ChatGPT answers, unedited

If you want quick + free + specifically useful for a local business, I’d start with MentionedOn. Its free scan checks whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity mention your business for local questions, and it shows competitors that appear instead. No signup is required. MentionedOn

mentioned-on.com

Two other good quick checks:

• Seenvia — particularly nice for local businesses. Its free test asks Perplexity an actual local recommendation question and also checks your site's crawlability, directories, and local-business structured data. Seenvia

seenvia.com

• isvisible.ai — better if your main concern is whether AI crawlers can technically access your website. It checks robots.txt, llms.txt, and 13 AI/search crawlers and gives a 0–100 score. isvisible.ai

isvisible.ai

My suggestion: run MentionedOn first, then isvisible.ai. The first answers “Does AI actually mention us?” while the second answers “Can AI systems actually access our site?” Those are different problems.

If you give me your business website + city + what you do, I can also tell you exactly which 5–10 AI questions I'd use to manually benchmark your visibility.

For a quick, free check specifically for a local business, I’d start with:

• localmention.io — tests 30 local-search prompts across Google, ChatGPT, and Gemini and shows how often your business appears. No login required. LocalMention
• aerank.com — checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude and gives an AI visibility score plus competitors being recommended instead. AERank
• gowp.com — combines actual AI searches with a technical review of your site, including crawler access, content, and site structure. GoWP
• seenvia.com — particularly quick: about 30 seconds, no signup, and tests a real local recommendation query on Perplexity. Seenvia

If you only want one: I'd use LocalMention for the most directly relevant local-business snapshot, then manually ask ChatGPT and Gemini a few variations such as “best [service] in [city]” and “who should I hire for [service] in [city]?”

One important distinction: a technical “AI readiness” score isn't the same thing as actually being recommended by AI. For your purpose, prioritize graders that query the assistants themselves rather than only checking robots.txt, schema, and crawlability.

If you want quick + free + actually useful for a local business, I’d start with:

• brightlocal.com — probably my first choice for a local business. It checks ChatGPT or Google AI Mode, lets you test up to 5 customer prompts, and shows local competitors and the sources AI is using. BrightLocal
• insites.com — better if you want a broader snapshot across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok, including whether you're mentioned, accuracy, competitors and sources. Insites
• seenvia.com — very quick/no-signup option. It asks a real local recommendation question in Perplexity and tells you whether you appeared and who beat you. Seenvia
• citeon.ai — useful if you specifically want real buyer questions across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, rather than merely a technical website audit. Citeon

My pick

For a local business, I'd run BrightLocal first, then Citeon as a cross-check. The important distinction is that a tool saying “your website is AI-readable” isn't the same as showing “AI actually recommends your business when someone asks for a local provider.”

If you tell me your business type + city, I can also give you 5 exact prompts to test in ChatGPT/Perplexity yourself so you get a much more meaningful baseline than a generic AI score.

If you want quick + free + actually relevant to a local business, I’d start with these:

1. [BrightLocal’s Free Local AI Visibility Checker] brightlocal.com — probably my first choice. It checks ChatGPT or Google AI Mode, uses up to 5 local prompts, and shows competitors and the sources AI is using. One-time report, free. BrightLocal
2. [Seenvia Free AI Visibility Check] seenvia.com — fastest/easiest. Enter your website, no signup, and it asks Perplexity a real local recommendation question to see whether you appear and who beats you. Seenvia
3. [Primoraly] primoraly.com — interesting if you want broader coverage. Its free check says it tests ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini live, including local/service-area queries. Primoraly

What I'd do

Run BrightLocal + Primoraly. Don't put too much weight on a single "AI score"—AI answers vary by prompt and location. What you really want to learn is:

• Are we being recommended?
• Which competitors are being recommended instead?
• What sources is AI relying on?
• Does AI get our business details right?
• Which customer questions are we invisible for?

If you give me your website + city + what kind of business you are, I can also tell you exactly 5–10 prompts to test manually in ChatGPT/Perplexity so you get a much more meaningful baseline.

If you’re a local business and want a quick, free reality check, I’d start with these:

• brightlocal.com — probably my first choice for a local business. It checks how your specific location appears in ChatGPT or Google AI Mode, lets you test up to 5 customer-style prompts, and shows competitors and the sources AI is using.
• primoraly.com — best if you want a broader test. It says it checks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini live, including local/service-area searches, and gives a free score.
• seenvia.com — very quick and simple. Its free check actually asks Perplexity a local recommendation question and tells you whether you appeared, who beat you, and which sources influenced the answer.
• isvisible.ai — use this alongside the above if your concern is specifically “Can AI crawlers access my website?” It checks robots.txt, llms.txt and access for 13 AI crawlers, with a free 0–100 score.

What I'd do

Run BrightLocal + Primoraly. Don't put too much weight on a single score—the more meaningful test is:

“If someone in [your city] asks ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini/Perplexity for the best [your service], does it recommend us, who does it recommend instead, and what sources does it cite?”

That tells you whether you actually have AI recommendation visibility, rather than merely whether your website is technically crawlable.

If you tell me your business type + city, I can also give you 5–10 exact prompts to test that will reveal whether you're showing up against your local competitors.

If you want a quick, free reality check for a local business, I’d start with localvisibleai.com. It’s specifically aimed at local businesses and checks whether AI answers actually recommend you versus competitors.

A few good alternatives:

• localfox.ai — particularly useful if you want to see what ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews say about your business.
• getcitely.com — very quick “share of model” check showing how often AI names you versus competitors.
• peekl.io — gives a straightforward readout of whether you're named, who beats you, and which sources AI relies on.
• isvisible.ai — better if your question is specifically “Can AI crawlers access/read my website?” rather than “Will AI recommend my business?”

My pick: use LocalFox or Citely first for the actual customer-facing visibility, then IsVisible to check the technical side. An important distinction: being crawlable by AI ≠ actually being recommended by AI. localfox.ai getcitely.com

If you give me your business type + city, I can also tell you which of these is likely the best fit and what 5–10 queries I'd use to benchmark your AI visibility.

