How to Check If AI Can Actually Find Your Business
When someone in Katy asks ChatGPT for "a good HVAC company near me," the AI gives an answer. The only question is whether your business is in it. This is a new kind of visibility - sometimes called GEO (generative engine optimization) - and most local businesses have never checked theirs. Here is how to do it in about 15 minutes, no tools required.
Step 1: Ask the AI directly
Open ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google and ask the question your customers would ask: "best [your service] in [your city]." Do not ask about your business by name - ask the generic question. If you show up unprompted, you have real AI visibility. If you only show up when named, the AI knows you exist but does not recommend you. If you do not show up at all, keep reading.
Step 2: Check that Google has actually indexed you
AI models lean heavily on search indexes. Search Google for site:yourwebsite.com. Every important page should appear. If pages are missing, AI models are working from incomplete information about you - or none at all.
Step 3: Look at your site the way a machine does
AI systems read structured data, not your design. Paste your homepage URL into Google's Rich Results Test or validator.schema.org. You are looking for LocalBusiness or Organization markup with your name, address, phone number, and services. If the validator finds nothing, the machines are guessing at what you do.
Step 4: Check your consistency across the web
Search your business name plus your city. Look at your Google Business Profile, Yelp, Facebook, and any directories. Your name, address, and phone number should match everywhere, exactly. AI models cross-reference sources, and inconsistent information makes you look unreliable - so they leave you out of answers rather than risk being wrong.
Step 5: Give AI a front door
A growing standard called llms.txt lets you publish a plain-language summary of your business at yourwebsite.com/llms.txt - who you are, what you do, where you serve, how to reach you. It costs nothing, takes an hour, and hands AI models exactly the information you want them to repeat. We run one on this site.
What to do with the results
If you passed all five checks, you are ahead of most local businesses. If you failed a few, the fixes are straightforward: get indexed, add schema markup, clean up your citations, publish an llms.txt. None of it requires ripping your website apart.
If you want the thorough version, we built a tool for exactly this: DidItIndex runs 41 automated checks across indexing, structured data, and AI citability, and you get 5 free scans on signup. And if you would rather have someone just handle it, that is literally what we do for Katy businesses.