AI visibility
AI visibility tool: find out if ChatGPT names your store
Esplanda asks ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini what your customers ask, and shows whether your store is named, or who is instead.
Each check shows who they name instead of you, and what to fix next.
Esplanda POS and your website are free to start, with no card needed. Add paid tools only when you want them. See how Esplanda works.
“Where can I get a good bottle of wine near me?”
Illustrative example
The check
How the AI visibility check works
You connect what you already have. Esplanda does the asking and keeps the record, the same way every time.
Connect your store
Your Google Business Profile, your website and the places you're already listed.
Set the questions
Written for your trade and area, like “Where can I get a good bourbon nearby?” for a liquor store. Edit any of them.
Ask the assistants
ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, asked the same way each time.
Save every answer
Named or not, who was named instead, and the sources the assistant showed.
Check again, on a schedule
Same questions, same method, so a change in the answers means something.
Try it yourself first
“Which liquor store near me is open late tonight?”
Open ChatGPT and ask, in your own words, what a customer near you would ask. Then ask Perplexity and Gemini the same thing. Whatever comes back is your starting position.
Why a record beats a screenshot
Answers change with the wording, the location, the model version and the week. A record kept the same way over months shows where you stand.
The fixes
Why assistants skip a store, and what Esplanda fixes
An assistant builds its answer from sources it can read and reconcile. Stores get skipped for being hard to describe with confidence, not for being worse. A page can rank well and never be quoted; specifics get quoted.
Why they skip you
Details that don't match
One old phone number on a forgotten listing is enough to make an assistant hedge.
What Esplanda does
Audits your name, address, phone and hours everywhere they appear and lists every mismatch; the corrections are prepared for your OK, or made inside your limits if you choose.
Why they skip you
No plain answers
A site made of slogans gives an assistant nothing to quote.
What Esplanda does
Suggests answer pages for holiday hours, delivery area, the brands you carry and what things cost, and drafts them; nothing publishes until you approve it. See our blog automation and social media automation.
Why they skip you
Stale reviews
A newest review a year old, with no replies, reads as a maybe.
What Esplanda does
You hear when a review needs a reply, a reply is drafted for your approval, and customers are asked for a review after the sale, through our review management software.
Why they skip you
Few mentions elsewhere
Assistants weigh what others say about you more than what you say about yourself.
What Esplanda does
Finds the local directories and community sites that list businesses like yours.
Why they skip you
Crawlers blocked
A template robots.txt file can shut assistants out by accident.
What Esplanda does
Checks that GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot and Google-Extended aren't blocked, and that your site has an llms.txt file: a plain-text list of your most useful pages, with a line on each, so an AI system finds them quickly.
Any new page waits for your approval before it publishes. Read why Esplanda is safe to trust.
How far Esplanda goes is a setting you choose: tell you what to fix, prepare each fix for your approval, or make it inside your limits. See what it costs on Esplanda pricing.
Not the same job
AI visibility is not local SEO
They share a foundation: accurate details and real reviews serve both. After that they split. Search ranks pages and places against a query; an assistant lifts a passage that stands on its own and weighs how consistently you're described.
| Ranking in local search | Being named by an assistant | |
|---|---|---|
| What wins | A page or profile that beats others for a search | A passage that answers a question completely on its own |
| Unit of value | The page | The paragraph |
| Matching details everywhere | Helps | Decisive |
| Mentions on other sites | Links matter | What others say about you matters more |
| Specific facts and prices | Optional | Strongly favored; vague copy is rarely quoted |
| How you check it | By rank | Only by asking again and again and recording the answers |
Both matter, and Esplanda does both. The search side, from your Google Business Profile to your listings, runs in our local SEO software.
Comparing tools
How to choose an AI visibility tool
Most lists of AI visibility tools compare trackers built for brands and agencies. For a local business, six things decide whether an AI search visibility tool gets you named.
Questions from your area
The questions nearby customers ask, written for your trade, not generic brand prompts. Esplanda sets them for you, and you can add your own.
Who gets named instead
A yes or no tells you little. Esplanda records which store each assistant names in your place, question by question.
The sources behind each answer
The listings and pages an assistant leans on show you what to fix first. Every saved answer keeps the sources it showed.
The same check, on a schedule
Answers shift with the wording, the location, the model version and the week. The same questions, asked the same way every time, make a change mean something.
The assistants your customers use
ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, checked side by side, so you see where you're named and where you're missing.
Fixes, not just a score
Mismatched details, missing answer pages, blocked crawlers and stale reviews: Esplanda lists them and gets them fixed as far as you allow.
A standalone tracker, or Esplanda
| What you get | A standalone AI visibility tracker | Esplanda |
|---|---|---|
| What it checks | How often a brand shows up across a set of prompts, often as a score | Whether your store is named for the questions nearby customers ask, and who is named instead |
| Built for | Often brands, agencies and marketing teams | Independent stores, restaurants and service businesses |
| After the check | A report; the fixing is up to you or an agency | What to fix: store details, answer pages, crawler access and reviews, each fix prepared for your OK or made inside your limits, as you choose |
| Listings and reviews | Usually a separate tool | The same system as your listings, your reviews and your register |
| Proof of progress | A score or a report | Every answer saved, check after check: named or not, who was named instead and the sources shown. See how we measure results |
| Where it fits | Good if you already have someone to act on the report | Built for owners who want the fixes done, not only reported |
Questions
AI visibility questions owners ask
What is an AI visibility tool?
An AI visibility tool checks whether AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity mention your business when people ask for a recommendation, and tracks the answers over time. Esplanda also works on the reasons you're left out, from mismatched store details to missing answer pages.
What should I look for in an AI visibility tool?
For a local business, look for questions written for your trade and area, a record of who is named instead and the sources each assistant shows, the same check repeated on a schedule, and help fixing what keeps you out. Esplanda does each of these across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT?
Keep your business details identical everywhere online, publish plain answers to the questions customers ask, keep your reviews current and replied to, and get listed on other local sites. Those are what assistant answers are built from. Esplanda tells you which of the four to fix, prepares the fixes for your approval or makes them inside your limits, and keeps checking whether ChatGPT names you.
How can I check if ChatGPT recommends my business?
Ask ChatGPT the question a nearby customer would ask, in your own words, then ask Perplexity and Gemini the same thing and note who they name. One answer is a snapshot, because answers change with the wording, the location, the model version and the week. Esplanda asks the same questions on a schedule and saves every answer, so you see the trend.
Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor and not me?
Usually because your competitor is easier to describe with confidence. Matching details everywhere, a website that answers questions in full sentences, recent reviews and mentions on other sites all make a business easy to name. Conflicting details and a site made of slogans make one easy to skip.
Should I block AI crawlers like GPTBot?
Not if you want to be recommended. Blocking GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot or Google-Extended keeps your own pages out of what those assistants read and learn from, so they describe you from other sites instead. Many sites block them by accident after copying a template robots.txt file, so Esplanda checks yours.
How long does it take to show up in AI answers?
Fixes to your store details can show within weeks, because assistants often read live sources. Answer pages and mentions on other sites usually take a few months. Esplanda keeps a running record, so you see each change check by check.
How much does Esplanda's AI visibility tool cost?
Esplanda POS and your website are free to start, with no card needed, and you add paid tools only when you want them, with no setup fee, no contract and no per-user fees. Current prices for every line are on Esplanda pricing.
Find out if ChatGPT names your store
Start free today, or book a demo and we'll walk through Esplanda on a business like yours.
Esplanda POS and your website are free to start, with no card needed. Add paid tools only when you want them.