Yes. For a quick, free check for a local business, I’d start with these:

• Best overall: primoraly.com — checks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity live, and is specifically geared toward local/service-area businesses. It shows your score, what each assistant says, and which competitors get recommended instead. Free, no account required. Primoraly
• Best local-business focused: peekl.io — gives you customer questions tailored to your trade + town, tells you whether AI names you, who it names instead, and which sources it used. Peekl
• Best website/technical audit: isvisible.ai — gives a 0–100 score and checks whether AI crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and Perplexity can actually access your site. isvisible.ai
• Good broader brand check: ahrefs.com — checks mentions across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews. Ahrefs

If you only do one: use Primoraly. For a local business, the important test isn't “does AI know my company name?” but “When someone asks ‘best [your service] in [your city],’ does AI recommend me, and who does it recommend instead?”

One caveat: these are snapshots. AI answers vary between runs, so I'd run the same 5–10 customer-intent questions periodically rather than treating a single score as definitive. gowp.com

If you tell me what kind of local business + city, I can also give you the exact 10 prompts I'd use to benchmark your AI visibility.

Yes. For a quick, free first pass, I’d use one of these:

• ahrefs.com — probably my first choice. It checks your brand across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews, with no signup required. Ahrefs
• primoraly.com — particularly useful for a local business because it checks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini live and shows competitors being recommended instead of you. Primoraly
• insites.com — good if you want more of a website audit + AI visibility score, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Grok. Insites

What I'd do

Don't rely on a single "AI score." For a local business, the most useful test is whether AI actually recommends you for real customer questions, such as:

• “Best [your service] in [city]”
• “[service] near me”
• “Who should I hire for [specific problem] in [city]?”
• “Top-rated [business type] in [city]”
• “[your service] vs [alternative] in [city]”

Then check who gets recommended instead of you and what sources AI is using. That's much more actionable than a generic technical score. Local SEO Data Peekl

If you give me your website URL + city + type of business, I can also tell you which free grader I'd use for your particular situation and what queries to test.

If you want a quick, free reality check for a local business, I’d start with thewebsilo.com. It’s specifically geared toward local businesses and evaluates the kinds of signals that affect whether ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity recommend you. The Web Silo

A few good alternatives:

• rank.ai — probably the best quick experiment: enter your domain and a customer prompt, and it checks ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini side-by-side. Free/no registration. Rank.ai
• ahrefs.com — more established SEO tooling; checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. Good if you also care about traditional SEO. Ahrefs
• rankbits.com — nice if you want actual buyer prompts, mentions, citations, and competitor visibility in one quick scan. RankBits

One important distinction: a technical “AI-readiness” grader isn't the same as checking whether AI actually recommends your business. For a local business, I'd prioritize the latter: “Who are the best [your service] businesses in [your city]?” and see whether you're named, cited, and what competitors appear instead.

If you give me your website + city + what you sell, I can also tell you exactly 5–10 prompts I'd use to benchmark your AI visibility.

If you want quick + free + actually relevant to a local business, I’d start with BrightLocal’s Local AI Visibility Checker. It’s specifically designed for physical/service-area businesses and checks how your location appears in ChatGPT or Google AI Mode, including competitors and the sources AI is using. BrightLocal

brightlocal.com

My quick shortlist

• Best for local businesses: BrightLocal — local/competitor-focused, up to 5 customer prompts, one-time free snapshot. BrightLocal
• Best no-signup website check: isvisible.ai — gives a 0–100 technical AI-access score and checks whether crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and Perplexity can access your site. isvisible.ai
• Best broader AI check: Insites — checks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok and provides a local AI visibility score. Insites
• Another simple local option: AERank — runs live queries across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude and shows which competitors AI recommends. AERank

One important distinction: don't confuse “can AI crawl my website?” with “does AI actually recommend my business?” The former is a technical check; the latter is what I'd care about commercially. isvisible.ai localseodata.com

If you give me your website + city + business type, I can also tell you which free grader I'd use and the 5 prompts I'd test first.

If you want a quick, free check specifically for a local business, I’d start with Primoraly. It says it checks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini live, gives you a score, and shows which competitors are being recommended instead of you. It’s free and doesn’t require an account. Primoraly

primoraly.com

A couple of good alternatives:

• thewebsilo.com — specifically designed around local businesses, including your city/service area. The Web Silo
• ahrefs.com — better if you want to see how your brand appears across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. Ahrefs
• isvisible.ai — best for the technical question of whether AI crawlers can actually access your website (robots.txt, AI crawlers, etc.). isvisible.ai

For a local business, I'd actually run two checks: Primoraly to see “Does AI recommend us?”, then IsVisible to see “Can AI actually access our site?” Those measure different things. Primoraly isvisible.ai

If you give me your business website + city + what you do, I can also check what the current AI-search landscape looks like for your category and tell you what I'd measure first.

If you give me your business website + city + what you do, I can also check what the current AI-search landscape looks like for your category and tell you what I'd measure first.

If you want a quick, free reality check for a local business, I’d start with:

• aerank.com — probably the closest match to what you’re asking. It checks whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude actually recommend your business for your category + city, and shows competitors that get recommended instead. Free scan, no signup. AERank
• primoraly.com — another good option if you specifically want live answers from four assistants and the actual competitors appearing in those answers. Free and takes about 30 seconds. Primoraly
• insites.com — particularly useful for a local business because it combines AI visibility with things like accuracy and reputation across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok. Insites

My pick: AERank. For a local business, I'd care much more about “When someone asks AI for a plumber/dentist/restaurant/etc. in my city, does it name me?” than a generic technical “AI readiness” score.

One caveat: these graders are snapshots. I'd also manually ask ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity 5–10 real customer questions without mentioning your business name and record who they recommend. That gives you a much more meaningful baseline.

For a local business, I’d start with a free AI visibility grader rather than a general SEO checker. These are designed to test whether AI assistants can understand your business, access your site, and (in some cases) whether they actually mention you in customer-style queries.

