How to Check if Your Business Appears in AI Recommendations (Free)

More people are asking AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude to recommend businesses instead of searching on Google. If someone asks "Can you recommend a good solicitor in Leeds?" and your firm doesn't appear, you're losing potential clients to competitors who do. The good news: you can check whether AI platforms recommend your business right now, for free.

There are two ways to do this. The manual method involves opening each AI platform and typing test prompts yourself. The automated method uses TendorAI's free AEO report to scan 6 AI platforms simultaneously and deliver your results in about 60 seconds. This guide covers both approaches step by step.

1. The Manual Method: Test Each Platform Yourself

The most straightforward way to check is to open each AI platform and ask it to recommend a business like yours. Here is exactly how to do it for each platform:

ChatGPT (chat.openai.com)

Open ChatGPT and start a new conversation. Type a prompt that a real customer might use:

Read through the full response. Look for your company name, any description of your services, and note your position in the list if multiple businesses are mentioned. Copy or screenshot the response for your records.

Perplexity (perplexity.ai)

Perplexity searches the web in real time and cites sources. Use the same style of prompt:

Perplexity shows source links alongside its answer. Check whether your business is mentioned in the text and whether any of the cited sources are your website or directory listings.

Claude (claude.ai)

Open Claude and start a new conversation:

Claude often provides detailed reasoning about why it recommends certain businesses. Note whether it mentions your firm by name and what it says about you.

Google Gemini and AI Overviews

Search Google for a service query and look for the AI Overview panel at the top. You can also test Gemini directly at gemini.google.com:

Microsoft Copilot (copilot.microsoft.com)

Microsoft Copilot uses Bing search data combined with AI to generate recommendations. Open Copilot and try:

Copilot often includes links to sources alongside its recommendations. Check whether your business is mentioned by name and whether any of the linked sources are your website, directory listings, or review profiles.

2. What to Search For

The exact wording of your prompt matters. Start with the format most people naturally use:

Then try variations. Real users phrase things differently, and AI models may return different results for each:

Try at least three to five variations per platform. AI responses are non-deterministic, meaning the same prompt can produce different answers in different sessions. Testing multiple phrasings gives you a more reliable picture of your visibility.

Replace the service type and city with your actual business details. If you serve multiple locations, test each one separately.

3. How to Read the Results

When you get a response, you need to understand what it actually means for your business. There is an important distinction between being mentioned and being recommended.

Position matters. Being the first business mentioned (position 1) is significantly more valuable than being fifth on a list. Users typically contact the first one or two businesses an AI suggests, just like they click the top Google results.

When reviewing each response, record three things:

• Mention status — Were you mentioned at all? Yes or no.
• Position — If you were mentioned, what number were you in the list? (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
• Competitors — Which businesses were mentioned instead of (or alongside) yours?

Tracking competitor mentions is just as important as tracking your own. If the same competitor consistently appears at position 1 across multiple platforms, study what they are doing differently — their structured data, review profiles, and directory listings likely hold clues.

4. The Automated Method: TendorAI's Free AEO Report

The manual method works, but it is time-consuming and inconsistent. You would need to test dozens of prompt variations across multiple platforms to get a reliable picture. TendorAI's free AEO report automates this across 50+ prompt variations and 6 AI platforms simultaneously. Here is what it does:

The whole process takes about 60 seconds compared to 2+ hours of manual testing. TendorAI runs 50+ prompt variations across all 6 platforms, giving you a far more reliable picture than any manual test could. You enter your business name, service type, and location, and TendorAI handles the rest.

For businesses that want ongoing monitoring, TendorAI's paid plans include weekly automated scans so you can track how your AI visibility changes over time without repeating the manual process every month.

5. What to Do If AI Doesn't Recommend You

If your business does not appear in AI recommendations, that is not unusual — most businesses don't. The difference between businesses that get recommended and those that don't usually comes down to a handful of factors that AI models rely on when generating answers.

Here are the most common fixes, in order of impact:

1. Add structured data to your website. Schema.org markup (LocalBusiness, ProfessionalService, or Organization) tells AI models exactly what your business does, where it operates, and how to contact you. Without it, AI models have to guess.
2. Get listed in authoritative directories. AI models draw heavily from directory data. For UK professional services, this means the SRA, FCA, or ICAEW registers, plus platforms like Google Business Profile, Trustpilot, and Yelp.
3. Install Schema.org markup. Beyond basic structured data, implement FAQ schema, review schema, and service schema on your key pages. This gives AI models structured answers they can reference directly.
4. Build a review profile. AI models treat reviews as trust signals. Businesses with more reviews and higher ratings are more likely to be recommended. Ask satisfied clients to leave reviews on Google and Trustpilot.
5. Ensure consistent NAP data. Your Name, Address, and Phone number should be identical across every directory, your website, and your social profiles. Inconsistencies confuse AI models and reduce your chances of being mentioned.

Your free AEO report identifies which of these gaps apply to your business specifically, so you know exactly where to start. For a deeper dive into AI visibility for UK businesses, see our full guide.

Frequently Asked Questions