Most owners have never asked an AI assistant about their own business. It is the cheapest visibility audit available, and it usually produces a short list of things worth fixing. Here is how to run it.
Step 1: write down the questions a customer would ask
Not the questions you would ask. The ones a stranger would. "Who is the best auto repair shop in Hartford, Wisconsin?" "What should I expect to pay for a new roof in Washington County?" "Is there a salon in Germantown that does color on Sundays?" Five to eight questions is plenty.
Step 2: ask them in more than one place
Run the same questions in ChatGPT, Google (look at the AI summary at the top, not just the links), and Perplexity. The answers will differ, and the differences tell you which sources each one trusts.
Use a fresh chat and avoid mentioning your business name until the end. You want to know whether you come up unprompted.
Step 3: record three things for each answer
Were you named? If not, who was? Write down the competitors that appear repeatedly. That is your real local competitive set, not the one you assume.
What did it get right or wrong about you? Wrong hours, an old address, a service you dropped two years ago, a phone number from a prior owner. Every error is a fixable data problem.
Where did it get the information? Most assistants will cite sources if you ask. That tells you which listings and pages are actually carrying your reputation.
Step 4: ask it directly about you
Finish with "What can you tell me about [your business name] in [your town]?" and then "Why would you recommend a competitor over them?" The second question is uncomfortable and it is the most useful one you will ask all day. The answer usually names a real gap: fewer reviews, no pricing information, a thin website, no clear service area.
Step 5: fix in this order
Wrong facts first. Correct your Google Business Profile, then your website, then the directories that show up in the citations.
Missing answers second. If the assistant could not say what you charge, how fast you respond, or whether you serve a town, put that on your site in plain words.
Reviews third. Steady, recent, answered reviews affect both what people see and what assistants say.
Then run the same questions again in thirty days and compare. This is not a one time exercise; the answers change as the sources change.
If you would rather have someone run this every month and act on it, that work is part of how we handle SEO. See /ai-search-visibility, or reach out through /contact and we will run your prompts on a call.