A few good options:

• whito.co.uk — good first pass for UK businesses. It gives a free score and checks AI-readiness signals like structured data, readability, and business information. Whito
• foundbyai.uk — more focused on whether AI tools can find/cite/recommend a local business, with checks around AI crawlers, schema, and a live AI recall test. FoundByAI
• isvisible.ai — useful if you mainly want to know whether AI crawlers can access your website. isvisible.ai
• visibility-buddy.com — aimed specifically at small businesses wanting to see whether ChatGPT/Gemini-style assistants recommend them. Visibility Buddy

My suggested quick process:

1. Run your site through one grader (I’d try FoundByAI or Whito first). Whito FoundByAI
2. Ask ChatGPT/Gemini/Perplexity yourself: - “Who are the best [your service] companies in [your town]?”
3. “Recommend a reliable [your service] near me.”
4. “What do you know about [business name]?”
5. Check whether: - your business name appears,
6. your location and services are correct,
7. competitors are being recommended instead,
8. reviews/directories agree with your website.

A grader score alone won’t guarantee recommendations — AI assistants also rely heavily on third-party trust signals like reviews, directories, mentions, and consistent business details. Whito promptlocal.co.uk

If you tell me your business type + town/city + website URL, I can suggest which grader is most relevant and what signals I’d check first.

For a quick, free first pass, I’d use aerank.com. It’s specifically aimed at local businesses and says it checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude live, showing whether they recommend you and which competitors they recommend instead. No signup is required. AERank

A couple of good alternatives:

• localfox.ai — particularly useful if you want to see what AI actually tells customers about you, including incorrect facts and competitors. It runs multiple local-intent prompts across four engines. LocalFox
• insites.com — gives a score across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok, including accuracy and reputation. Insites
• isvisible.ai — better if your immediate concern is “can AI crawlers even access my website?” It checks robots.txt, llms.txt and 13 crawler types. isvisible.ai

My pick: start with AERank or LocalFox, because a crawler-access score alone isn't the same as being recommended. You want to know whether an actual customer question like “best [your service] near me” produces your business.

If you give me your website + city + business type, I can also do a quick AI-visibility check/research and tell you what I'd measure.

If you want quick + free + actually useful for a local business, I’d start with these:

• getcitely.com — probably my first pick. It tests real buyer-intent questions across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude and compares how often you’re recommended versus competitors. No signup, about 30 seconds. Citely
• aerank.com — good if you specifically want a local-business score across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude, including which competitors AI recommends instead. AERank
• insites.com — useful for a more polished report covering ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok, including visibility, accuracy, and reputation. Insites
• semrush.com — better if you also care about AI citations and which pages on your site are driving visibility, rather than just whether you're recommended. Semrush

What I'd do

Run Citely first, then manually ask ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity 3–5 questions a customer would actually ask, such as:

“Who are the best [type of business] in [city]?”
“What [type of business] would you recommend near [neighborhood]?”
“Who should I hire for [specific service] in [city]?”

Record whether you're mentioned, where you rank in the recommendations, what competitors appear, and whether your business details are accurate.

That's more meaningful than a generic website “AI readiness” score. Some graders primarily measure whether AI crawlers can access your site, while others actually test whether assistants recommend the business. isvisible.ai tailwindsops.com

If you give me your business type + city + website, I can also tell you exactly what I'd test and give you a 10-question AI visibility scorecard you can run for free.

If you want quick + free + specifically for a local business, I’d start with aerank.com. It says its free scan takes ~30 seconds, requires no signup, and checks your business across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude, including which competitors AI recommends instead. AERank

A few good alternatives:

• getcitely.com — very focused on local recommendations; checks how often ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude name you versus competitors. Free, ~30 seconds, no signup. Citely
• insites.com — broader local-business report covering ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok, with visibility, accuracy, reputation, and competitor information. Insites
• isvisible.ai — better if your question is “Can AI crawlers actually access my website?” It checks robots.txt, llms.txt and access by 13 AI/search crawlers, with a 0–100 score. isvisible.ai
• getrevenuegrader.com — useful if you want to test actual buyer questions against ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity and see whether you're cited, mentioned, or replaced by a competitor. Revenue Grader

My pick: use AERank or Citely first because you're a local business and the important question isn't merely whether AI can crawl your site—it's “When someone asks AI for a business like mine in my city, does it recommend me?”

If you give me your website + city + business category, I can also tell you exactly what I'd test and give you a small set of prompts to manually benchmark yourself across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

If you want quick + free + specifically useful for a local business, I’d start with Business Rank’s AI Visibility Checker. It checks whether ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI recommend your business for searches in your city, and it says there’s no login or credit card required. businessrank.co

A few good alternatives:

• Revenue Grader — particularly interesting because it asks ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity real buyer questions and reports whether you're cited, mentioned, or omitted, including which competitors appear instead. Free, no login. getrevenuegrader.com
• AIMention — built specifically around local businesses and checks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. www.aimention.co
• IsVisible.ai — best if you primarily want to know whether AI crawlers can technically access your site; it gives a free 0–100 score and checks 13 crawlers. isvisible.ai

My pick: use Business Rank or Revenue Grader first. A simple “can AI crawl my website?” score isn't the same as “does AI actually recommend my business when a local customer asks?” For a local business, the latter is the more meaningful test. localseodata.com

If you give me your business category + city, I can also tell you exactly what 5–10 prompts I'd use to manually benchmark your visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude.

For a quick, free local-business check, I’d start with insites.com. It’s specifically geared toward local businesses and checks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Grok, with no signup and results in under a minute. Insites

A few good alternatives:

• primoraly.com — probably the most directly aligned with your question: it runs live buyer-style queries across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini and shows which competitors get recommended. Free/no account. Primoraly
• modelmention.io — particularly useful if you're a service-area business because it uses location-specific prompts and compares your visibility against local competitors. ModelMention
• audits.lighthouselocal.ai — better if you want a website-focused technical audit in addition to AI visibility; it checks 45+ on-site signals and gives a prioritized fix list. Lighthouse Local

My pick: run Insites + Primoraly. The important distinction is that a technical “AI-readiness” score isn't the same as actually being recommended by AI. You want to know both: can AI understand/find us? and does AI actually name us when customers ask for businesses like ours? Insites Primoraly

If you give me your business type + city, I can also suggest the best 5–10 prompts to manually test in ChatGPT/Gemini/Perplexity so you get a more meaningful baseline.

