You can measure your own AI visibility in an hour: write the 20 questions your customer would ask, ask each one in a temporary chat and in your customer's language, and log in a table whether your brand and three competitors appear and which sites are cited. This is the method I use in my free initial check; here it is step by step.
1. Pick three competitors
Think about who your customer compares you with. Not the biggest name in your industry: three companies that really sell to the same customer. If you're not sure, ask ChatGPT your main category question once; the companies it recommends are already your competitors in AI.
2. Write the 20 questions
18 category questions and 2 brand questions. Category questions don't include your name; they include your customer's need. Mix these patterns:
| Question type | Example |
|---|---|
| Best | What's the best CRM for small businesses? |
| Trusted | Can you recommend a trusted hair transplant clinic in Istanbul? |
| Need | I'm looking for a private label T-shirt manufacturer for a small brand. |
| Comparison | HubSpot or Pipedrive? · What can I use instead of [Competitor]? |
| Price | How much do dental implants cost in Antalya, and which clinic? |
| Process | How do I buy an apartment in Alanya as a foreigner, and which agency should I use? |
| Brand | Is [Your brand] trustworthy? · What does [Your brand] do? |
If your customers are in another country, write the questions in their language. If you sell in more than one market, prepare a separate set for each language; results vary a lot from one language to another.
3. Ask in the right setting
- Open a temporary chat or log out. Memory and chat history can tailor the answer to you.
- Make sure web search is on. For "which company?" questions, ChatGPT usually searches on its own.
- Ask the same questions in Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Mode too. Give more weight to whichever one your customer uses.
- Answers can also vary with the country the question is asked from. Paid tracking tools can ask from different countries; if you're doing it by hand, at least get the language right.
4. Log it in a table
One row per question. Columns: the question, your brand, your three competitors and the sites cited. If a brand appears in the answer, write its position (1, 2, 3…); if not, put a dash.
| Question | You | Competitor A | Competitor B | Competitor C | Sites cited |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. What's the best CRM for small businesses? | – | 1 | 3 | – | comparison blogs, a software directory |
| 2. … |
Sample template; fill it in with your own questions.
5. Pull out three numbers
- Mention rate: How many of the 18 category questions do you appear in? Calculate the same for each competitor.
- Top-three rate: Of the questions where you appear, how many have you in the top three?
- Source list: The 10 most-cited sites. These are the places AI trusts in your industry, and your target list.
6. Read the tone of the brand answers
The answer to "Is [your brand] trustworthy?" is the part people overlook most. Make a note if AI says things like:
- "I couldn't find enough information about it": There's little content describing you, on your site or elsewhere.
- A wrong founding year, old address or old price: An outdated detail is sitting in some source.
- Cautious phrases like "few reviews", "recently founded" or "may be a reseller": These are the doubts in your customer's mind. Answer them openly on your site.
7. Repeat once a month
Answers vary; a single measurement is a snapshot, a repeated one is a trend. Ask the same 20 questions once a month and compare the three numbers. Note the dates of changes you make to your site in the table too, so you can see what worked.
Do I need a paid tool?
Not at first; a spreadsheet is enough. As the number of questions and languages grows, tools that ask the questions automatically from different countries save time. For initial checks, I use a service that asks live ChatGPT from the buyer's country; it costs under a cent per question.
If you'd like me to do it
I test your brand and three competitors on 20 questions, in your buyer's language and from their country, and send you the results within 1 business day, for free. Details here.
Common questions
How many questions are enough?
20 is a good start. Answers vary, so don't draw conclusions from a single question; you need at least 15–20 questions to see a rate. If you have more than one language or market, prepare a separate set for each.
Which AI tool should I prioritize?
The one your customer uses. ChatGPT is the most used; Google's AI Overviews appear in front of everyone who searches on Google. Start with these two, then add Gemini and Perplexity.
Will the result change if I tell ChatGPT to recommend me?
No. What you say in your own chat doesn't change the answers other users get. That's also why you test in a temporary chat: you don't want your own history to influence the answer.
