How to check whether ChatGPT recommends your business (step by step)

By the Rank in Chat team · Updated 22 October 2026 · About a 7-minute read

If you run a local business, it's worth knowing whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity mention you when someone asks for what you do. You can check this yourself, for free, without any special tools.

Before you start

You'll need:

• About half an hour.
• Somewhere to take notes: a spreadsheet or notebook (there's a layout in step 3).
• The free versions of ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.

Step 1: Write down the questions your customers really ask

This is the step that matters most. Write five to eight questions in the words a new customer would use, not the words you'd use about yourself. Always include the place. Here are some patterns to copy and fill in:

• "Who's a good [what you do] in [your town]?"
• "Can you recommend a [service] near [area or postcode district]?"
• "Best [type of business] in [town] for [a specific need]?"
• "I need [a problem solved] in [town] today. Who should I call?"
• "Which [type of business] in [town] [does a particular thing]?"

For example, a dog groomer in Leeds might ask "Which dog groomers in Leeds are good with nervous dogs?". Mix general questions with specific ones that match the work you most want.

Don't include your business name in these questions. Naming yourself steers the answer. You're testing whether an assistant would put you forward to someone who has never heard of you.

Step 2: Start a clean chat

Assistants can tailor answers to the person asking. If you've chatted about your business before, an assistant with a memory feature may mention you more readily than it would for a stranger. To keep the test fair:

• Use a temporary chat if the assistant offers one, turn off memory for the test, or use a browser you don't normally use, signed out.
• Start a new chat for each question, so one answer doesn't shape the next.
• Put the town in the question. Your own location may not match your customers'.

Step 3: Ask each question, and write down what you see

Ask every question in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. For each answer, note:

The sources are worth a click. Perplexity shows them next to its answers, and ChatGPT and Gemini often show links when they've searched the web. They show which websites the assistant was reading, which is where any fixes will need to happen.

Step 4: Ask about your business by name

Now ask each assistant directly: "What can you tell me about [your business name] in [town]?" This shows what it already knows about you. Check the details: your services, address, opening hours, phone number, and whether it thinks you're still trading. If something is wrong, note where it seems to come from, such as an old directory listing or an out-of-date page.

Step 5: Repeat, then look for the pattern

Answers vary. The same question can give a different list an hour later, or the next day. So run your questions again on at least two more days before drawing conclusions. Then, for each question, put yourself in one of three groups: named every time, named sometimes, or never named.

Reading the results honestly

It's easy to read too much into one answer, good or bad. Here's a fairer way to look at it.

• Named most times, with the right details. A good position. Keep your information current, and check again every month or two.
• Named sometimes. You're on the edge of the list. Clearer information about your business online may tip the balance.
• Never named, but the same competitors keep coming up. Those businesses are easier for the assistants to find and describe. Our guide on why your competitor shows up and you don't goes through the usual reasons, with a checklist.
• Named, but with wrong facts. Fix the information where it lives (your website, your Google Business Profile, directory listings), not in the chat. Telling an assistant it's wrong in your own chat doesn't correct what it tells other people.
• "I don't have information about that business." The assistant couldn't find enough about you. That usually points to thin or inconsistent information online.

Also, the order of a list isn't a fixed ranking: third today and first tomorrow is normal. Your test is a snapshot of those days and those questions, not exactly what every customer sees.

If you'd like to understand why the assistants answer the way they do, our guide to how AI assistants choose which local businesses to recommend explains where they get their information.

When to get help

Doing this yourself is a good start. It may be worth getting help if:

• you haven't got the time to run a fair test across three assistants and several days;
• your results are mixed and you can't tell what they mean;
• you're never named and can't see why;
• an assistant keeps repeating wrong information after you've corrected your own listings.

The Rank in Chat check is free. We ask the assistants your customers' kind of questions and email you whether you were named, where, and who was suggested instead, checked by a person first. If you want a hand fixing things, the optional next steps are on our pricing page. There's no obligation.

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