Yes. For a local business, I’d start with a tool that actually tests whether AI assistants mention/recommend your business, rather than one that only checks technical SEO.

My quick picks

• Best overall free check: ahrefs.com — checks your brand across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. It shows mentions, topics, and which pages/domains are being cited. No signup required.
• Best specifically for local businesses: website-auditor.io — you provide your business name and city, and it actually runs category questions through ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity to see which businesses get named. This is closer to the question “Will AI recommend us when a local customer asks?”
• Best quick technical audit: audits.lighthouselocal.ai — checks 45+ website signals including schema, content, technical SEO, trust, and AI-readiness, with a prioritized fix list.
• Simplest crawler/access check: isvisible.ai — gives a 0–100 score and checks whether AI crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and Perplexity can access your site.

If you only want to spend 2 minutes, I'd run Website Auditor first, then Ahrefs. The first tells you whether AI is actually naming you versus competitors; the second gives you a broader view of your AI-search presence.

One important distinction: “AI can crawl my website” ≠ “AI recommends my business.” For a local business, the latter is the more useful metric. Website Auditor Ahrefs

If you give me your business type + city + website, I can also tell you exactly what I'd test and what a good AI-visibility score should look like for your situation.

For a local business, I’d start with a free AI visibility checker rather than a full SEO tool. You’re looking for two different things:

1. Can AI assistants read and understand your website?
2. When someone asks “best [your service] near me,” does AI actually mention you?

Good free options:

• isvisible.ai — probably the quickest technical check. It gives a score and checks things like AI crawler access, robots.txt, llms.txt, and whether systems like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity can access your site. isvisible.ai
• wpweb.org — useful if you want more website-focused feedback (schema, content structure, trust signals, etc.). It’s not limited to WordPress despite the name. WPWeb
• tailwindsops.com — more geared toward local businesses because it considers location/service-area questions and whether AI recommends your business. tailwindsops.com
• website-auditor.io — another option that tests customer-style questions and reports which businesses AI names. Website Auditor

For a 5-minute DIY check, I’d do this:

1. Run your website through one of the graders above.
2. Open ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity and ask: - “What are the best [your service] companies in [your city]?”
3. “Who should I hire for [your service] near [your city]?”
4. “Compare [your business name] with competitors in [your area].”
5. Note: - Are you mentioned?
6. Are competitors mentioned instead?
7. What sources does the AI cite?

For most local businesses, the biggest fixes tend to be:

• consistent business name/address/phone across the web
• strong Google Business Profile and reviews
• clear service + location pages
• FAQ content written in natural customer language
• proper local business schema markup

If you tell me your business type (restaurant, contractor, dentist, retail, etc.) and city, I can suggest the best test prompts to see whether AI assistants would recommend you.

Yes — for a quick, free local-business check, I’d start with one of these:

• localseodata.com — probably my first pick for a local business. It checks whether you're mentioned/recommended in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, with a local business + city input. Free, no credit card. Local SEO Data
• insites.com — particularly good if you want a broader GEO/AI + website audit. It checks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok and gives prioritized fixes; no signup. Insites
• cheers.tech — built specifically for local service businesses and checks live buying-intent queries across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overview samples. Cheers
• hubspot.com — good for a quick brand-level snapshot across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, with a score out of 100. HubSpot

One important distinction

If by “does our site appear in AI assistants?” you mean can AI crawlers actually access/read your website, rather than “does AI recommend our business?”, use isvisible.ai. It checks robots.txt, llms.txt and access by AI crawlers and gives a 0–100 score without signup. isvisible.ai

For a local business, I'd do both: run the Local SEO Data/Cheers check to see whether AI recommends you, then IsVisible to see whether your site is technically accessible to AI. Those answer two different questions.

If you tell me your business type + city, I can also give you the 5–10 exact customer questions I'd test manually in ChatGPT/Gemini/Perplexity to get a more realistic baseline.

Yes. For a quick, free check specifically for a local business, I’d start with one of these:

• insites.com — probably the best first stop. It’s free/no signup and checks how your business appears across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok, including whether your information is accurate and whether competitors are being recommended instead. Insites
• primoraly.com — particularly interesting if you want to see actual live AI answers. It checks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini and shows which competitors they name instead. Free, no account. Primoraly
• cheers.tech — built specifically for local service businesses and checks buying-intent prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, incorporating local signals such as reviews and listings. Cheers

My pick

I'd run Insites first, then manually ask ChatGPT/Perplexity/Gemini 5–10 questions your customers actually ask, such as:

“Best [service] in [city]?”
“Who should I hire for [specific problem] in [city]?”
“What are the most reputable [business type] near [city]?”

The important distinction is “can AI crawl my site?” vs. “does AI actually recommend my business?” A robots.txt/technical grader can tell you the former, but you really care about the latter.

If you give me your business type + city, I can also suggest the 5–10 exact prompts I'd use to benchmark your AI visibility.

For a local business, I’d start with insites.com.

Why it’s a good fit:

• Free and no signup
• Enter your website, rather than just a brand name
• Checks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Grok
• Gives a local AI visibility score
• Shows whether AI can find you, whether your business details are accurate, and how positively you're described. Insites

Two other quick ones worth trying

• ahrefs.com — best if you want a broader brand-level check across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews. Free, no signup. Ahrefs
• cheers.tech — particularly geared toward local service businesses and checks real buying-intent queries involving your city across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Cheers

My recommendation: run Insites first, then manually ask ChatGPT/Perplexity something like “What are the best [your service] businesses in [your city]?” Don't search for your own business name—that tests whether AI recommends you, which is the more useful metric.

If you tell me your business type + city, I can also suggest the 5–10 exact AI queries I'd use to benchmark you against local competitors.

