Free SEO tools/AI Recommendation Checker
Updated 13 Oct 2026AI Recommendation Checker
See if ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google’s AI Mode recommend your business when people in your town ask for what you do. Live answers, no signup.
The result
Does AI recommend you?
This free AI recommendation checker asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google’s AI Mode the questions your customers ask, such as “who is the best plumber in London?”, and shows whether they name your business. Live answers, no sign-up.
You see which assistants name you, which businesses they name instead, and which websites the answers rely on, so you know where to get listed and reviewed.
People now ask AI for local businesses: in BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults, use of ChatGPT and other AI tools for local recommendations rose from 6% to 45% in a year (BrightLocal).
A real check for Pimlico Plumbers, a well-known London plumber: two of the five assistants named it.
How to use it
How to check if AI recommends your business
Five steps, under a minute.
- 1Type your business name
Write it the way it appears on Google, for example Pimlico Plumbers.
- 2Say what you do and where
Use the words a customer would use, for example emergency plumber and London, and pick your country.
- 3Add your website (optional)
If an answer cites your website, we count it as naming you. This helps when your name is a plain phrase.
- 4Press Check AI recommendations
We ask five AI assistants live. It takes about 15 to 30 seconds.
- 5Read who they name
See which assistants name you, who they name instead and the sites they lean on, then act on the rows marked Fix or Improve.
Your report, explained
What each part of the report means
Part 1 shows who AI recommends. Here is the real one for a London plumber, numbered.
123456- 1Answers that name you
How many of the eight answers listed your business by name, or cited your website.
- 2Searched as
The service and the place we asked about. Google AI Mode is searched from the centre of that town.
- 3Named you
Which of the five assistants named you at least once.
- 4Named most instead
The business the answers named most often. This is who AI sends your customers to.
- 5Your row
You in the list of every business the answers named, with how many answers named you.
- 6Which assistant
The small tags show which assistants named each business, so you can see who each AI prefers.
The other parts:
- Result at a glanceOne plain answer, the number of answers that name you, one tag per assistant and a row for each thing to do.
- Part 2: every answerEach assistant, the exact question, whether it named you, the businesses it named and the answer itself to read.
- Part 3: where AI gets its answersThe websites the answers cited, most used first, and the searches Gemini ran to build its answer.
How it works
How each AI assistant finds local businesses
In their own words, from their help pages.
| Assistant | How it finds businesses | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Searches the web with partner search providers, rewrites your question into searches and can use your location for local results. | Allow OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt; sites that block it are not shown in ChatGPT search answers. (OpenAI, OpenAI bots) |
| Google AI Mode | Built on Google Search ranking, and it can include local business information from Business Profiles. | Keep your Google Business Profile complete and up to date. (Google, Google) |
| Gemini | Answers from Google’s models and can link to sources. Not every answer shows sources. | The same work as Google: a complete profile and pages Google can index. (Google Gemini Help) |
| Perplexity | Searches the web in real time and cites sources with numbered links. | Allow PerplexityBot in robots.txt so your site can appear. (Perplexity, Perplexity bots) |
| Claude | With web search on, it searches the live web, cites its sources and can use your approximate location. | Allow Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User in robots.txt. (Anthropic, Anthropic bots) |
No special tricks for Google’s AI
Google says there are no extra requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special optimisation is needed: a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet (Google).
Get recommended
How to get AI to recommend your business
Five steps that follow what the AI companies and Google say they use.
- 1Get listed where the answers look
Part 3 shows the directories, review sites and local guides the answers cited. Make sure you are listed on each one, with the same name, address and phone.
- 2Collect reviews on Google and those sites
Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and AI answers often quote ratings and review counts.
- 3Complete your Google Business Profile
Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show in local results, and its AI answers draw on Business Profiles.
- 4Let AI crawlers in
Check that robots.txt does not block OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Claude-SearchBot or Googlebot. Our AI Crawler Checker shows this in seconds.
- 5Say clearly what you do and where
Put your service and town in plain words on your home page and service pages, so answers can match you to the question.
Mentions count
In Whitespark’s 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors, 47 local search experts rated 187 factors, and 3 of the top 5 factors for AI search visibility were citation factors: being listed on other sites (Whitespark).
