AI search
When buyers ask AI, is your business in the answer?
AI tools like ChatGPT build their answers mostly from other websites: directories, review sites and lists. We work on those places and on your own site, then check what each AI tool says about you.
A buyer asks“Which suppliers do this near me?”
The AI answer names
- A businessfrom a directory
- A businessfrom a review site
- A businessfrom someone’s “top 10” list
Your business Not in this answer
What’s changing
Buyers used to get a list of links. Now they get a shortlist.
Search, as it was
An AI answer
How big is this? Our view, not a measurement: still much smaller than ordinary Google search. Worth getting right. Not worth betting everything on.
Your customers
Your customers are asking AI. Are they finding businesses like yours?
Manufacturing
A buyer asks
“Which companies make custom packaging in Mumbai?”
AI answers
A few suppliers, with what they make and where.
A few names appear
Three suppliers are named.
And you?
Is your business one of them?
Jewellery
A buyer asks
“Which jewellery brands should I compare?”
AI answers
A few brands, with what each is known for.
A few names appear
Three brands are named.
And you?
Is your business one of them?
D2C brands
A buyer asks
“What are some good skincare brands for sensitive skin?”
AI answers
A few brands, with what each is known for.
A few names appear
Three brands are named.
And you?
Is your business one of them?
Real estate
A buyer asks
“Which residential projects should I consider in this area?”
AI answers
A few projects, with where they are and who builds them.
A few names appear
Three projects are named.
And you?
Is your business one of them?
Example questions for illustration. Not real AI answers or search data.
A closer look
The question is already being asked. Will your business be considered?
Read the full storyA buyer asks
“Which suppliers can manufacture custom packaging in Mumbai?”
AI looks for information
It reads what it can find about each business.
- Their websites
- Directories
- Reviews
- Lists by others
Two businesses, one question
Business A
Clearly described online
- What they make
- Where they are
- How to contact them
- Listed and reviewed elsewhere
Business B
Hard to find online
- What they make is unclear
- Location is missing
- Contact details are out of date
- No listings found
Two fictional businesses. An illustration, not a prediction: clear information gives AI more to work with, and no answer is guaranteed.
Your turn
Where does your business stand?
We help you understand what AI can find about your business and where your online information needs work.
How the work moves
Five steps. Most of them off your website.
In the answers
See what AI says now
We ask your buyers’ questions in each AI tool and note who gets named, and from which sites.
Your website
Open your site to AI
Check AI tools can read your pages, and that key questions get clear answers.
Everywhere
Get your facts straight
The same name, services, location and contact details wherever you appear.
Other sites
Be where answers come from
Get listed on the directories, review sites and lists the answers use. The biggest part of the work.
In the answers
Check again, honestly
Ask the same questions again. Report what changed, and what didn’t.
For your web team: the AI crawlers we check
Retrieval crawlers read your pages while an answer is being written: OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot. Needed, but not enough on their own.
Training crawlers decide whether your pages can train a model: GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, CCBot. Blocking one does not remove you from answers.
Which to allow is your decision. We set out the trade-offs. Names as listed in each vendor’s documentation, retrieved 31 August 2026.
Ask
See what AI says
We ask the questions your buyers ask, in the AI tools they use.
“Who should I buy this from?”
Compare
See who gets named
Which businesses and which sites appear in the answers.
Track
See what changes
We repeat the same checks and show you what moved, and what didn’t.
Illustrative example
Example only: the same two questions, checked twice Question First check Next check Question 1 Not named Named Question 2 Not named Not named
We show what we found and what changed. AI answers can vary.
Illustration: example wording only, not a report or real results.
The record
We test our own business too, and publish the record.
Our own test, in full: 28 questions, 5 AI tools, 31 August 2026
| Where we asked | Asked | We appeared |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Mode | 19 | 0 |
| Google AI OverviewsAnswered queries only | 3 | 0 |
| ChatGPT | 2 | 0 |
| PerplexitySigned-out version | 3 | 0 |
| GeminiSigned-out version; no sources shown | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 28 | 0 |
Not tested: Claude (needed a login) and Grok (needed a sign-up; no answer). No data, so no claim, and not a zero.
Four results, kept separate, never one number. Can AI read the site? Yes, for the two crawlers we checked. Named when buyers didn’t ask for us? 0 of 28. Recommended? 0 of 28. Our site quoted as a source? 0 of 28 (Gemini showed no sources).
The directory finding: directories were cited in at least 10 of the 28 answers. One ChatGPT answer credited the agencies it named to two directories. When we measured, we had a profile on neither.
Asked about us by name: 7 of 8 answers described us substantially accurately.
What this does not show: a trend (it is one round, on one day); anything about Claude or Grok; signed-in answers, other places or languages; why we were absent (consistent with missing directory profiles, not proof of it); whether AI answers bring enquiries.
How we measured: one run is one question that does not name us, asked once in one AI tool, on 31 August 2026, from one location, in English, signed out. On a fourth Google query, no AI Overview appeared, so three are counted. Perplexity and Gemini were used signed out, which gives shorter answers. Crawler check: we requested our homepage identifying as OAI-SearchBot and as ClaudeBot (the names, not the companies’ own crawlers); both were served the full page, and our robots.txt blocked no AI crawler. The other crawlers were not checked. Counts, not rates. No confidence interval is claimed.
Questions
What people ask us
Everyone sells this now. What makes you different?
We start by finding out which sites your buyers’ AI answers are built from, and whether you’re on them. Then we work on those places, not only your website.
Ahrefs and Semrush give me a checker for free.
They’re worth running. A checker shows whether you appear, and some paid versions also show which sites the answers cite. Different tools answer different questions. A report tells you where you stand. Getting listed on those sites, and keeping your details right, is the work we do.
Can you get us into ChatGPT?
Nobody can honestly promise that. We fix your business facts, work on the sites answers are built from, check whether anything changes, and tell you when it hasn’t.
Related: organic search · the whole system
Wondering where you stand in AI answers?
Tell us what you sell and who buys it. We’ll talk it through, and tell you if another starting point makes more sense.