For a local business, I’d start with GotFound.ai.

It’s specifically designed to answer the question you actually care about: “When someone in our city asks AI for a business like ours, does AI recommend us—or a competitor?” Its free check runs live prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini and shows which competitors get recommended instead. www.gotfound.ai

A few good alternatives:

• Citely free check — very quick (~30 seconds), focused on local businesses; checks ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. getcitely.com
• AIMention — local-business focused and gives an AI visibility score plus recommendations. aimention.co
• LocalMention.io — particularly interesting if you want a broader snapshot: 30 local-search prompts across Google, ChatGPT, and Gemini. localmention.io
• isvisible.ai — use this alongside the above if you specifically want to know whether AI crawlers can access your website (robots.txt, llms.txt, GPTBot, ClaudeBot, etc.). isvisible.ai

My quick recommendation: run GotFound + isvisible.ai. The first tells you “Are AI assistants actually recommending us?” and the second tells you “Can AI systems access/read our site?” Those are two different problems.

If you tell me your business type + city, I can also suggest the best free grader for your particular industry.

If you want a quick, free check specifically for a local business, I’d start with these:

• localrankhq.com — probably the best fit for a local business. It tests buyer-style questions across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, shows whether you’re named, and identifies competitors that appear instead. Free, no card. Local Rank HQ
• insites.com — another strong local-business option; it scores visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok and includes accuracy/reputation signals. Insites
• edenrank.com — useful if you want a broader snapshot across 8 AI surfaces, including Google AI Overviews/AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and Perplexity. edenrank.com
• isvisible.ai — best if your immediate question is “Can AI crawlers actually access my website?” It checks robots.txt, llms.txt and access for 13 crawlers. isvisible.ai

My pick: use LocalRankHQ first, because “does AI recommend my local business when someone asks who to hire nearby?” is much more meaningful than a generic technical AI-readiness score.

One important distinction: a crawler/site grader can tell you whether AI systems can access and understand your site, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll recommend you. For a real baseline, you want both the technical check and live buyer-question tests.

If you tell me your business type + city, I can also suggest 5–10 exact prompts to test in ChatGPT/Perplexity so you can benchmark yourselves against local competitors.

If you want quick + free + specifically for a local business, I’d start with:

• getcitely.com — probably the simplest fit. It runs buying-intent questions across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude and shows whether your business gets recommended versus competitors. Free, ~30 seconds, no signup. Citely
• visibleiq.ai — better if you also want local SEO/Google visibility alongside AI search. It gives a 0–100 local visibility score and checks AI search signals. VisibleIQ
• localmention.io — useful for a more realistic local test: 30 local-search prompts across Google, ChatGPT, and Gemini, including which competitors appear instead. LocalMention

My pick: use Citely first for the fastest answer to “Does AI actually recommend us?” Then use LocalMention if you want a broader competitor comparison.

One caveat: a website crawler/technical grader can tell you whether AI bots can access and understand your site, but that's different from whether an assistant will actually recommend your business. For your goal, I'd prioritize tools that run real buyer-style prompts.

If you give me your business type + city, I can also suggest the best 2–3 tests/prompts to run so you get a meaningful baseline.

For a quick, free first check, I’d start with HubSpot’s AEO Grader. It’s a one-time, no-cost snapshot of how ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini represent your business, including visibility, sentiment, share of voice, and competitors. www.hubspot.com

Try HubSpot’s free AEO Grader

For a local business specifically, I’d also run LocalRankHQ. It asks whether AI recommends your business for local-intent searches, shows competitors that appear instead, and gives an A–F grade. www.localrankhq.com

Try LocalRankHQ’s free AI visibility scan

One important distinction: “Can AI access my website?” ≠ “Will AI recommend my business?” For the latter, tools that actually run customer-style queries against AI assistants are more useful. AEO Pulse, for example, checks what AI says about a local business and which competitors it recommends. aeopulse.moorageco.com

My quick recommendation: run HubSpot + one local-business checker, then manually test ~10 questions such as:

• “Best [your service] in [city]”
• “Who should I hire for [specific problem] in [city]?”
• “Alternatives to [competitor] in [city]”
• “Most reputable [service] near [city]”

If you tell me what type of local business you are and your city, I can suggest the 10 highest-value AI queries to test.

For a local business, I’d start with BusinessRank’s free AI Visibility Checker. It’s specifically designed for local businesses and checks whether ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI recommend you for searches in your city. No login is required. businessrank.co

BusinessRank free AI Visibility Checker

My quick picks

• Best overall for local businesses: BusinessRank — gives you a local AI recommendation check using your business name, city, category, and website. businessrank.co
• Best if you mainly care about your website's technical AI accessibility: isvisible.ai — checks whether AI crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and Perplexity can access your site and gives a 0–100 score. isvisible.ai
• Best quick multi-engine snapshot: Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker — checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no signup. ahrefs.com
• Another good local-focused option: SignalAEO free checker — runs 10 local-intent queries against ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini and shows which competitors get named instead. www.signalaeo.com

One important distinction: a site can be technically crawlable by AI but still not get recommended. For a local business, I'd prioritize the graders that actually ask things like “best [service] in [city]” and measure whether you or a competitor gets named.

If you give me your business category + city, I can also tell you exactly what 5–10 AI queries I'd use for a quick manual benchmark.

If your goal is “Does AI actually mention/recommend my local business?”, I’d use a grader that runs real buyer-style questions against the assistants—not just a technical SEO audit.

My quick picks

1. Insites AI Visibility Audit — probably my first choice for a local business. It specifically covers ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Grok, and reports whether AI finds you, whether your business details are accurate, and how often you're recommended. No signup. insites.com

2. Rank.ai free AI ranking checker — very quick if you want a simple side-by-side check. It asks ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini the same question and shows whether they mention or cite your site. No signup/card. www.rank.ai

3. Website Auditor's free AI audit — good if you want to see which local businesses AI names for actual category/buyer questions, rather than just getting a technical score. It tests ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. website-auditor.io

One important distinction: tools like Lantad and Karma's checker are useful for checking whether AI crawlers can technically access and understand your site, but that's different from measuring whether an assistant actually recommends your business. website-auditor.iolantad.co

For a local business, I'd start with Insites, then manually test ~10 questions such as:

“Best [your service] near [city]”
“Who are the top-rated [service] companies in [city]?”
“I need [specific problem] in [city]. Who should I call?”
“What are alternatives to [competitor] in [city]?”

