People now ask an assistant for a plumber the way they used to ask Google. You can check whether it names you, but almost everyone checks it wrong — and a wrong check is worse than no check, because it tells you something false with total confidence.
Scan your site free → Or book a callAn AI assistant does not give the same answer twice. Ask “who does HVAC in Patchogue” this morning and this afternoon and you will get two different lists, with different businesses in them, in a different order.
So “I asked ChatGPT and you weren’t there” is not a fact. It is one sample of something that moves. Anyone who tells you AI has never heard of your business based on a single question is either careless or selling you something, and you will find out which the moment you ask it yourself and your name comes up.
The fix is boring and it works: ask the same question several times, and write down a rate. Named 0 of 5. Named 2 of 5. Named 5 of 5. That is a fact about a repeatable test, and it survives you checking it yourself — which you should.
The number that matters is not really yours — it’s the one next to the competitor who came up in all five. That is the business the assistant treats as the safe answer in your town.
We ran this on a Long Island heating and cooling company. The business holds 4.9 stars across 499 reviews. By any normal measure it is the strongest reputation in its market.
Four runs, four fresh chats, the same question a customer would ask. Not once.
Named every single run. A third came up in three of four.
Across 499 reviews. Being genuinely good and being the answer are different problems.
That gap is the whole point. Reviews did not make this business the AI’s answer, and the businesses that were the answer are not four times better. Something else decided it.
This is new, and the industry around it is running well ahead of the evidence. So, plainly:
Assistants lean heavily on what is already written about you in places they can read — your Google listing, directories, local press, forum threads, and your own site if it plainly states what you do and which towns you serve. Businesses that are easy to describe in one sentence tend to get named. A site that says “we serve Long Island” gives an assistant nothing to attach to a town.
There is no submission form, no setting, and no agency with a switch. Anyone guaranteeing you a spot in an AI answer is describing something that does not exist. The same was true of Google in 2004, and the guarantees were lies then too.
Because the list is shorter. A Google results page has ten links and a map. An assistant names three businesses and stops. Being fourth on Google is a bad day; being fourth in a list of three is not being there at all.
Before anything clever: make sure the basic, boring facts about your business are correct and consistent everywhere an assistant might read them. Same name, same phone, same towns, on your site and your Google listing. Most local businesses fail this, and it costs nothing to fix.
Then run the test again in a month and see whether the rate moved. That is the only feedback loop that exists right now, and it is the reason to write the number down the first time.
Open a brand-new chat and ask the question a customer would ask — 'who does gutter cleaning in Sayville NY' — not a question with your business name in it. Write down which businesses it names, then repeat at least four more times in fresh chats. Report the result as a rate, like 'named in 1 of 5 runs'. A single question proves nothing, because assistants do not give the same answer twice.
Assistants lean on what is already written about a business in places they can read: the Google listing, directories, local coverage, and the business's own site. A competitor named in every run is usually easier to describe and more consistently documented across those sources, not necessarily better at the job. We tested a company with 4.9 stars across 499 reviews that was named in 0 of 4 runs while two competitors were named in 4 of 4.
No. There is no submission form, no setting and no agency with a switch. Anyone guaranteeing placement in an AI answer is describing something that does not exist.
Not on their own. The clearest case we have measured is a business with 499 reviews at 4.9 stars that was never named across four runs, while competitors with weaker reputations were named every time. Reviews matter for customers and for Maps; they are not the lever here.
The list is much shorter than a search results page. Google shows ten links and a map; an assistant tends to name about three businesses and stop. Being fourth on Google is a bad day. Being fourth in a list of three means you are not in the answer at all.
Monthly is plenty, and always with the same question and the same number of runs, or the comparison means nothing. Write down the rate each time — that is the only feedback loop that currently exists.
The free scan covers your site and your Google listing. If you want the AI test run properly on your business and your competitors, ask on a call — it takes a few minutes.
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