The short answer
Ask ChatGPT the questions your customers would ask, in a signed-out or fresh chat, several times each and on different days. Write down whether your business is named, whether your site is linked, and who is named instead.
One answer proves little; the count across many asks is the useful number.
Six steps
- Write down the questions your customers ask. List five to ten questions a real customer would type, in their words: "who is a good accountant in Leeds for a small builder", not "accountancy services". Include the questions that bring your best work.
- Ask in a clean session. Use a signed-out or private window, or a new chat with memory turned off, so earlier conversations do not steer the answer. Note the assistant, the date and whether it searched the web.
- Ask each question several times. Answers are written fresh each time and can change. Ask each question at least three to five times, in separate chats, and on more than one day.
- Record who is named. For every ask, note whether your business is named, whether your website is linked as a source, and which other businesses are named instead.
- Check what it says about you. When you are named, check the facts: services, area, prices, opening hours. A wrong description is often the quickest thing to fix.
- Repeat on a schedule. Ask the same questions the same way each month. The trend over several checks tells you far more than any single answer.
A simple record sheet
One row per ask is enough. Use these columns:
- Date, assistant, and whether it searched the web
- The exact question
- Named? (yes or no) and linked? (yes or no)
- Who was named instead
- Anything it got wrong about you
After a round of checks, write the result as "named in X of Y asks" for each question. That wording stays true when someone else asks and gets a different answer.
What this cannot tell you
Your checks are a sample, not a census. They do not show what a particular customer saw, and the companies behind the assistants do not publish how they pick sources. Treat the numbers as a trend to watch, not a ranking.
If you are not named
Start with the pages that should answer your most valuable questions.
- Find the cause: our page on why ChatGPT does not recommend a business lists the usual causes in the order worth checking.
- Make the fixes: how to get your website cited covers the fixes.
- Report it: if you report this work to clients or a boss, see how to report AI visibility without overpromising.
GEO Agency's free plan scores a page for how easy it is for an assistant to use, with the reasons and fixes. It runs on Google Gemini, so it is an estimate, and it cannot promise you a place in any answer. See plans and prices.
Common questions
Can I just ask ChatGPT "do you recommend my business"?
You can, but it tells you little. A direct question about your business invites the assistant to talk about you. What matters is whether you are named when a customer asks a general question, such as who to use for a job in your area.
Why did I get a different answer when I asked again?
Assistants generate each answer fresh, and many look things up on the web at the time of asking. Wording, location, date and previous messages can all change the result. That is normal, which is why you count across several asks.
Is there an official ChatGPT report for businesses?
Not one that shows how often a business is recommended in answers, as far as we know at the time of writing. Checking by hand, or with a tool that repeats the questions for you, is the practical option.
Does GEO Agency check ChatGPT directly?
No. The self-serve tools run on Google Gemini and estimate how an assistant might answer, and how usable your pages are. They are a guide, not a record of what ChatGPT says to a particular customer.