That gives you a much more meaningful baseline than a generic “AI score.”

If you want quick + free + specifically for a local business, I’d start with these:

1. Business Rank AI Visibility Checker — probably the best fit. You enter your business, city, category, and website, and it checks whether ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI recommend you. No login required. businessrank.cobluegridmedia.com

2. Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker — best if you want a broader brand-level benchmark. It checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no signup. ahrefs.com

3. Insites Free AI Visibility Audit — particularly useful for local businesses because it scores whether AI can find you, describe you accurately, and recommend you, across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok. insites.com

My pick: use Business Rank first. It's closest to the question you actually care about: “When someone in our market asks AI who they should hire, does it name us or a competitor?”

One important distinction: a technical website grader can tell you whether AI crawlers can read your site, but that isn't the same as measuring whether assistants actually recommend your business. For that reason, I'd prioritize a tool that runs real local/customer-style prompts. businessrank.cobluegridmedia.com

If you tell me what kind of local business you are + your city, I can also suggest the best 5–10 prompts to run through these graders so you get a meaningful baseline.

If you want quick + free + specifically useful for a local business, I’d start with these:

1. Insites free AI visibility audit — my top pick. It checks how your business performs in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok, including whether AI can find you, whether your business details are accurate, and whether it actually recommends you. No signup, reportedly under 60 seconds. insites.com

2. LocalMention.io free audit — particularly good for local search. It tests 30 customer-style queries across Google, ChatGPT and Gemini, gives an A–F visibility grade, competitor analysis, and directory checks. localmention.io

3. AskedAbout free check — very quick sanity check. It tests ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude using questions your customers might actually ask. askedabout.com

4. IsVisible.ai free AI visibility check — best if you're mainly asking “Can the AI crawlers actually access my website?” It checks robots.txt, llms.txt and access for 13 AI crawlers, producing a 0–100 score. isvisible.ai

Important distinction: a technical “AI readiness” score isn't the same as actually being recommended. For a local business, I'd prioritize a grader that asks things like:

“What's the best [your service] in [your city]?”

and then tells you whether you're mentioned, which competitors appear instead, and what sources AI is relying on.

So if you only have 5 minutes, I'd run Insites + LocalMention. If they give substantially different results, that's actually useful—the AI visibility space isn't standardized yet.

For a quick, free check specifically for a local business, I’d start with Insites’ AI Visibility Audit. It’s no-signup, takes under a minute, and checks how your business appears across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Grok, including whether AI recommends you, gets your business details right, and which competitors appear instead. insites.com

Insites free AI visibility audit

A couple of good alternatives:

• Revenue Grader — best if you want to test actual buyer questions against ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity and see whether you're cited or competitors are. Free, no login. getrevenuegrader.com

Revenue Grader

• LocalRankHQ — particularly geared toward local service businesses; gives an A–F visibility grade, competitors AI recommends, and suggested fixes. www.localrankhq.com

LocalRankHQ

• Searchless Audit — broader five-engine check with a 0–100 score and engine-by-engine results. audit.searchless.ai

Searchless Audit

My recommendation: run Insites + Revenue Grader. The first tells you about your local-business/entity visibility; the second tests whether AI actually recommends/cites you for customer-intent questions. Those are complementary rather than redundant.

If you want quick + free + specifically useful for a local business, I’d start with:

1. Insites AI Visibility Audit — probably the best fit. It checks how your business appears in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Grok, including whether AI recommends you, gets your details right, and which competitors appear instead. No signup required. insites.com
2. LocalMention.io — very simple local-business test: 30 customer-style queries across Google, ChatGPT, and Gemini, with a visibility percentage. Free. localmention.io
3. AskedAbout — a fast ~60-second check across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude, including competitors AI recommends instead. askedabout.com

One caveat: there are two different things people call “AI visibility.” Some graders test whether AI can crawl/read your website; others actually ask AI “Who should I hire in [city]?” and see whether your business gets recommended. For a local business, I'd prioritize the second because that's closer to the customer experience.

If you give me your business category + city, I can also tell you which of these I'd use and what 5–10 questions I'd test manually in ChatGPT/Perplexity to get a more trustworthy baseline.

For a quick, free check for a local business, I’d start with these:

1. Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker — probably my first choice. Enter your business/brand name and it checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. It shows mentions, topics, and the sites/pages AI cites. No signup required. ahrefs.com

2. Revenue Grader — particularly interesting for a local business because it asks real buyer questions and checks whether ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity mention/cite you or a competitor. Free, no login. getrevenuegrader.com

3. CiteGauge — another good quick test. It generates buying-intent questions for your niche and checks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, including which competitors get cited. citegauge.com

One important distinction: some “AI visibility graders” only check whether AI crawlers can access your website (robots.txt, llms.txt, schema, etc.). That's useful, but it doesn't tell you whether AI assistants actually recommend your business. For your question, I'd favor a tool that runs actual customer/buyer queries.

If you give me your website URL + what kind of local business you are, I can also run a quick competitive AI-visibility check and tell you what I'd measure.

For a local business, I’d start with Ahrefs’ free AI Visibility Checker. It’s quick, requires no signup, and checks whether your brand appears across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. It also shows the topics that trigger mentions and which sites AI is citing alongside you. ahrefs.com

Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker

Two other good free checks:

• CitedSpy AI Visibility Checker — particularly useful for seeing whether AI recommends you versus competitors; checks five AI engines. www.citedspy.com
• IsVisible.ai — better if you specifically want to know whether your website is technically accessible to AI crawlers, rather than whether AI actually recommends the business. isvisible.ai

For your use case, I'd do both: run Ahrefs for “Does AI mention/recommend us?” and IsVisible for “Can AI systems actually access our site?”

