Guide

AI visibility checklist for small businesses

Short answer. AI visibility is how often AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews name, recommend or link to your business when someone asks a question you should appear in. This checklist has five parts: make your business reachable by crawlers, clear on your pages, consistent across the web, trusted by others, and measured over time.

Published 15 November 2026 by AINameCheck.

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1. Reachable

robots.txt does not block OAI-SearchBot, Googlebot or Bingbot. Decide separately about training crawlers such as GPTBot and Google-Extended.
Important pages are not behind a login, a pop-up wall or a form.
Pages have real text, not only images, slideshows or PDFs.
Pages load quickly on a phone and return normal status codes.
You publish an XML sitemap and list it in robots.txt.

2. Clear

The homepage says in one or two plain sentences what you sell, for whom, and where.
Each service or location has its own page with specifics: what is included, price range if you publish one, how to order or book.
Hours, address or service area, phone, email, delivery and returns are in text.
An FAQ answers the questions customers really ask, in short direct answers.
Structured data (JSON-LD) such as Organization or LocalBusiness matches what the page says.

3. Consistent

Name, address, phone and hours are identical on your site, Google Business Profile, directories and social profiles.
Your Google Business Profile is claimed, complete and current.
If you are eligible, your business is claimed in ChatGPT. See the claim guide.

4. Trusted

Genuine customer reviews on the platforms your customers use, with replies.
Listings in relevant local, industry and supplier directories.
Mentions from local press, partners or associations when they are real.
No bought reviews, fake mentions or copied text.

5. Measured

Keep a list of 10 customer questions in your language and place.
Ask them on a schedule, logged out, and record which businesses are named. Answers vary between runs, so compare counts over several checks.
Run the free AINameCheck check for ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews in one go.
When a competitor is named instead of you, open the sources the engine used and see what those pages say that yours do not.

Questions

What is AI visibility?

AI visibility is how often AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews name, recommend or link to your business when someone asks a relevant question. AINameCheck measures it as a count: in how many of 10 customer questions was your business named.

How is AI visibility different from SEO?

SEO aims to place a page in a list of search results. AI visibility is about being named inside a written answer. They overlap because AI answers draw on web pages, but an answer can name a business that ranks lower in the list or skip one that ranks high.

What is a good score?

There is no universal benchmark. Compare your own count over time, and compare it with the businesses that are named instead of you.

How often should I check?

Monthly is enough for most small businesses. Answers change between runs, so look at the trend rather than one result.

Sources

See where your business stands

The free check asks ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews 10 customer questions and counts how many named your business.

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