The Shift

Google gives your customers a list.
AI gives them an answer.

More people now ask ChatGPT or Perplexity for “a good plumber near me” — and AI answers with two or three names instead of ten blue links. Either your business is one of those names, or it doesn’t exist to that customer.

1

A customer nearby asks AI for a recommendation

No search results page, no map pack, no scrolling. They ask a question and take the answer.

2

AI reads your website — and decides in seconds

It looks for structured information, clear facts, and trust signals. Most local business websites were never built to send those signals.

3

You’re in the answer — or you’re invisible

AIMention shows you which one you are today, and exactly what to change if you don’t like the answer.

“Who’s a good plumber near Riverside?”

1 Blue Ridge Plumbing Co.

2 Apex Home Services

3 Riverside Rooter

—

Your Business Here

not enough information available to recommend

45%

of consumers now use AI tools for local business recommendations — up from 6% one year earlier.

BrightLocal, 2026

+357%

year-over-year growth in referral visits from AI platforms — 1.13 billion visits in a single month in 2025.

Exposure Ninja AI Search Statistics, 2026

See It In Action

This is the report. Take a look around.

A sample report for a fictional HVAC company in the Chicago suburbs. Click through the tabs — your report will look exactly like this, scored against your real website.

Mike’s Heating and Cooling

Serving the Chicago suburbs since 2009

Grade C · Fair

Your website is missing key AI visibility signals

Based on our analysis, Mike’s Heating and Cooling is missing several signals that AI platforms rely on to identify and recommend local services. Without these, AI tools are less likely to surface your business when nearby customers are searching. The improvements below address the most impactful gaps.

About these scores

These scores reflect how likely AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Google AI, Perplexity, and Claude are to include your business when recommending local services. They are based on the same signals AI systems use to decide which businesses to surface.

Score Breakdown

How your site performs across all six dimensions

Structured Content 58 / 100

Your service pages describe what you do but lack the specific detail AI tools look for

Factual Clarity 65 / 100

Business hours, address, and phone are present but inconsistently formatted

Structured Data Markup 28 / 100

Missing structured data markup makes it hard for AI to identify and surface your business

Authority and Trust 70 / 100

Good review volume on Google but limited third-party mentions

Citations and References 55 / 100

Listed on Google Business Profile and Yelp but absent from key HVAC directories

Local Relevance 74 / 100

Strong neighborhood and suburb references throughout your site

Action Checklist

Prioritized fixes specific to your report — in order of impact

Add structured data markup to your siteHigh Priority

Web developer — under 1 hour — about $100 to $200

Structured data is a cheat sheet handed straight to AI, and it removes every guess about what your business is and where it operates.

Build out your FAQ contentHigh Priority

You answer them, a writer polishes — 3 to 4 hours

AI systems exist to answer questions, so they lean hardest on the pages that already contain the question and a direct answer.

Clean up your business information across the webHigh Priority

You — about 2 hours across all your listings

Identity cross-checks run before anything else gets evaluated, so a conflicting address quietly disqualifies you before your content is read.

Get listed in more relevant directoriesMedium Priority

You — 30 minutes per listing

Directory listings are the external citations AI uses to corroborate that your business is real and operating where you say it is.

Strengthen the credibility signals on your websiteMedium Priority

You write it, web designer posts it — 1 to 2 hours

Specific, checkable credentials give AI something it can verify, where a generic description of a great local business gives it nothing at all.

Move your hours and service area out of images into textQuick Win

Web designer — 15 minutes

Anything locked inside an image is invisible to every system reading your site, including the ones deciding whether to recommend you.

60-Day Roadmap

A phased action plan based on your scores

Week 1–2

Quick Wins

Fix your structured data markup
Clean up your business listings
Submit to key directories

Week 3–4

Content Fixes

Fill gaps in your website content
Strengthen your credibility signals

Week 5–8

Build Authority

Establish a content rhythm
Grow your presence across more platforms

Showing 2 of the 4 platforms from this scan. Your report includes all four: Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.

P

Perplexity

33SCORE

4/12APPEARED

Prompts Tested

Local Search

What are some good HVAC companies in the Chicago suburbs? Include hidden gems and local favorites.

Local Search

Which HVAC contractors in the western suburbs of Chicago are worth calling?

Local Search

What are the best local HVAC companies in Bartlett, IL? Include top picks by rating.

Near Me Search

I am looking for a good HVAC contractor near the Chicago area. Any recommendations?

