Why check what AI says every month
Customers now ask ChatGPT, Google’s AI answers and Perplexity who to call. If an assistant gives a wrong phone number, an old address or a competitor’s name, you will not see it in your phone log. You find out only by asking. This is the monthly habit we recommend alongside website support and care plans: a short, repeatable check that catches wrong facts early.
One honest limit first. Nobody controls what ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode or Perplexity recommend. We promise structure, facts and a measured before and after, never placement. The check below measures. It does not guarantee.
Why one check is not enough
AI answers vary. SparkToro and Gumshoe.ai ran 2,961 prompts across ChatGPT, Claude and Google’s AI features, using 12 recommendation prompts run 60 to 100 times per platform. As reported by Search Engine Journal (published January 30, 2026), ChatGPT and Google’s AI returned the same list of brands less than 1% of the time, and the same list in the same order in under 0.1% of runs. The researchers found that how often a brand appeared across many runs was steadier than its rank, and Fishkin dismissed tools that report a “ranking position in AI”.
Two cautions. The study was not peer reviewed, and it was run with Gumshoe.ai, a company that sells AI tracking. Its co-author Rand Fishkin disclosed that, and said he started from the hypothesis that AI tracking would prove pointless. The practical lesson still holds for a small business: ask more than once, and count how often you appear instead of where you appear.
Step 1: Write your prompt list
Write 10 to 15 questions as a customer would type them. Keep the list the same every month so you can compare. Cover four kinds:
| Kind | Example (replace the brackets) |
|---|---|
| Find someone | “Who is a good [service] in [town]?” and “[service] near [neighborhood] open on Saturday” |
| Compare | “[your business] vs [competitor]” and “Which [service] in [town] has the best reviews?” |
| Check you | “What does [your business] do?”, “What are [your business] hours?”, “How much does [service] cost at [your business]?” |
| Solve a problem | “My [problem]. Who can fix it in [town]?” |
Ask in plain language, the way your customers do. Add two or three questions that match your highest-value jobs.
Step 2: Pick two or three assistants
Choose the ones your customers are likely to use. For most local businesses that means:
- ChatGPT, with web search on if you can switch it
- Google, where AI Overviews or AI Mode appear for your question
- Perplexity
Add Gemini or Microsoft Copilot if you wish. Use the same ones each month.
Run each prompt in a new chat so earlier answers do not shape the next. Where you can, use a logged-out browser or a private window. Results can reflect your location and history. Note which you used so the method stays the same.
Step 3: Run each prompt more than once
Run each prompt two or three times in each assistant. Ten prompts, three assistants and two runs each is 60 runs. At about a minute a run, that is an hour. The first time takes longer, and later months go faster.
Step 4: Log what you see
Use a spreadsheet with one row per run. Columns:
| Date | Assistant | Prompt | Run | Mentioned (Y/N) | Facts right (Y/N/part) | What was wrong | Sources cited | Competitors named |
|---|
Record these things:
- Mentioned or not. Yes or no. This is your core number.
- Named correctly. The business name, spelled right.
- Facts. Hours, phone, address, service area, services and prices. Mark each wrong one.
- Sources. Which pages the assistant cites or links: your site, Google Business Profile, a directory, a review site, a competitor, a news article.
- Who else appears. The same few competitors every time, or a different set each run.
Screenshots of the answers help when you need to show someone what went wrong.
Step 5: Score the month
Keep the scoring simple.
- Mention rate = runs where you were mentioned divided by total runs, as a percentage. This is a do-it-yourself version of an AI visibility score.
- Accuracy errors = the number of wrong facts you found. This number should fall to zero.
- Source mix = which of your pages and listings are cited, and which competitor pages.
Example, for illustration: 60 runs and 15 mentions is a 25% mention rate. Next month you get 60 runs and 21 mentions, so 35%. Because answers vary, treat a few points of change as noise. Look for a trend over three or more months, or for a clear change after you edit something.
Step 6: Act on the findings
| What you found | What to do |
|---|---|
| Wrong hours, phone or address | Find the page the assistant cited and fix it there: your site, Google Business Profile or a directory. Then fix the rest so every listing matches |
| An old service or price | Update the service page with current facts and a visible date. See how often to update your website |
| Not mentioned at all | Check that your site states clearly what you do, where, for whom and the price from. Check Google Business Profile and key listings are complete |
| A competitor appears often | Look at which pages cite them. Compare their facts with yours, and fill any gaps with true information |
| Sources are all directories | Make sure those listings are claimed and accurate |
You cannot force an answer. You can make the facts correct and easy to read, and then watch whether the log moves.
What about paid tracking tools
Paid AI visibility trackers run prompts for you across assistants on a schedule. They save time when you track many prompts, many locations or several competitors. Before you pay, ask each vendor how it runs prompts, how many times, and how it deals with variation. The SparkToro researchers recommended asking tracking providers to show their methodology.
For one business with one or a few locations, the manual log is usually enough to begin. It also teaches you what the answers look like.
Where Google Search Console fits
Google says sites appearing in AI Overviews and AI Mode are counted in Search Console’s Performance report, under the Web search type. They are not separated into their own report. Google also says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond being indexed and eligible to show a snippet. So Search Console tells you about clicks and impressions, and your manual log tells you about the answers themselves. They measure different things.
How this fits a care plan
Our care plans keep your site, forms and connected tools checked. Improve and Grow include a monthly summary, and Grow adds a results review and a monthly call: Support is $149/month, Improve is $299/month and Grow is $499/month, billed monthly. If you want an AI-answers check to be part of that review, say so when you choose a plan, and we put it in the written terms. Market prices for maintenance are in website maintenance cost.
Not included in any of our prices: domain and hosting, new photography, third-party software subscriptions (billed at cost), SMS carrier registration (A2P 10DLC) and message fees, and AI usage above the plan allowance. Prices are as of October 2026.
Start this month
- Write your 10 to 15 prompts today.
- Run them in two assistants, twice each.
- Log the results and fix any wrong fact you find.
- Put a reminder in your calendar for the same day next month.
If you would like to see how customers and AI assistants describe your business today, ask for a free demo. Prices are on the pricing page, and common questions are in the FAQ.
Published . Updated .