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How to Measure Your Brand's AI Visibility for Free

A free, repeatable method to track how ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI mention your brand: the prompts to test, what to record, and the metrics.

By freeseobot Editorial · Published · 7 min read

You can measure your brand's AI visibility for free by running a fixed list of 20 to 30 real customer questions through ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI features once a month, and recording in a spreadsheet whether you are mentioned, whether you are linked, what is said, and which competitors appear instead. Add two free data sources to that: Search Console's Generative AI performance report for Google, and AI referral traffic in your analytics. Together they show both whether AI tools talk about you and whether that sends visitors.

This guide gives you the full method, a prompt template, and the metrics worth tracking.

Why measure manually at all?

AI answers are not a fixed ranking. The same question can produce different answers on different days, for different accounts, and even when asked twice in a row. There is no public "position 1" to look up. Google itself warns that "no third-party tool has access to our internal ranking or AI systems".

A consistent manual test does not remove that variation, but it turns it into a trend you can follow. If your mention rate across 25 questions climbs from 4 to 11 over three months, something real has changed.

Step 1: Build your prompt list

Write 20 to 30 questions your customers genuinely ask. Spread them across five types:

Prompt type What it tests Example for a Leeds heating firm
Category Whether you appear for the service at all "Who are the best boiler engineers in Leeds?"
Problem Whether you are suggested as a solution "My combi boiler keeps losing pressure, who can fix it in Leeds?"
Comparison How you are positioned against rivals "Hartley Heating or [main competitor] for a boiler service?"
Brand Whether facts about you are correct "What does Hartley Heating charge for a boiler service?"
Informational Whether your content is cited as a source "How often should a combi boiler be serviced?"

Tips:

  • Use natural language, the way a customer would type or speak, not keyword strings.
  • Include your location for local services, because answers often depend on it.
  • Freeze the list. Changing the questions each month breaks the comparison. Add new ones in a separate section.

Step 2: Choose the platforms and set up fair conditions

Test the tools your customers are likely to use: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google Search (for AI Overviews and AI Mode).

To keep results comparable:

  • Use a temporary or incognito chat where the tool offers one, or a fresh conversation, so earlier chats and saved memory do not steer the answer.
  • Make sure web search is on, if the tool lets you choose. Links and citations come from live search.
  • Note the date, the tool, and the model or mode shown on screen, since providers change models over time.
  • Run each prompt twice. If the two answers differ, record both. Variation is part of the data.

Step 3: Record the same fields every time

Set up one spreadsheet row per prompt, per platform, per run:

Column What to enter
Date Date of the test
Platform and mode For example "Perplexity, default search"
Prompt Exact wording from your list
Mentioned? Yes or no: is your brand named anywhere in the answer?
Position First, among several, or last if listed
Linked? Yes or no: is your website cited as a source?
URL cited Which page was linked
Accurate? Are prices, location, services and hours correct?
Sentiment Positive, neutral or negative
Competitors named Every rival mentioned
Other sources cited Directories, review sites, forums, news articles

The "other sources cited" column is often the most useful. If AI tools repeatedly cite a particular directory, review site or local news page for your category, getting an accurate, genuine listing or mention there is a practical next step.

Step 4: Turn the rows into four metrics

Metric How to calculate What it tells you
Mention rate Answers mentioning you ÷ total answers Overall awareness across AI tools
Citation rate Answers linking your site ÷ total answers Whether your own pages are used as sources
Share of voice Your mentions ÷ all brand mentions (you plus competitors) How you compare with rivals
Accuracy rate Accurate answers ÷ answers that mention you Whether AI tools describe you correctly

Track each one per platform as well as overall. It is common to do well on one tool and be absent from another, which usually points to a crawler access or indexing difference.

Step 5: Add the free data sources

Manual tests show what AI tools say. These sources show what happens next.

Google Search Console: Generative AI performance report

Since 31 August 2026 every Search Console property has a Generative AI performance report, showing how often your pages appeared in AI Overviews and AI Mode, broken down by page, country, device and date. It currently reports impressions only, not clicks. A separate report covers generative AI features in Discover.

Our free rank checker uses your own Search Console data, so you can see your regular Google positions next to this.

Analytics: AI referral traffic

OpenAI says ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to links it sends people through, so ChatGPT visits are easy to segment in Google Analytics and similar tools. Also look at referral sources for other AI services in your analytics. Some apps do not pass referrer information, so treat these numbers as a minimum.

Server logs: crawler visits

If your host gives you access logs, search for these user agents to confirm AI search crawlers are reaching your pages:

OAI-SearchBot
ChatGPT-User
Claude-SearchBot
Claude-User
PerplexityBot
Perplexity-User

No visits from a search crawler over several weeks suggests it may be blocked. Our AI visibility checker reads your robots.txt and tells you which of these crawlers are allowed, and our robots.txt guide for AI crawlers shows how to fix any blocks.

Step 6: Act on what you find

Finding Likely cause What to do
Never mentioned on one platform Its search crawler is blocked, or you are not in its index Check robots.txt, firewall and indexing
Mentioned but never linked Others describe you, but your own pages lack a quotable answer Put direct answers near the top of key pages
Wrong prices or details Outdated pages, directories or profiles Update your site, Business Profile and listings so they match
Competitors dominate comparisons They have more original content or third-party coverage Publish specific, first-hand content; earn genuine reviews
Only cited for informational questions Content is helpful but not tied to your services Link guides to service pages and make offers clear

Our guide to GEO and getting cited by AI search covers these improvements in more depth.

How often should you test?

Monthly is a sensible rhythm for most small businesses: frequent enough to spot change, light enough to keep up. Twenty-five prompts across five platforms, run twice, is 250 answers, which takes a few hours. If that is too much, cut to ten core prompts and three platforms rather than testing irregularly.

FAQ

Is there a free tool that shows my exact ranking in ChatGPT?

No tool can show a fixed ranking, because ChatGPT does not have one: answers vary by conversation and over time. Tools can automate the prompt testing described here, but the method is the same.

Can Google Search Console show AI Overview clicks?

Not separately at the moment. The Generative AI performance report shows impressions. AI Overview and AI Mode clicks are included in the overall Performance report under the "Web" search type, mixed with other search clicks.

Why does my brand appear in Perplexity but not ChatGPT?

Each tool runs its own search and crawler. Check that both OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot are allowed in your robots.txt, and that your firewall does not block either. Differences in which sources each tool trusts also play a part.

How many prompts do I need for reliable results?

There is no official number. Twenty to thirty prompts, each run at least twice, gives enough answers to see a trend while staying manageable. Consistency month to month matters more than volume.

Sources

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