How to measure whether AI mentions your business (and why checking once is not enough)

Many business owners first think: "I'll just ask ChatGPT myself." That is a good start, but it gives a distorted picture. Here is why, and how to measure it reliably.

Why checking yourself is misleading

• Answers vary. AI assistants do not always give the same answer to the same question. Being mentioned once can be luck, and so can not being mentioned.
• Your own account influences the answer. ChatGPT can take earlier conversations and your location into account. If you often talk about your own business, you may get a rosier picture than a new customer would.
• One question is not one customer. Customers phrase their questions very differently: "best hairdresser", "hairdresser good with curls", "hairdresser open on Sunday". You may be mentioned for one and not for another.
• One model is not enough. Your customers use ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude interchangeably.

The four numbers that matter

To really know where you stand, measure a fixed set of questions across all models and look at four numbers:

1. Visibility: in what percentage of answers are you mentioned? This is your most important number.
2. Average position: when you are mentioned, in which place? Being named first is worth far more than being named fifth.
3. Share of voice: what share of all business mentions in your industry goes to you? This shows how you compare to competitors.
4. Cited sources: which websites does AI use to build its answer? Those are the places where you need to be visible.

Which questions should you measure?

Choose questions real customers ask, including your town. A good set contains:

• general questions ("What is the best plumber in The Hague?")
• questions per service ("Who can repair my boiler in The Hague?")
• questions with a preference ("Plumber with good reviews and emergency service in The Hague")
• questions per neighbourhood or nearby town, if you work there too

Then keep the set the same. Only then can you compare week by week.

Why measure weekly?

AI assistants change constantly: new model versions, new sources, new reviews for you and your competitors. Measuring every week shows a trend instead of a snapshot. And you see whether your changes work: after a new FAQ page or a better listing on a review site, you want to know whether your visibility goes up.

Do it yourself or automatically?

You can track this by hand in a spreadsheet, but with twenty questions and four models you are reading eighty answers every week. That is what GEO tracking is for: we ask your questions to all four models every week, without personal settings, and show the numbers, your competitors and the sources in a clear dashboard. Curious what it looks like? Take a look at the demo dashboard or start with the free AI check.