How to Check If ChatGPT Recommends Your Business
Don't ask the AI 'do you know my company?' — that proves nothing. Ask it what your customers ask, and watch whether you surface on your own.
Test unprompted recall, not recognition
The mistake most people make is typing 'what do you think of [my brand]?'. The assistant will dutifully describe you — but that's recognition, not recommendation. It tells you nothing about whether you'd appear for a real buyer.
Instead, ask the questions a customer asks before they know you exist: 'best [category] in [city]', 'who should I hire for [job]', '[competitor] alternatives'. Then check whether your name comes up without you prompting it.
Run a small battery of buyer questions
- 3–5 discovery questions ('best [category] in [region]')
- 1–2 comparison questions ('X vs Y', 'alternatives to X')
- 1 validation question ('what should I look for in a [category]?')
- Repeat each across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude — answers differ by engine.
Score what you see
For each answer note: were you mentioned, in what position, framed positively or neutrally, and which competitors appeared. Tally how often you show up versus how often the same few competitors do. That ratio is your share of voice — the single most honest metric of AI visibility.
If you're not showing up
Find the source domains the assistants cited in those answers and get listed there, publish clear comparison pages, and tighten the factual claims on your site. Then re-test monthly to confirm the needle moves.
FAQ
Why shouldn't I just ask ChatGPT about my brand directly?
Because it will describe any brand you name — that measures recognition, not whether you'd be recommended to a buyer who doesn't know you. Always test with unprompted, buyer-intent questions.
Do the answers change each time?
They vary somewhat by phrasing, engine and date. That's why a fixed set of questions tracked monthly beats a single spot-check.