity in separate tabs. Search "best [your service] in [your city]" in both. Then open Google incognito and search the same query — look for the AI Overview box. If your business doesn't appear in any of the three, you're invisible in AI search. Use the free Visus audit to find out why.
AI search is where more buyers are starting their research. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews are answering queries that used to lead directly to Google's ten blue links. If your business doesn't appear in those AI answers, you're invisible at the moment the buyer is deciding who to contact.
The check below takes 5 minutes. No tools required. You just need a browser.
The 5-minute check
ChatGPT check (2 minutes)
Open ChatGPT in a fresh private window. Type: "best [your service type] in [your location]" — for example, "best electrician in Nottingham" or "recommend a marketing agency in Edinburgh". Does your business name appear? Try 2–3 variations of the query.
Perplexity check (1 minute)
Go to perplexity.ai (no account needed). Search the same query. Perplexity shows its sources — look at which websites it cites. Is your site listed? If competitors' sites appear as sources and yours doesn't, that's where the gap is.
Google AI Overview check (1 minute)
Open Google in a private window. Search your buyer query. Look for the blue AI Overview box at the very top of the results page. If it appears, does your business appear in it? If competitors appear and you don't, you're being displaced at the top of the page.
Brand name check (30 seconds)
Search your exact business name on ChatGPT: "Tell me about [Your Business Name]". Does ChatGPT know who you are? Does it give accurate information? Inaccurate or missing information is a signal that your entity clarity is weak.
Competitor check (30 seconds)
Try the same brand name query for your main competitor. If ChatGPT knows them and not you, the gap is in third-party presence and entity corroboration. If neither of you appears, the whole category is underrepresented in AI — early movers will have an advantage.
What your results mean
If you appear on all three platforms
You have good baseline AI visibility. The next step is checking your position — are you first or third in the recommendation? And are the facts AI states about your business accurate? Run a Visus audit to get a score and identify the gaps that could take you from visible to recommended first.
If you appear on one or two but not all three
You have partial visibility. Perplexity typically moves fastest (it indexes the live web), so appearing there but not in ChatGPT is common. The fixes needed depend on which platform you're missing — a Visus audit checks platform-specific signals.
If you appear on none of them
You have a real AI visibility gap. This is common — our benchmark found that the average UK business scores 58/100 for AI readiness, and many score much lower. The gap is closable. The Fozias restaurant went from 23/100 to 80/100 in 90 days by fixing the signals identified in a Visus audit.
Get a scored audit in under 60 seconds
Free. No credit card. Your AI visibility score out of 100 and your top 3 gaps to fix.
Check my AI visibilityWhat to do next
If the 5-minute check reveals you're not visible, here's the priority order for fixes:
- Check your robots.txt — make sure GPTBot and PerplexityBot aren't blocked
- Add entity clarity — a clear, specific business description on your homepage
- Add schema markup — LocalBusiness or Organization in JSON-LD, plus FAQPage schema
- Add answer-ready content — a FAQ section that directly answers buyer questions
- Build reviews — Google, Trustpilot, or industry-specific review platforms
The Visus free audit checks all of the above and tells you exactly which gaps apply to your specific site — more precise than the manual check above. The Fix Pack (£19, one-off) gives you copy-paste content to close the gaps without needing a developer.