Ask the assistants directly, the way a customer would. Run the same set of realistic questions in several tools, record what they say about you and your competitors, and repeat monthly. Results vary by wording, location, and time, so look for patterns rather than single answers.
A simple routine
- Write 10 to 15 questions a buyer might ask: "Who offers [service] in [city]?" "Which [type of business] near [area] is well reviewed?" and a few that name your business directly.
- Run them in multiple tools: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Copilot at minimum.
- Record the results: whether you're mentioned, how you're described, whether the details are correct, and who else appears.
- Look for errors: wrong services, outdated hours, or a mixed-up location point to inconsistent source information you can fix.
- Repeat monthly and note what changes.
Tips for fairer results
- Use a fresh conversation for each test
- Try different phrasings of the same question
- Test tools both with and without web access turned on, since answers can differ
- Don't over-read a single result. These systems don't give the same answer every time.
Reading the results
Start by naming your business directly. If an assistant describes you inaccurately, or says it doesn't know you, that tells you exactly which information needs to be clearer and more widely available. If you appear for direct questions but not for general ones like "best [service] in [city]," that's a sign your name is known but your relevance to the service isn't well established.
Don't expect to appear everywhere, and don't be alarmed by a single missing mention. The goal is to spot recurring inaccuracies and gaps, then fix the sources. After you add or improve a listing, give crawlers and indexes time to pick it up before judging the change.