Guides to AI search
How ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity decide who to recommend, how to check where you stand, and what changes it. Every claim is sourced.
Check
Find out whether the AIs recommend you, and how to test it without fooling yourself.
How do I check if AI recommends my accounting firm?
How an accounting firm can test, by hand, whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity name it when a business owner or individual asks for an accountant, and what to look at in the results.
Start hereHow do I know if AI recommends my business?
A step-by-step way to find out, by hand, whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity name your business, give your website address, and send customers to someone else.
How do I check if ChatGPT recommends my dental practice?
A hands-on way to test whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity name your dental practice when a patient asks for a dentist, and how to spot wrong details.
How do I find out if AI recommends my law firm?
How a law firm can test, by hand, whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity name it when someone asks for a lawyer, and what to do when an answer is wrong.
How do I check if ChatGPT recommends my online store?
How to test, by hand, whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity name your online store and your products when someone asks what to buy, and where product data comes into it.
How do I check if AI recommends my restaurant?
How to test, by hand, whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity name your restaurant when someone asks where to eat, and what to look at when they do not.
How do I check if ChatGPT recommends my SaaS?
How to test, by hand, whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity name your software product when someone asks for tools like yours, and what the sources they cite tell you.
How do I check if Claude recommends my business?
How to test what Claude says about your business with web search on and off, read its citations, and tell memory from live search.
How do I check if Gemini and Google AI Overviews mention my business?
How to test what Gemini, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode say about your business, what Google requires, and how to see AI traffic in Search Console.
How do I check if Perplexity recommends my business?
Ask Perplexity the questions your customers ask, read the numbered citations, and record whether your business and website address appear.
How to check whether ChatGPT recommends your business
A step-by-step way to test, by hand, whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity name your business and give your web address, without fooling yourself with one lucky answer.
Understand
How ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity find, read and choose what to recommend.
Does ChatGPT know my business, or does it search for it?
The difference between what an AI model remembers from training and what it finds by searching the web, and what each means for whether your business gets named.
Start hereHow does AI decide what to recommend?
What ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity draw on when they name a business: training memory, live search, the pages they read, and why the answer is not a ranking.
Which search engine does each AI use?
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Copilot each read a different search index. What is confirmed, what is only reported, and what no one outside the companies knows.
Why AI answers change every time you ask
Ask ChatGPT the same question twice and you may get two different recommendations. Here is why, what the research measured, and what it means for anyone tracking how AI talks about their business.
Improve
Practical steps that make a business easier for AI search to find and cite.
Do reviews and Reddit posts affect what AI recommends?
Reddit is among the most-cited sources in AI answers and review sites are cited too, but citation is not the same as causing a recommendation. What the studies show, and how to take part honestly.
Does llms.txt work? What the evidence says
llms.txt is sold as a way to get recommended by AI. Server logs from 137,000 sites, a 300,000-domain citation study and Google's own statements say otherwise. Here is the evidence, and what to do instead.
Start hereHow do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT and other AIs?
No one can guarantee an AI recommendation, but seven things are in your control: being indexed, letting crawlers in, clear pages, accurate markup, consistent details, outside mentions and freshness.
How do I get my website indexed in Bing, and why do AI tools care?
Add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools, submit a sitemap and use IndexNow. Bing is the confirmed search index behind Microsoft Copilot, and one of several that ChatGPT is reported to use.
What schema markup actually helps AI understand my business?
Google says AI Overviews need no special schema. Microsoft's Bing has said schema helps its models. Here is the short list worth adding for a small business, and the claims to ignore.
Why do consistent business details matter to AI? Entity basics
AI tools piece together who a business is from many pages. Using one name, description and web address everywhere, plus accurate markup and independent mentions, is the practical basis of entity work.