FAQ
AI visibility FAQ
Updated September 30, 2026
Short answers to the questions people ask about AI visibility, generative engine optimization and citecheck.
What is AI visibility?
AI visibility is how often AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini recommend your product, service or place when someone asks them for one. More buyers now ask an assistant instead of searching, and the assistant names two or three options. Being one of them is the new first page of Google.
What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?
Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is the work of getting AI assistants to recommend and cite you. It is also called answer engine optimization (AEO) or LLM SEO. It overlaps with SEO, because assistants that search read web pages, but the goal is different: being named in one generated answer rather than ranking in a list of links.
How do I check if ChatGPT recommends my business?
Ask it the questions your buyers ask, several times, and note whether you are named and where. citecheck does this for you: it writes the questions from your website, asks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other assistants, and scores how often you are recommended. The free audit takes a few minutes and needs only an email address.
Why doesn't ChatGPT mention my brand?
Usually because the pages it reads don't mention you. When ChatGPT searches, it recommends what the top results for the question recommend: review sites, comparison articles, "best of" lists and forum threads. If you are missing from those, you are missing from the answer. citecheck shows which pages the answers read, and which of them name a competitor instead of you. The guide covers what to do about it.
How do I get recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude?
Get onto the pages they read, make your own site easy to quote, let their crawlers in, and measure again. The guide to getting recommended by AI walks through each step.
Why does an AI give a different answer every time I ask?
Because assistants sample their words and, when they search, the results they read change too. The same question can name you on one try and miss you on the next. That's why citecheck's tracked runs ask every question five times on every assistant and score the pattern, not one reply.
Which AI assistants does citecheck check?
Seven: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Qwen. ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini search the web before answering, and their answers make up your score. Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Qwen answer from training data through the APIs citecheck uses, so they are reported beside the score, not in it. How it works explains why.
Is it the same answer the ChatGPT app gives?
Close, but not identical. citecheck asks each assistant through its API, with web search on where the API offers it. The consumer apps add their own instructions, personalisation and memory, so a person's own app can answer differently.
Does citecheck work for local businesses and services?
Yes. An audit can be about a product, a service or a place, such as a dentist, a restaurant or an agency. For places, citecheck asks the way locals do, mostly "best X in Y" and "near me" questions, using the location you give it.
How much does citecheck cost?
The free audit costs nothing and never expires: 5 buyer questions on ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and DeepSeek. Paid plans are $29, $79 and $199 a month, with all seven assistants. The pricing section says which paid features are live today.
How is citecheck different from Otterly, Profound or Peec?
They track AI visibility for brand teams, at brand-team prices; citecheck is built for founders, small teams and agencies. It also scores only the assistants that searched, asks each tracked question five times, and never counts a failed call as absent. citecheck vs Otterly compares the two side by side, prices included.
What data does citecheck send to AI providers?
The questions and your subject's details: its name, website, category, description, location and competitors. Never your email address. The privacy policy lists every provider.