One caveat: don't put too much stock in a single 0–100 score. AI answers are variable, so the more useful test is whether you appear for your actual local buyer questions and whether you're being cited/recommended over nearby competitors. Recent research finds substantial variation between repeated AI visibility measurements. arxiv.org

If you give me your business type + city, I can also suggest 5–10 exact prompts to test in ChatGPT/Perplexity/Gemini that will give you a much more meaningful local-AI visibility baseline.

For a local business, I’d start with a free AI visibility grader, then do a couple of manual checks. There isn’t one perfect “Google Search Console for AI assistants” yet, so the best approach is to combine a quick audit with real customer-style prompts. www.techradar.com

Good free options:

1. IsVisible AI Visibility Check — best quick technical check
   • Enter your domain and get a score.
   • Checks whether AI crawlers (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, etc.) can access your site and whether your setup is AI-friendly. isvisible.ai

2. ScanMyGEO AI Visibility Audit — better for local businesses
   • Tests visibility around your business name, industry, and city.
   • Useful for the question: “When someone asks AI for a local recommendation, does it mention us?” scanmygeo.com

3. Quivra Free Grader — focused on local business AI recommendations
   • Looks at whether AI assistants recommend your business and compares against competitors. quivra.io

After running one, do a manual test in ChatGPT/Perplexity/Gemini:

Try prompts your customers would actually ask, such as:

• “Best [your service] in [city]”
• “Who should I hire for [problem] near me?”
• “Compare [your business] vs [competitor]”
• “What are the top-rated [industry] companies in [city]?”

Track:

• Did AI mention you?
• Did it cite your website?
• Did it recommend competitors instead?
• Were your address, hours, services, reviews, and specialties accurate?

For a local business, the biggest wins usually come from making sure your business details are consistent everywhere, having clear service/location pages, strong reviews, structured data (schema), and content that directly answers customer questions.

If you share your industry + city (or your website), I can suggest the fastest test prompts and what signals AI assistants are likely looking for in your niche.

Yes. For a local business, I’d start with a tool that tests actual customer-style recommendations, not just whether AI crawlers can access your site.

My picks

1. AIMention — probably the best fit for you. It’s specifically designed for local businesses and checks how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude can interpret and recommend your business. The free score takes about two minutes. www.aimention.co

2. GEOGrow free AI visibility check — useful if you want to know whether AI recommends you for buyer-intent searches, including competitor comparisons. It reports which prompts produced your business and which competitors appeared. www.geogrow.ai

3. IsVisible.ai — best for the technical side: whether AI crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and Perplexity can access your website. It's free with no signup. isvisible.ai

If you only want one: try AIMention first. For a local business, “Does AI actually recommend me when someone asks for a business like mine?” is more useful than simply getting a technical crawlability score.

One caveat: don't treat a single AI visibility score as gospel. AI answers can vary between runs, so a good test is to run several real customer questions and track how often you're mentioned versus competitors. Recent research also finds substantial variability between repeated AI visibility measurements. arxiv.org

If you tell me your business type + city, I can also give you 10 exact prompts to test in ChatGPT/Perplexity/Gemini for free.

If you’re a local business, I’d start with LocalMention.io. It’s specifically designed for local businesses and checks 30 customer-style queries across Google, ChatGPT, and Gemini, showing whether you appear and which competitors are being recommended instead. It’s free and doesn’t require a login. localmention.io

Try LocalMention’s free AI visibility audit

A couple of good alternatives:

• urlAhrefs Free AI Visibility Checkerturn0search1 — better if you want broader brand visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. ahrefs.com
• urlLoamly AI Visibility Checkerturn0search4 — tests 50 buyer-intent prompts across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini and gives you competitors/citations. www.loamly.ai
• urlIsVisible.aiturn0search0 — useful if your question is more technical: can AI crawlers actually access my website? It checks robots.txt, llms.txt, and access for 13 AI crawlers. isvisible.ai

My pick for you: LocalMention first, then IsVisible if you want to diagnose why AI systems might not be seeing the site.

One important caveat: a single AI-visibility score isn't gospel. AI answers can vary substantially between runs and platforms, so I'd care more about “Which local queries do we show up for, who beats us, and what sources are being cited?” than the headline score. arxiv.org

For a quick free check, I’d use a lightweight AI-visibility grader rather than paying for a full SEO platform.

A few good things to test are:

• Whether ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini mention your business for relevant local queries
• Whether your business information is accurate when assistants do mention you
• Whether competitors are being recommended instead
• Whether your site is crawlable and has strong local/business signals

If you tell me your website URL and business type, I can check it and suggest the fastest free grader/test for your situation.

Yes. For a quick, free first check, I’d start with Ahrefs’ AI Visibility Checker. It’s free, requires no signup, and checks how your brand appears across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. ahrefs.com

Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker

A couple of good alternatives:

• Semrush AI Search Visibility Checker — free, no signup; enter your domain and get an AI visibility analysis. www.semrush.com

Semrush AI Visibility Checker

• Loamly — particularly useful if you want a more local-business-style test: it runs buyer-intent prompts across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini and shows competitors that appear instead. www.loamly.aiahrefs.com

Loamly AI Visibility Check

For a local business, I’d favor Loamly or Ahrefs, then manually test 5–10 searches such as:

“best [your service] near [city]”
“[service] in [city]”
“who should I hire for [problem] in [city]?”
“best-rated [service] near me”

The important distinction is that “AI visibility” isn't the same as a traditional SEO score. You want to know whether AI assistants actually recommend your business, mention it, and cite your website or other trusted sources when potential customers ask relevant local questions. www.loamly.aiahrefs.com

If you give me your business website + city/service, I can also tell you which free checker is likely to be most useful for your particular situation.

For a local business, I’d start with a free AI visibility checker rather than a general SEO audit. You’re trying to answer: “When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or other AI assistants for businesses like ours, do we show up?”