Google’s three local factors
Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, and that how many reviews you have and how many sites link to you count too (Google).
Limits
What this tool can’t do
Clear limits, so you know what the result is and what it isn’t.
Use it to
- See if five AI assistants name your business today
- See which businesses they recommend instead
- Find the websites the answers rely on
- Read every answer in full
- Share the result or save it as a PDF
It won’t
- Not a ranking. AI answers change between runs and between people, so this is a snapshot of one moment.
- Two questions each. We ask two buyer questions, not every way a customer could ask.
- No personalisation. Real users may see answers shaped by their history, memory or exact location.
- Name matching. A name that is also a plain phrase is only counted when written as a name, or when your website is cited.
- No monitoring. It does not track changes over time. Run it again after you make changes.
- Limited checks. Each visitor gets 2 new checks a day because each one asks five assistants live.
Next steps
What to do with your result
AI assistants are now a real way people find local businesses. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey found 45% of US consumers used ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations, making them the third most popular source (BrightLocal).
The sites in Part 3 of your report are the places to start: they are what the answers repeat.
US consumers and AI, 2026
Source: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, 1,002 US adults.
Your next step, by result
Start with Part 3: get listed and reviewed on the sites the answers cite, and complete your Google profile.
Compare the sources of the assistants that skip you with those that name you, and fill the gaps.
Check AI crawlers can read your site and that your service pages say what you do and where.
AI Mode leans on Google’s local results. See where you rank around your area.
Want AI to recommend your business?
Our team does AI search and local SEO work every day for businesses in the US and UK.
FAQs
FAQs
How do I check if ChatGPT recommends my business?
Type your business name, what you do and your town into the tool above. It asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Mode live, with web search on, and shows which of them name you and who they name instead.
Is this AI recommendation checker free?
Yes. It is free with no sign-up, email or card. Each visitor gets 2 new checks a day, because every check asks five AI assistants live. The same business, service and town reuse the result for 24 hours.
Why does ChatGPT not recommend my business?
AI assistants build answers from websites they trust, such as directories, review sites and local guides. If you are missing from those sites, have few reviews, or block AI crawlers, they are less likely to name you. Part 3 of the report shows which sites they used.
Can I pay ChatGPT or Google to recommend my business?
No. OpenAI says placement in ChatGPT search is not guaranteed, and Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. What helps is being listed, reviewed and easy to understand.
How can I get AI to recommend my business?
Get listed and reviewed on the sites the answers cite, complete your Google Business Profile, let AI crawlers read your website, and say clearly what you do and where on your pages. Then check again to see the change.
Why do I get different answers each time?
AI assistants generate each answer fresh, and the sources they search can change. Google itself says its AI features use different models and that responses will vary. That is why the report shows two questions per assistant and one snapshot in time.
Which AI assistants does the tool check?
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude, each with web search on, and Google AI Mode searched from the centre of your town. That is eight answers in total.
Does the tool need my website?
No, the website is optional. If you add it, an answer that cites your website counts as naming you. That helps when your business name is also a plain phrase, such as Plumbers London.
Do reviews help AI recommend me?
They can. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and AI answers often quote ratings and review counts from Google and review sites.
How is this different from an AI visibility checker?
Most AI visibility tools check a brand or a website in general. This one asks the question a local customer asks, for your service in your town, and shows the local businesses AI recommends instead of you.
Sources
- BrightLocalLocal Consumer Review Survey 2026
- Google Search CentralAI features and your website
- Google Search CentralOptimizing for generative AI search
- Google Business Profile HelpTips to improve your local ranking
- OpenAI Help CenterChatGPT search
- OpenAIOverview of OpenAI crawlers
- Perplexity Help CenterHow does Perplexity work?
- PerplexityPerplexity crawlers
- AnthropicUsing web search in Claude
- AnthropicAnthropic crawlers and how to block them
- Google Gemini HelpSources in Gemini answers
- WhitesparkLocal Search Ranking Factors 2026
More free tools
More free AI and local SEO tools
Being recommended by AI starts with being found locally. These cover the rest.