How to check whether ChatGPT recommends your business

You can get a first impression in ten minutes. Doing it properly takes a little more care.

1. Write the questions customers actually ask

Skip questions that contain your own name. Customers who already know you are not the ones you are trying to reach. Write the questions people type when they do not know you yet:

• "What is the best physiotherapist in Manchester for back pain?"
• "Which invoicing software works for freelancers in the EU?"
• "What are good alternatives to [a well-known competitor]?"

Include your city if you serve a local market, and write in the language your customers use.

2. Ask more than once, and in more than one place

Ask each question several times and in more than one assistant. Note whether your business appears, which competitors appear, and whether the assistant shows sources. One answer proves almost nothing.

3. Record what you see

Copy the answer text and the date. The wording matters: being listed first with a correct description is different from being mentioned in passing, or described incorrectly.

4. Look for gaps and errors

Mark the questions where competitors are named and you are not, and any answer that gets facts about you wrong (services, location, opening hours). Both are things you can work on: gaps with better content, errors with clearer, consistent information on your website and listings.

5. Repeat on a schedule

Because answers vary, one snapshot is not enough. Repeat the same questions weekly or monthly and compare. This is the part most people skip, and it is exactly what an automated monitor is for.

What not to conclude

Do not conclude you are "invisible" from a handful of answers, and do not assume that one new web page will change an assistant's behaviour. Treat the results as evidence about the questions you tested, nothing more.