AI Visibility · Explainers · Marketing
How to Check if ChatGPT Mentions Your Company
A simple way to see whether ChatGPT and other AI tools name your company, how they describe you, and what to do with what you find.
To check whether ChatGPT mentions your company, ask it the questions your buyers actually ask and record whether you're named, how you're described, and which sources it cites. Do the same in Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's AI Mode. Free tools from Ahrefs and Semrush can run a quick first pass. The part that matters most is what you do with the results.
Step 1: Write down the questions buyers ask
Don't start by asking "What is [your company]?" That only tells you whether the model has heard of you. Buyers don't search for you by name before they know you exist.
Instead, list 10 to 20 questions a buyer would ask before they've found you:
- "What's the best [category] tool for a [size] company?"
- "Who are the top [service] firms for [industry]?"
- "What should I use instead of [big competitor]?"
- "How do I solve [the problem you solve]?"
Pull these from sales calls, support tickets, and how customers described their problem before they bought. The closer to their real words, the better.
Step 2: Ask each question more than once
Run each question in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's AI Mode. Two things make this tricky:
- Answers change from run to run. The same question can name different companies an hour later. One check tells you almost nothing. Ask each question three to five times.
- Your own history shapes the answer. If you've talked to ChatGPT about your company, it may mention you more than it would for a stranger. Use a logged out session or a temporary chat.
Step 3: Record four things
A simple spreadsheet works. For every answer, log:
| What to record | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Were you named? (yes or no) | The headline number |
| Where in the answer? (first, middle, last) | Buyers read the top of an answer first |
| How were you described? | Wrong or vague descriptions cost you even when you're named |
| Which sources were cited? | These are the pages the AI trusts in your space |
Add the competitors that got named, too. They show you who the AI thinks your category is.
Step 4: Turn it into one number
Your share of voice is the percentage of answers that name you across your whole question set. If you asked 15 questions five times each and were named in 18 of those 75 answers, your share of voice is 24%.
Track it monthly with the same questions. The trend matters more than any single month.
Free and paid tools
You don't need software to start. But tools save time:
- Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker is free with no signup. It checks whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google's AI Overviews mention a brand.
- Semrush AI Search Visibility Checker is also free and shows mentions and cited sources across AI tools.
- Paid monitoring tools like Otterly, Peec, and Profound run your questions on a schedule and track changes over time.
Treat any single tool reading as a sample, not the truth, for the same reason as above: answers vary.
What to do with what you find
This is where most checks stop, and where the value is.
| What you found | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| You're never named | The AI can't describe you with confidence | Sharpen your one line positioning and use it everywhere |
| You're named but described wrong | Old or mixed descriptions of you online | Update your site, profiles, and listings so they all match |
| A competitor is named and cited from a review site or list | That source carries weight in your category | Get onto that site or into that list |
| You're named but nobody clicks | The answer names you, but your homepage doesn't convince | Make your homepage say what you do and for whom in five seconds |
| You're named for the wrong use case | Your content emphasizes the wrong thing | Publish pages answering the questions you want to win |
For why the AI picks the companies it does, see How ChatGPT Decides Which Companies to Recommend. For the terms, see AEO vs SEO vs GEO.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check if ChatGPT mentions my brand?
Ask ChatGPT the questions your buyers ask before they know you, not your company name. Repeat each question several times in a logged out or temporary chat, and record whether you're named, how you're described, and which sources it cites. Free tools from Ahrefs and Semrush can run a quick first check.
Why does ChatGPT give different answers to the same question?
AI answers are generated fresh each time, and live web searches can pull different pages from one run to the next. That's why a single check is unreliable and you should average across several runs.
What is share of voice in AI search?
The percentage of AI answers, across a fixed set of buyer questions, that name your company. Tracking it monthly with the same questions shows whether your AI visibility is improving.
Are there free tools to check AI visibility?
Yes. Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker is free with no signup, and Semrush offers a free AI Search Visibility Checker. Paid tools like Otterly, Peec, and Profound add scheduled tracking over time.
How often should I check?
Monthly is enough for most companies. AI answers shift gradually as the web changes, so monthly checks with the same question set show real trends without chasing noise.
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