The 15-minute AI visibility checklist for local businesses

About 15 minutes to see where you stand. After that, do one fix a week. The fixes come from the copy-paste kits we write for businesses.

Part 1: Check (about 15 minutes)

• 1. Write down 3 questions a new customer would type. Example: "best emergency plumber in Henderson NV".
• 2. Ask all 3 in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini. That gives you 9 answers. Put your city in each question, and use a private or logged-out window so past chats don't change the answer.
• 3. For each answer, write down three things: were you named, who was named instead, and which websites were cited or linked. If an answer shows no sources, write "none".
• 4. Circle the competitor named most often and the website cited most often. Those are your two targets.

Part 2: Fix (one a week)

• 5. Homepage sentence. Near the top of your homepage, say plainly what you sell, who it's for, and where. Template: "[Business] provides [service] for [who] in [city or area]." Clear, simple facts are easier for AIs to repeat.
• 6. FAQ section. Answer the questions from step 1 on your own site, 2-3 sentences each. Include your real price range, service area and hours. Skip "best" and "#1".
• 7. Business info code. Ask your web person, or use your site builder's custom-code box, to add LocalBusiness schema. It's a small block of code that labels your name, address, phone, service area and services for search engines and AIs. Use exactly the same details as your Google Business Profile.
• 8. Google Business Profile. Verify it, fill in every field, keep your hours current and add photos. Google says complete, accurate info, verification and reviews can help your ranking in Google's local results (Search and Maps). See Google's tips. Google also says you can't pay for a better local ranking. Google doesn't say how any of this affects AI answers.
• 9. Get onto the sites the AIs cite. For each site from step 3, claim or update your profile, or politely ask to be added to the list. Reuse the sentence from step 5.
• 10. Reviews. Ask recent happy customers for a review by email or text, with a direct link. Reply to the reviews you get. Check each site's rules first: some, like Yelp, don't allow asking for reviews at all. Never offer a discount or gift for a review (Google doesn't allow it), and never buy or fake reviews. Health and dental practices: never mention patient details when you reply.
• 11. Comparison page. If one competitor keeps coming up, write a fair "[You] vs [Them]" page that says who each one is best for. Check every fact about them before you publish, and never say anything you can't back up.
• 12. Check again in 7 days. Ask the same questions. AI answers change from one ask to the next, so look for a pattern, not a single answer.

Want help with it?

• Free check: we ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini 3 buyer questions about you.
• $19 Report + Fix Kit (one-time): 10 questions across all 3 AIs (30 answers). It writes the text and code for steps 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11, ready to fill in and paste. See a real sample. No ranking promises. If it isn't useful, you get a full refund within 7 days.