A few options to try:

1. Otterly.ai AI Search Visibility Checker
   • Good for checking whether your brand appears in AI-generated answers.
   • Useful for tracking mentions across AI search engines.

2. Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit
   • More SEO-focused, but has AI visibility features and broader diagnostics.
   • Better if you already do marketing work on your site.

3. HubSpot Website Grader
   • Not AI-specific, but a quick free health check for website basics that affect discoverability.

4. Manual free test (often the most revealing)

Try searches like:

• “Best [your service] in [your city]”
• “Who are the top-rated [your service] near me?”
• “I need a [service] company in [city], who should I call?”

Run them in:

• ChatGPT
• Google Gemini
• Microsoft Copilot
• Perplexity

Track:

• whether your business is mentioned
• whether your competitors appear instead
• what sources the AI cites

For a local business, also make sure your profiles are strong on:

• Google Business Profile
• consistent business name/address/phone across directories
• reviews that mention your services and location
• clear website pages for each service + city/area served

If you tell me your business type and city, I can suggest the exact AI prompts to test and what a “good” result should look like.

If you mean “does my local business show up when people ask ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, etc. for recommendations?”, you’re looking for an AI visibility / AI search grader (sometimes called an “LLM visibility checker” or “GEO audit”).

A few free or freemium options worth trying:

• HubSpot AI Search Grader — quick check of how your brand may appear in AI search experiences.
• Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit — has AI visibility features and broader SEO/local search tools (some features require an account).
• Ahrefs Webmaster Tools — free site SEO diagnostics that help with the foundations AI systems rely on.
• BrightLocal — focused on local SEO; useful for checking the business listings and reputation signals that influence AI recommendations.

For a fast DIY test (5–10 minutes):

1. Ask several AI assistants:
   • “Best [your service] in [your city]”
   • “Who should I hire for [your service] near me?”
   • “Compare [your business] vs competitors”
2. Check:
   • Are you mentioned?
   • Is your business information correct?
   • Are reviews, services, location, and hours accurate?
   • Are competitors appearing instead?

For local businesses, the biggest drivers are usually:

• consistent name/address/phone across directories
• a complete Google Business Profile listing
• strong customer reviews
• clear service pages on your website
• mentions of your business on trusted local websites

If you tell me your business type + city + website URL, I can suggest the quickest audit approach and what to check first.

If you want a free, quick "AI visibility grader" for a local business website, there are a few good options, but they measure slightly different things.

1. Peec AI (free tier) – Good for checking whether your brand appears in responses from AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity for selected prompts. It's one of the better options for tracking AI search visibility over time.

2. Profound (limited/free demos) – Built for enterprise AI search monitoring. Powerful, but generally more than most local businesses need.

3. Otterly.AI (free trial) – Monitors how AI assistants mention your business and competitors across common prompts.

4. Good old manual testing (free) – Create 10–20 realistic customer questions, for example:
   • "Best HVAC company near me"
   • "Who installs EV chargers in [city]?"
   • "Best family dentist in [city]"

Then test those in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. This often reveals more actionable information than a single score because you can see why your business is or isn't being mentioned.

For local businesses specifically

I'd pay attention to:

• Whether AI assistants mention your business at all.
• Whether they cite your website.
• Whether they rely on your Google Business Profile, Yelp, BBB, or other directories.
• Whether competitors appear more often.

These factors often matter more than an overall "AI score."

If you just want a simple free audit

A practical combination is:

• Peec AI for AI visibility tracking.
• Google Search Console to see whether AI-generated overviews are sending impressions and clicks.
• Manual prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity once a month.

That gives you a solid picture without paying for enterprise software.

If you're looking for something similar to an SEO grader (like HubSpot's Website Grader, but for AI), there still isn't a universally accepted free tool that produces a single authoritative "AI readiness" score. Most AI visibility platforms focus on monitoring mentions and citations rather than assigning a comprehensive grade.

If you want a quick, free "AI visibility" grader for a local business, there are a few good options. Most are still fairly new, so I'd use more than one.

1. Peec AI – Good free AI search visibility checker
   • Checks whether your brand appears in AI-generated answers.
   • Lets you test prompts related to your business.
   • Useful if you're just getting started.

2. Profound (free tools)
   • Primarily an enterprise platform, but they offer some free AI visibility tools.
   • Good for understanding how AI assistants reference brands.

3. Otterly.AI
   • Tracks whether your business is mentioned across AI search

If you want a free, quick "AI visibility" grader for a local business, I'd use a combination rather than relying on a single score. Most tools are still early and each checks something different.

Here are the best free options:

1. Peec AI Visibility Checker – One of the better free checks for whether AI search engines and assistants are citing or mentioning your business. It gives a quick snapshot without a long setup.

2. Profound's free AI search tools – Profound focuses on AI search visibility (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc.). Their paid platform is aimed at enterprises, but they occasionally offer free analyzers worth trying.

3. Goodie AI Search Grader – Designed for marketers and SMBs. It checks how well your site is prepared for AI-powered search and provides actionable recommendations.

4. Manual testing (surprisingly valuable)

Ask several AI assistants questions a customer would ask, for example:

• "Best HVAC company in Hoboken"
• "Who installs heat pumps near me?"
• "Best dentist open on Saturdays in [city]"
• "Who should I call for emergency plumbing?"

Test in:

• ChatGPT
• Google AI Mode / AI Overviews
• Perplexity
• Gemini
• Claude (web-enabled)

If your business consistently appears with accurate information, that's often more meaningful than a single numeric grade.

What actually matters for local businesses

The biggest predictors of showing up in AI assistants today are:

• Strong Google Business Profile
• Consistent business information (NAP) across directories
• Plenty of recent reviews
• Clear service pages for each service and location
• Schema markup (LocalBusiness, FAQ, Review, Organization)
• Crawlable content (not hidden behind JavaScript)
• Mentions and backlinks from local organizations and reputable websites

AI assistants largely synthesize information from search indexes and trusted sources rather than maintaining separate databases.

If you share your website URL, I can also give you a quick AI visibility audit and point out the highest-impact improvements for appearing in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI results.