How can I check whether AI assistants mention my brand?
All guidesUpdated 6 steps
TL;DR
Ask the assistants the questions your buyers ask, and record which brands and sources each answer names. Use a fixed list of about ten questions, half that name you or a competitor and half that name no brand. Run the same list on a schedule, note the assistant and date for every result, and never edit the list, or the trend stops meaning anything.
Assistants do not tell you when they mention you, and most conversations leave no trace you can see. A visit from a chat answer may show up in your analytics as a referral, or it may not. So the only direct way to know is to ask.
Asking once tells you little. The same question can get a different answer an hour later, in another account or another country. What gives you a signal is a fixed set of questions, asked the same way, again and again.
Step by step
- Step 1
Write ten questions in your buyers' words
Write them the way a person types into a chat box, as full questions. Make half of them branded-adjacent: your product against a competitor, alternatives to a competitor, or whether your product suits a job. Make the other half unbranded, such as the best tool for a specific audience or how to do a job without a specific pain.
- Step 2
Lock the list before the first check
Edit the questions now, then freeze them. A score against a changed list is a different measurement under the same name. If you think of a better question later, start a new list with a new baseline instead of editing the old one.
- Step 3
Run each question in a clean session
Use a logged-out window or a temporary chat with memory off, so past conversations do not steer the answer. Note the assistant, the model if it is shown, the date and your location. Run the full list in one sitting.
- Step 4
Record names and links, not impressions
For each answer, write down which brands it names, in what order, and which source links it shows. Record a mention of your name and a link to your domain as two separate results. A competitor's page that mentions you is their page, not yours.
- Step 5
Repeat on a schedule and read the trend
Run the same list weekly, or more often while you are making changes. Report each run as a count of the questions that ran, with the branded and unbranded halves shown separately. A question that failed to run is not measured, and it never counts as a zero.
- Step 6
Act on the questions where you are absent
For each unbranded question where you never appear, look at the sources the answer used. Improve the page that should answer it, or get listed accurately on the sources the answer relies on. RankingTop's free scan checks which domains show up for a few buyer questions, and paid plans run ten locked prompts on a schedule.
Questions people ask next
Can I just ask ChatGPT whether it knows my brand?
You can, but it measures the wrong thing. A question that names you invites an answer about you, so it says little about whether a stranger looking for your category would hear your name. The unbranded questions are the ones that show that.
Why do I get a different answer each time?
Assistants generate answers rather than look them up, and when they search the web, the results can differ each time. Your account history, your location and the model version change the result too. That is why one check is an anecdote and a locked set, run repeatedly, is a measurement.
Is showing up in search results the same as being cited?
No. Checking whether your domain appears in the search results for a question is a proxy: an assistant that searches can only quote pages it can retrieve, but it may retrieve yours and still not quote it. Asking the models directly measures the answer itself, so always label which method you used.
Do I need a paid tool for this?
No. A spreadsheet, a fixed list and a calendar reminder are enough to start. A tool saves time once you track many questions, several assistants or many sites, and it should tell you which method it uses.