Right now, someone in your city might be asking ChatGPT to recommend a business like yours. The question is whether your name comes up. Most business owners have never checked. Here is exactly how to find out, step by step, in about 10 minutes.
Estimated percentage of local businesses that have never checked whether AI models mention them. Of those that check, most discover they are either invisible or described with wrong information.
Step 1: Set Up Your Test
STEP 1
Open ChatGPT in a fresh conversation
Go to chat.openai.com and start a new conversation. If you have the paid version, use it because it has web search capabilities. But the free version works too and is worth checking since that is what most of your potential customers are using.
Important: start a new conversation each time. Previous messages in a chat influence the responses, which will skew your results.
Step 2: Ask Category Queries
STEP 2
Search the way your customers would
Do not search for your business name yet. First, search the way a customer would. They do not know your name. They are looking for what you do. Try these query templates, replacing the brackets with your information:
"Who do you recommend for [your service] in [your area]?"
"I need a [your business type] near [your neighborhood]. Who's good?"
"Top rated [your business type] in [your city] for [specific service you offer]"
"Can you recommend a [your business type] in [your city] that's good for [your specialty]?"
Try at least 5 different variations. AI models are not deterministic. The same question phrased differently can produce different results. If your business shows up on 3 out of 5 queries, that tells you something different than showing up on 0 out of 5.
Example queries for a dentist in Austin:
"Who's a good dentist in downtown Austin?"
"I need a dentist in Austin who's good with anxious patients"
"Recommend a family dentist in South Austin"
"Best cosmetic dentist in Austin, Texas"
Step 3: Ask About Your Business Directly
STEP 3
Check what ChatGPT knows about you by name
Now start a new conversation and ask about your business specifically. This tells you whether ChatGPT knows you exist and what information it has.
"Tell me about [Your Business Name] in [Your City]"
"Is [Your Business Name] a good [business type]? What are they known for?"
"What are the hours and services for [Your Business Name] in [Your City]?"
Pay close attention to the response. Does it know your business exists? Is the information accurate? Check the phone number, address, hours, and services it mentions. AI hallucinations about local businesses are common, and wrong information is worse than no information.
Step 4: Interpret Your Results
Your results will fall into one of four categories:
RECOMMENDED
ChatGPT names your business in its top recommendations when someone searches for your category. This is the best outcome. Your name appears alongside 2-4 other businesses with a positive description of what you do well.
What to do: Check that the information is accurate. Monitor regularly to make sure you stay recommended. Consider ongoing monitoring to catch changes.
MENTIONED BUT NOT RECOMMENDED
ChatGPT knows your business exists when asked directly, but does not include you in category-based recommendations. You show up when someone asks "what do you know about [your name]" but not when they ask "best [your type] in [your city]."
What to do: Your presence is there but your signals are weak. Strengthen your Foursquare profile, get more reviews on third-party platforms, and make sure your website has clear Schema markup and FAQ content.
MENTIONED WITH WRONG INFORMATION
ChatGPT knows about you but states incorrect facts. Wrong phone number, wrong hours, wrong services, wrong location. This is arguably worse than being invisible because customers might call a wrong number or show up when you are closed.
What to do: This is a hallucination problem. The fix is to make the correct information so prominent across data sources that AI models cannot get it wrong. Claim and update your Foursquare, Bing Places, and Google Business Profile with consistent, accurate information.
INVISIBLE
ChatGPT does not mention you in category searches or even when asked by name. It either says it does not have information about your business or makes up a generic response. You do not exist in AI search.
What to do: You need to build your AI presence from scratch. Start with the complete GEO checklist. The three highest-impact actions are claiming Foursquare, claiming Bing Places, and adding Schema.org markup to your website.
Step 5: Check Other AI Models Too
STEP 5
ChatGPT is not the only AI people use
Repeat steps 2 and 3 on these platforms:
- Claude (claude.ai) - Anthropic's AI, increasingly popular, uses different data sources than ChatGPT
- Perplexity (perplexity.ai) - An AI search engine that cites sources, growing fast for research queries
- Google Gemini (gemini.google.com) - Google's AI, draws heavily from Google Business Profile data
Your results will likely differ across models. A business might be recommended by Gemini (because of strong GBP presence) but invisible to ChatGPT (because of no Foursquare listing). Each AI model has different data sources, which is why the strategy for each platform is slightly different.
The Faster Way: Automated Scanning
Checking manually works, but it has limits. You can only ask so many queries, AI responses vary each time, and you need to repeat the process regularly to catch changes.
The PACO GEO free scan automates this. Enter your business name and location, and it checks all four major AI models with multiple query variations in about 60 seconds. You get an AI visibility score from 0-10, details on which models mention you, and a report on any incorrect information found.
The free scan requires no signup, no credit card, and no commitment. It is the quickest way to get a baseline reading of your AI visibility.
Important context: AI search results are not fixed. They change based on query phrasing, time of day, and model updates. Checking once gives you a snapshot, not a permanent answer. The businesses that stay visible are the ones that monitor regularly and keep their data sources updated.
What to Do After You Check
Once you know where you stand, the next step depends on your result:
- Already recommended: Set up monitoring so you know if you drop. Check for hallucinations in the information AI shares about you.
- Mentioned but not recommended: Focus on strengthening your profiles on the three platforms AI actually reads.
- Invisible: Work through the GEO checklist or consider a done-for-you GEO service to build your AI presence.
The businesses checking now and taking action have a window of advantage. Most competitors have not looked at AI search at all. By the time they notice, you will already be the one ChatGPT recommends.
Check all 4 AI models in 60 seconds
PACO's free scan checks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini automatically. No signup required. See your score and what AI says about your business.
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