AI Visibility Check: Get Found in ChatGPT and Gemini
More customers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI Overviews "who can help me with this?" instead of scrolling through ten blue links. If those answers name your competitors and never you, you lose the enquiry before it starts. An AI visibility check shows whether AI assistants can find, read and recommend your business, and what to fix if they can't.
This guide explains what an AI visibility check is, how AI search tools find websites, how to test your own visibility in about 20 minutes and which fixes actually help.
TL;DR
- An AI visibility check tests whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews can access your site and describe your business correctly.
- The foundations are the same as good SEO: crawlable pages, clear facts, structured data and consistent business information across the web.
- Check your robots.txt first. Blocking the wrong crawler can quietly remove you from AI search answers.
What Is an AI Visibility Check?
An AI visibility check is a review of how AI assistants and AI search features see your business. It tests whether their crawlers can reach your pages, whether your content clearly states who you are, what you offer and where, and whether the answers these tools give about you are accurate. The output is a list of access, content and consistency fixes.
It's related to SEO but not identical. Classic SEO asks where you rank. An AI visibility check asks whether you're mentioned, cited or linked inside a generated answer, and whether what's said about you is true. Some people call this AEO (answer engine optimization) or GEO (generative engine optimization).
Key takeaway
AI tools can only recommend what they can access and understand. Visibility starts with access.
Action for today: write down three questions a customer would ask an AI assistant before hiring a business like yours.
How ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews Find Websites
Each tool gathers information in its own way, and each provider documents its crawlers. Here's the short version:
| Tool | How it gets web content | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | Uses Google's regular Search index, crawled by Googlebot | Your pages are indexed and eligible to show a snippet |
| Gemini | Google lets sites control use of content for Gemini through the Google-Extended token | Whether your robots.txt mentions Google-Extended, and if that was intended |
| ChatGPT search | OpenAI uses OAI-SearchBot for search results; GPTBot is used for model training | Whether robots.txt allows OAI-SearchBot |
| Microsoft Copilot | Draws on Bing's web index | Whether your site is verified and indexed in Bing |
Google states in its guidance on AI features and your website that there are no extra technical requirements beyond normal Search: a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet. OpenAI lists its crawlers and their purposes in its documentation on OpenAI crawlers, and Google describes Google-Extended in its overview of Google's common crawlers.
Action for today: open yourdomain.com/robots.txt in a browser and note every user agent it mentions.
How to Run an AI Visibility Check in 6 Steps
You don't need special software for a first check. Work through these steps and keep notes:
1. Ask the assistants directly
Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot the three customer questions you wrote down, plus "What does [your business] do?". Note whether you're mentioned, whether a link appears and whether the facts are right. Answers vary between runs, so repeat each question a couple of times.
2. Check Google AI Overviews
Search your main service plus your city on Google. If an AI Overview appears, see which sources it links to. Those pages show what Google considers a good answer for that query.
3. Review robots.txt
Make sure you're not blocking Googlebot, Bingbot or OAI-SearchBot by accident. Whether to allow training crawlers such as GPTBot or Google-Extended is a separate business decision. Some security plugins and CDN bot settings block AI crawlers by default, so check those too.
4. Check indexing
Confirm your key pages are indexed in Google Search Console and in Bing Webmaster Tools. A page that isn't indexed can't be cited.
5. Read your pages like a machine would
Can someone tell, from the text alone, what you do, for whom, where and how to contact you? Facts hidden in images, sliders or PDFs are harder for any tool to use.
6. Compare your business details everywhere
Check that your name, address, phone, services and opening hours match on your website, Google Business Profile, social profiles and directories. Conflicting details make it harder for any system to be confident about you.
Key takeaway
If an assistant describes you wrongly, the fix is usually clearer, consistent information on pages it can access.
Action for today: run step 1 and save the answers. They're your baseline for comparing changes later.
What Improves Your Visibility in AI Search
- Direct answers on your pages. Start service pages with one or two sentences that say exactly what you do, for whom and where.
- FAQ sections that match real questions. Answer the questions customers actually ask, in plain language.
- Structured data. Schema.org markup such as Organization or LocalBusiness helps machines read your name, address and services reliably.
- Specific, original content. Explain your process, pricing approach and what makes you different. Generic text gives a tool nothing to cite.
- Fast, crawlable pages. Important content should be in the HTML, not loaded only after scripts run. Our website speed optimization guide covers the performance side.
For example, a service page that opens with "We build booking websites for dental clinics in Belgrade" gives an AI tool a clear, quotable fact. A page that opens with "Innovative digital solutions for tomorrow" gives it nothing.
Action for today: rewrite the first two sentences of your main service page so they state what, for whom and where.
Common AI Visibility Mistakes
- Blocking every bot "to be safe". A blanket block can also stop search crawlers that send you visitors.
- Confusing training and search crawlers. Blocking GPTBot is not the same as blocking OAI-SearchBot. Decide on each one separately.
- Buying "guaranteed AI rankings". No one controls what these tools answer.
- Ignoring wrong answers. Outdated prices or services in AI answers often come from old pages or directory listings you can update.
Watch out
Before editing robots.txt, save a copy of the current file. One wrong line can block your whole site from search.
AI visibility is about being found. Using AI inside your own business is a different topic, covered in our guides to AI chatbots for small businesses and AI integration for small businesses.
Action for today: search your business on two directories you're listed on and fix any outdated details.
AI Visibility Check: FAQ
How do I know if ChatGPT can see my website?
Check your robots.txt to make sure OAI-SearchBot isn't blocked, then ask ChatGPT with search enabled about your business and your main service. If it links to your site and states your details correctly, it can access you. Repeat the questions a few times, because answers can change between runs.
Does blocking GPTBot remove me from ChatGPT search?
Not by itself. OpenAI documents GPTBot as its training crawler and OAI-SearchBot as the crawler used for search results. You can block one and allow the other. Decide on each separately, and check that security plugins or CDN bot settings aren't blocking them without your knowledge.
How do I get my business into Google AI Overviews?
Google says there are no special requirements beyond normal Search. Your page needs to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet. Beyond that, clear, helpful content that directly answers the query, good page experience and accurate business information give you the best chance, but inclusion is never guaranteed.
Is AI visibility different from SEO?
It overlaps heavily. Both depend on crawlable, indexed pages, clear content and trustworthy information. The difference is the goal: SEO focuses on ranking in search results, while AI visibility focuses on being mentioned, cited and described accurately inside AI-generated answers from tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot.
An AI visibility check takes the guesswork out of AI search. Ask the assistants, check your crawler access, make your pages state clear facts and keep your details consistent everywhere. If you have questions about any finding, get in touch with our team.
Is your business visible to AI?
We'll check how ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews see your website and send you a clear list of fixes.
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