You don't need to wait for an audit report to get a rough sense of where you stand. In five minutes, with tools you already have access to for free, you can find out whether AI is recommending your business — or ignoring it. Here's exactly how to do it.
A phone or computer. A free account on ChatGPT (chatgpt.com) or Perplexity (perplexity.ai). Five minutes. That's it.
Go to chatgpt.com or perplexity.ai. Both are free. You don't need a paid account. If you already use one of them, just open a new conversation so you start fresh.
Type: "What's a good [your business type] in [your city]?"
For example: "What's a good auto repair shop in Alhambra?" or "Who's a good dentist in San Gabriel?" Hit enter and read the response carefully.
Real customers ask in different ways. Try a few more prompts and note what comes up each time.
See the checklist below. Go through it for each response you got.
Swap in your own business type and city. Try at least three of these:
Best [business type] near [your city]
[Business type] in [your city] — any recommendations?
Who do people recommend for [specific service] in [your city]?
Good [business type] that's open on weekends near [your city]
[Business type] in [your city] that [specific detail about your niche]
That last one is important. If you have something specific — you speak a second language, you specialize in something niche, you're open late — ask for it. That's often where small businesses can stand out.
Go through each AI response and answer these questions:
This quick test gives you a snapshot — but it has limits. AI tools give different answers to different people at different times. One test doesn't cover every possible way a customer might phrase the question. And it doesn't tell you why you're showing up or not — it just tells you whether you are.
That's where a full audit goes deeper. It checks the actual signals that drive AI recommendations: your Google Business Profile completeness, whether your info matches everywhere, your structured data, your reviews, and more. Then it tells you exactly what to fix first.
After you run the test, screenshot the responses. Then ask yourself: if I were a customer reading this, would I call the business it recommended? That's the bar your AI presence needs to clear.
Our free audit goes beyond the quick test — it checks every signal that influences whether AI recommends you, and tells you what to fix first.
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