Does ChatGPT recommend your business? To find out, ask it the questions your customers ask, several times each, and count how often it names you.
That is the whole method. The rest of this guide makes it reliable. You get a list of questions to start with, a way to record answers so they can be compared, and a way to read what you find. You need nothing beyond ChatGPT and a spreadsheet.
What you need before you start
- A list of questions. Use the ten below, adapted to your business.
- A short list of rivals. The businesses you lose customers to, so you can spot them in answers.
- A sheet. One row per question and one column per asking, with room to note who was named.
- The same wording every time. Write each question down once and paste it, so you can repeat the check exactly later.
The 10 questions to ask
Replace the parts in brackets with your own details. The first group tests whether ChatGPT recommends you to a customer who has never heard of you. The second tests what it says when the customer already knows your name.
When the customer has never heard of you:
- What is the best [your category] for [a type of customer]?
- Who are the best [your service] providers in [your city]?
- Who should I call for [a specific job] in [your city]?
- What are good alternatives to [your biggest rival]?
- Which [your category] is best for [a specific need or limit]?
- What [your category] would you recommend on a small budget?
- How much does [your service] cost, and who offers it?
When the customer already knows your name:
- Is [your business] any good for [a need]?
- [Your business] or [a rival]: which is better for [a need]?
- What do people say about [your business]?
Use the words your customers use. If they say "tax person", ask about a tax person, not an "accounting services provider". If you serve one city, name it in the question, the way a customer would.
How to check: does ChatGPT recommend your business?
1. Start a new chat for each question
Earlier messages in a chat can steer the next answer. A new chat gives each question a clean start, so the answer reflects the question alone.
2. Ask each question three times
Answers vary from one asking to the next, so one answer is a single draw. Three askings per question give you a count instead of a story. Paste the question in the same words each time.
3. Record four things per answer
- Named: yes or no.
- Position: first, second, third or later in the answer.
- Who else: every other business named, and the reason given for each.
- Links: which pages the answer linked, if any.
4. Score each question
For each question, write how many of your three askings named you: 0, 1, 2 or 3. That number is the result that matters. It is simple enough to compare the next time you check.
Keep every asking of a question in one row of your sheet, with these columns:
| Column | What to write |
|---|---|
| Question | The exact words you paste, such as "Who should I call for [a job] in [your city]?" |
| Asking 1, 2 and 3 | Yes or no: did this answer name you? |
| Named in | Your score for the question, from 0 to 3 |
| Named instead | Every rival the answers named |
| Pages linked | The pages the answers linked, if any |
Add a date column when you repeat the check. The dates are what turn a one-off look into a before and after.
5. Repeat on the other assistants
Customers use more than one assistant. Ask Claude and Gemini the same questions, and Perplexity if your customers use it. Results can differ between assistants, which tells you where to focus first.
How to read what you find
Sort your questions into four groups.
- Named every time. You are winning this question. Keep the page that answers it current, and check again after any big change to your site.
- Named some of the time. You are close. Look at who else was named and what the answer said about them. Your page may be missing a fact that theirs states.
- Never named. You are losing this question. It needs a page on your site that answers it plainly, near the top. How to get recommended by ChatGPT shows how to write one.
- Named with the wrong facts. An old price, a service you stopped offering, the wrong area. Fix the facts on your site and on the listings that repeat them.
Then compare the two groups of questions. If ChatGPT describes you well when asked by name, but never recommends you unprompted, it knows you exist. It does not connect you to the need. That is a job for pages that answer the discovery questions directly.
Mistakes that skew the check
A few habits make the result look better or worse than it is. Avoid them and your counts mean something.
- Asking everything in one chat. Each question leans on the ones before it. Use a new chat per question.
- Rewording between askings. "Best" and "top" can pull different names. Paste the same words every time.
- Asking only by name. "Is [your business] good?" tests whether ChatGPT knows you, not whether it recommends you. Keep the discovery questions in the list.
- Counting position as the whole story. Being named third in every answer beats being named first in one of three. Start with how often you are named, then look at position.
- Skipping the links. The pages an answer links show what it read. They are the quickest way to see why a rival was named.
- Checking one assistant only. Your customers may ask Claude or Gemini. A question you win on one can be lost on another.
Why one answer is not enough
A single answer is tempting to trust, especially a flattering one. It proves very little. ChatGPT writes each answer fresh, and the pages it finds when it searches can change from day to day. Change one word in the question and the names can change too.
That is why the method above asks each question several times and keeps the wording fixed. You are not looking for one answer. You are looking for how often you are named, and whether that number moves. How ChatGPT chooses which businesses to recommend explains what shapes those answers.
Check again after you publish
Keep your sheet. It is your before picture. Each time you publish a page for a question you are losing, ask that question again 7 and 14 days after the page goes live. Use the same wording and the same number of askings, then compare the counts.
A count that rises is a sign the page is working. A count that stays flat is a reason to look closer. Check whether ChatGPT can read the page, and read the pages it links instead. They show what the answer relied on.
Turn the results into a plan
Your sheet now shows where you stand. Work through it in this order:
- Fix what stops AI reading your site. If ChatGPT cannot fetch or read your pages, nothing else you publish will help. Do this first.
- Fix wrong facts. Correct them on your site, then on every listing that repeats them.
- Answer the questions you never win. Start with the ones closest to a purchase, such as price and "who should I call" questions. Publish one page per question.
- Strengthen the questions you sometimes win. Add the facts your rivals' pages state and yours leave out.
- Re-check on a schedule. Ask again after each page goes live, and keep every result in the same sheet.
What Rankli automates
The manual check works, and doing it well every week takes time. Rankli runs the same method for you:
- Ask. It asks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini your customers' questions every week, with Perplexity added on Scale and Agency.
- See what you're losing. It records who each answer names and which pages it cites, and lists the questions where AI recommends someone else.
- Publish the answers. It writes an article aimed at each question you are losing and publishes it to your site.
- Re-ask and show what moved. 7 and 14 days after each article goes live, it asks that article's questions again, three times on each assistant, and shows before and after.
How many questions it asks depends on your plan, and the pricing page lists each one. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, and your first analysis runs when the trial starts. Before any of that, Rankli's free AI check shows whether ChatGPT can read your site at all. To run the first round now, the free ChatGPT visibility checker asks ChatGPT three of your buyers' questions and shows who it names in your place.
Questions
How many questions should I check?
Start with ten that customers ask right before they choose, and ask each one three times. Rankli asks your questions every week, and the number it tracks depends on your plan.
How often should I check?
Check once to get your before picture, then again 7 and 14 days after each new page goes live. Rankli runs the weekly round and those re-checks for you.
Why does ChatGPT give different answers to the same question?
It writes each answer fresh, and the pages it finds can change, so a single answer is a single draw. Count how often you are named across several askings, which is how Rankli reports it.
Can I check Claude and Gemini the same way?
Yes. Ask them the same questions in the same words and record the answers the same way. Rankli asks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on every plan, and adds Perplexity on Scale and Agency.
What if ChatGPT gets my facts wrong?
Fix the facts on your own site first, then on the listings and profiles that repeat them. Rankli's free AI check shows whether AI can reach your site and read your homepage.