It's an uncomfortable question precisely because you can't see the answer from the inside. You know where you rank on Google if you look. You have no idea what an assistant says about you to a stranger — unless you go and ask it, the way a customer would. The good news is that checking is quick and free.
How to check, in about ten minutes
Open each of the main assistants — ChatGPT (with web search switched on), Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews, and Gemini or Copilot if you use them — and ask the questions a real customer would ask. Not "tell me about [your business]", which just reads your own site back to you, but the questions of someone who doesn't yet know you exist:
- "Who's the best [what you do] in [your town]?"
- "Recommend a [your service] near [area]."
- "Who should I hire to [the job you do] in [place]?"
- "Best [your category] for [type of customer you serve]."
For each one, note three things: whether you are named, which businesses are named instead, and — where the tool shows them — which sources it cites to justify the answer. Then do it again a day or two later. Answers vary between people and between days, so one run is a snapshot, not a verdict.
What the answers are telling you
If you're named, good — and look closely at why, because the same sources that got you named are the ones to protect and build on. If competitors are named and you aren't, the citations show you where they're winning: a review platform, a directory, a "best of" list, a local news piece. And if nobody relevant is named, or the answer is vague, that usually means the assistant can't find enough trustworthy information to be confident — a gap, but a fixable one.
The citations are the useful part. They don't just tell you that you're missing — they tell you exactly which places AI is looking, so you know where the gap is.
Why you might be invisible
There's rarely a single reason. The common ones are that you're thin in the third-party sources these tools trust — reviews, directories, professional registers, local press — or that your own website is inconsistent, unclear, or quietly blocking the AI search crawlers so the tools can't read it properly. Often it's a combination, and none of it is visible from your own desk, which is exactly why it goes unnoticed. For the mechanics behind this, see what Generative Engine Optimisation actually is.
What you can — and can't — do about it
You can improve your chances: get genuinely represented in the sources AI leans on, keep your business facts consistent everywhere, make your site clear and readable, and make sure you're not blocking the crawlers. What you can't do is buy a guaranteed mention or flip a switch. Anyone promising to "get you into ChatGPT" for a fee is selling certainty that doesn't exist. The honest route is to see clearly where you stand, fix what's genuinely holding you back, and check again.
Common questions
Does ChatGPT recommend specific businesses?
Yes. Asked for the best or a recommended business of a certain type in a certain place, ChatGPT and the other assistants will often name specific businesses, drawing on the web sources they trust. Whether yours is named depends on how visible and well-corroborated you are in those sources.
How do I check if my business appears in ChatGPT?
Ask the questions your customers would ask — "best [what you do] in [your town]", "who should I hire for [service] near [place]" — with web search enabled, across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google. Note whether you're named, who is named instead, and which sources are cited. Repeat on separate days, because answers vary.
Why isn't my business showing up in ChatGPT?
Usually because you're not well represented in the third-party sources these tools lean on — reviews, directories, registers and local press — or because your own site is unclear, inconsistent or hard for the tools to read. It's rarely one single cause.
Can I pay to appear in ChatGPT recommendations?
Not for the recommendation itself. There are ads appearing around some AI results, but the businesses an assistant names in its answer are chosen from evidence, not bought. Anyone offering to guarantee you a place in the answer isn't being straight with you.
Rather have it checked properly, for you?
The AI Visibility Check is an independent, one-off report: what ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI actually say when asked for a business like yours, who they name instead, the sources behind it, and what it would take to be the one they pick. Done entirely for you — no sales call, no retainer. €499, one-off.
See the AI Visibility Check → Background: what GEO actually is