You can see in five minutes whether your business shows up in AI: ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google the same three questions and check whether your business gets mentioned. The exact questions are below, along with how to read the results. The test needs no accounts and no tools — just your phone.
Why test now: a growing share of customers no longer scroll search results — they ask AI directly "who is the best" and get a handful of names back. If your name is not in that handful, you do not exist in this new way of searching, and you will never know which call never came.
How do I test my AI visibility myself?
Open ChatGPT (or Perplexity, or Google's AI mode) and ask these three questions, filled in with your own details:
- "Best [your industry] in [your city]" — for example, "best plumber in Austin". This is the most common way a customer asks for a recommendation.
- "Recommend a [service] near [city]" — the same thing in different words. AI answers vary with phrasing, which is why you test two versions.
- "[Your business name] reviews" — tells you whether the AI knows your business at all, and what it says about you.
Repeat the questions in at least two services — a single service's answer can be a coincidence. Write down: were you mentioned, which competitors were mentioned, and what was said about you.
What do the results mean?
Three possible outcomes. You show up and the details are right: good — your job is to keep the information current and collect reviews so the position holds. You show up but the details are old or wrong: AI repeats what the web says, so fix the sources — your business profile, website, and directories. You do not show up at all, but competitors do: the AI does not have enough consistent information about you — and that is fixable.
Why does AI recommend your competitor instead of you?
AI does not pull names out of a hat — it assembles answers from public sources: Google Business Profiles, websites, reviews, and directories. Your competitor shows up because more consistent information exists about them. I covered the mechanism in more depth in does your business show up when customers ask AI — and the practical playbook in how to get found in ChatGPT and Perplexity.
If AI does not know your business, it recommends your competitor — and nobody ever tells you it happened.
What should you do if you are invisible?
Start with the foundation: get your Google Business Profile in order, unify your name and contact details everywhere, collect genuine reviews, and make sure your website clearly answers what you do, where, and at what price. The same actions improve both AI and Google visibility — it is all one information foundation.
Summary
The five-minute test tells you whether you exist in the way customers are starting to search. Three questions, two services, an honest note of the results — and you know where you stand. If you are invisible, the cause is almost always missing or conflicting public information, and that is fixed with systematic work.
My site also has a free visibility tool that assembles the test questions for you — and if you want, I run the full check and fixes for you as part of the Growth Partner service.