AI visibility for local businesses
When a customer asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI Mode which business to choose in your town, are you in the answer? PinRipple asks them the questions your customers ask, and shows who gets named and which sites the answers rely on.
Why AI answers matter to a local business
Customers can now ask an AI assistant for a recommendation instead of scrolling through a list of results. An answer names only a few businesses, picked from what the assistant finds about them online: business listings, websites, directories and review sites.
Search Console and your Business Profile statistics don't show what these answers say about you, and the answers change with the question and the town. The simplest way to know is to ask, the way your customers do.
How the AI answers check works
Choose your questions
Once your first scan is done, choose up to three questions per check, such as “Which dentist in Leeds do you recommend?” PinRipple suggests them from the search terms you track and the town your customers search in, and you can write your own.
We ask three assistants
Each question goes to ChatGPT and Gemini as if asked from your country, and to Google's AI Mode as if asked from your area. Each answer uses 2 credits, so three questions on three assistants use 18.
See who is named
For every answer: whether your business is named, which businesses are named instead, and which websites the answer cites.
The results feed PinRipple's tips: when you are missing from most answers, a tip lists the sites those answers cited, so you can check that you are listed there.
How to get named more often
There is no trick. Google says there are no extra requirements or special optimizations to appear in its AI Overviews or AI Mode: the usual SEO basics apply, including keeping your Business Profile information up to date.
- Keep your Google Business Profile complete and accurate: categories, hours, phone, website, photos and description. Our Google Business Profile checklist covers each field.
- Be listed where the answers look. The sites cited in your check, often directories, review sites and local guides, are the places to be, with the same name, address and phone as on Google.
- Say clearly what you do and where, in plain text on your website: your services, and the towns you serve.
- Let AI search crawlers in. OpenAI says sites that opt out of its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, are not shown in ChatGPT search answers, so check that your website's robots.txt doesn't block it.
- Keep collecting reviews, and reply to them: they help on Google Maps, and they are part of what assistants can read about you.
Then run the check again in a month. PinRipple shows your latest check, so note today's result, such as named in 2 of 6 answers, to compare.
AI answers and Google Maps rankings
They are not the same thing. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence, so your Google Maps position changes from street to street. An AI answer names a few businesses for a whole town. PinRipple checks both: a map of your Google Maps ranking for each search term, and the AI answers for the same searches.
What it costs
The AI answers check comes with every plan and with the 15-day free trial. Each answer uses 2 credits: three questions on three assistants use 18 credits, so the trial's 1,000 credits leave plenty for your Google Maps scans. Plans start at $9 a month for 5,000 credits.
Questions
Which AI assistants does PinRipple check?
ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Mode. Each question goes to all three.
Can I ask my own questions?
Yes. PinRipple suggests questions from your search terms and your town, and you can change them or write your own, up to three per check.
Does it work in French?
Yes. With PinRipple in French, the suggested questions are in French, and you can write your own in either language.
Why is my business not named?
Usually because the assistant found other businesses more often on the sites it relies on. Check which sites the answers cite, make sure you are listed there with the same details as on Google, and keep your Business Profile complete.
How often should I check?
Once a month is enough for most businesses, and again after a big change to your profile or website. Answers can vary from one day to the next, so don't read too much into a single check.
Sources
See if AI assistants name your business
The 15-day free trial includes the AI answers check, with 1,000 credits and no card.
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