Why You Should Check This Right Now
Fifteen minutes is enough to know where the business stands with AI engines, even before investing a single shekel in optimizing for them. The audit shows whether ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity are even familiar with the business, and what they say about it when someone asks.
Without this check, there is nothing against which to measure progress. It is the starting point for any serious GEO work, and it is repeated every month to see what has changed.
Many business owners assume that an AI engine “probably knows” them because the website has been around for years and ranks well on Google. These are two completely separate things. A good ranking on Google does not guarantee appearance in a ChatGPT response, because the engine builds its answer from sources it chose to trust, not from the search results page.
A poor result in a single test does not mean the business is lost. What does hurt is ignoring it for months: a competitor monitoring their visibility spots the problem early and fixes it, before the loss in leads becomes noticeable.
Step 1: How to Ask ChatGPT About Your Business
Open a new chat in ChatGPT, without history that could bias the response, and ask in the language a real user would use. Not just the “company name”, but a complete question like “Who is the recommended agency for Facebook campaign management in Tel Aviv?”.
In the resulting response, look for yourself: are you mentioned at all, in what place on the list, and what exactly is written about you. Outdated or incorrect information is a sign that the sources feeding the engine need an update.
Ask the same intent twice, in a short version and a detailed version. A short question returns a general response with two or three names; a question mentioning a budget or exact location produces a completely different list. Both phrasings are necessary, because real customers ask both ways.
Step 2: The Same Check in Gemini and Perplexity
Each engine draws from different sources, so the same question can yield a completely different result. Gemini relies heavily on content that ranks well on Google, while Perplexity cites sources in real time with visible links for each answer.
Check the same question in both engines and document the differences. If Perplexity cites a competitor and not you, click on the links it provided: these are the exact sources you should appear in.
Run the check in Google’s AI Overview as well, the answer that appears above the regular search results. It is not the same engine as Gemini in chat, and it reveals an additional layer: what Google itself chose to cite for your question.
The Practical Checklist: What to Check in Each Round
- Direct Brand Question: “Who is [Business Name] and what does it do?” and verify that every detail in the answer is correct.
- Category Question: “Who are the leading providers in field X in area Y?” and check if you are on the list.
- Comparison Question: “What is the difference between [You] and [Main Competitor]?” This is the check that reveals the most about how the engine perceives you.
- Sources Check: In Perplexity and Google AI search, open the cited sources and see if your website is among them.
- Regular Frequency: Repeat all checks once a month and document in a simple table what changed.
Run the same checklist on a leading competitor in your field as well. If they appear consistently and you do not, the gap between the results points to what you are missing: content, authority, or up-to-date contact details. Often the gap is smaller than it seems, coming down to a single interview on an industry website that the engine cites over and over again.
Common Mistake: Checking Once and Forgetting About It
Many businesses run a single check, feel pleased or disappointed by the result, and move on. AI engines update the sources they crawl all the time, so a business that did not appear in January might appear in March, if its content and sources improved in the meantime.
The opposite mistake is just as common: giving up after the first response did not include the business. An AI response is a snapshot of a given moment, not a final verdict. Only repeated checks show whether the investment in content and schema is actually working.
What to Do with the Results
If the business does not appear at all, the problem is likely with the sources: there is not enough authoritative content mentioning you on the web. If you do appear but the information is inaccurate, the problem is freshness: relevant business pages and profiles are out of sync. In both cases, you start in the same place, with the details the engine can verify on its own: the website, Google Business Profile, and mentions on sites it already crawls anyway.
And if you already appear correctly, the next task is to maintain your position against competitors who have also learned to run this test. It is an ongoing effort, not a one-and-done project.
Document each testing round in a simple file: date, question asked, engine, and the response received. After three or four rounds, a pattern begins to emerge, and that is what tells you whether the content you added is making an impact or if you need to change direction.
How Fialkov Digital Can Help
We run this test for clients systematically, before starting any GEO work and along the way. This allows us to see exactly which queries produce good results and which require further work on content and sources.
The initial check provides a baseline, followed by tracking changes every month. This reveals whether the investment in content and schema truly changes how engines answer, or merely feels like progress.
Want to know where your business stands today? You are invited to learn about our GEO service and get an initial audit.