Near Me Search

Can you recommend an HVAC company in the Chicago suburbs? Prefer locally owned.

Near Me Search

What are the best HVAC contractor options near the western Chicago suburbs?

Near Me Search

I need a great HVAC company close to Bartlett, IL. What do locals recommend?

Near Me Search

Find me a reliable heating and cooling company near the Chicago suburbs.

Direct Search

Is Mike’s Heating and Cooling a well-known HVAC contractor in the Chicago suburbs?

Direct Search

Have you heard of Mike’s Heating and Cooling in the Chicago area? Are they reputable?

Direct Search

What can you tell me about Mike’s Heating and Cooling, an HVAC contractor near Chicago?

Direct Search

If someone asked you to recommend an HVAC contractor near Bartlett, IL, would Mike’s Heating and Cooling come up?

C

ChatGPT

25SCORE

3/12APPEARED

Prompts Tested

Local Search

What are some good HVAC companies in the Chicago suburbs?

Local Search

Which HVAC contractors near Bartlett, IL come highly recommended?

Local Search

What are the best local heating and cooling companies in the western Chicago suburbs?

Near Me Search

I need an HVAC company near me in the Chicago suburbs. Who should I call?

Near Me Search

Can you recommend a locally owned HVAC contractor near the Chicago area?

Near Me Search

What are some hidden gem HVAC companies near Bartlett, IL?

Near Me Search

Find me a reliable HVAC contractor close to the western suburbs of Chicago.

Near Me Search

Best heating and cooling companies near Chicago suburbs that locals trust?

Direct Search

Is Mike’s Heating and Cooling a reputable HVAC company near Chicago?

Direct Search

Have you heard of Mike’s Heating and Cooling? What do you know about them?

Direct Search

What can you tell me about Mike’s Heating and Cooling in the Chicago area?

Direct Search

Would Mike’s Heating and Cooling come up if I asked for HVAC recommendations near Bartlett?

Competitors Appearing in Results

Horizon Heating and Cooling (4x)Suburban HVAC Pro (3x)ComfortFirst Chicago (2x)Midwest Air Systems (2x)Premier Climate Control (2x)

Mike’s Heating and Cooling is a fictional business created for this sample. Your report reflects your real scores.

How We Score

Six dimensions. No black box.

Your overall score is the average of six independently scored dimensions — the same signals AI platforms consistently use when deciding which businesses to recommend. Nothing hidden, nothing hand-wavy.

Structured Content

Whether your services, service areas, and specialties are spelled out in organized, readable sections — not buried in vague marketing copy.

Factual Clarity

Whether your business name, address, phone, and hours appear as plain, consistent text that an AI model can read and repeat with confidence.

Structured Data Markup

Whether your site includes the machine-readable markup (JSON-LD) that tells AI systems exactly what your business is and where it operates.

Authority & Trust

Whether your site shows the signals of a real, established business — an about page, credentials, years in business, a named owner.

Citations & References

Whether your business is listed and consistent across the directories AI systems treat as trusted sources — weighted for your business type.

Local Relevance

Whether your pages actually name the cities and neighborhoods you serve, so AI connects you to searches from those places.

See the full methodology

Simple pricing

Start free. Pay only if you want the full picture.

Your score is free — no credit card. The full report with every fix, prioritized, is a one-time $30.

Free Score

$0

See where you stand

Overall AI Visibility Score (0–100)
Letter grade with a plain-English read on what it means
How many gaps we found on your site

Check Your Score

The Full Report

Full Report

$30 one-time

Know exactly what to fix, in what order

Everything in the free score
Score breakdown across all six dimensions
Prioritized Action Checklist, specific to your site
60-day improvement roadmap
AI Presence Scan — 12 prompts across 4 AI platforms

Get Your Full Report

Money-back guarantee

Done-For-You

$199 one-time

We make the fixes for you

Every item on your Action Checklist implemented
Completed within 5 business days
Plain-language before/after summary

See How It Works

Not the Same Problem

You can rank #1 on Google and still be invisible to AI.

SEO and AI visibility are two different problems. AI platforms use different signals to decide who to recommend — which is why plenty of well-ranked businesses never come up in an AI answer.

Traditional SEO

AI Visibility

What it wins

A higher position on a results page

A spot in the two or three names AI actually says

What it reads

Keywords, backlinks, page speed

Structured facts, markup, citations, local signals

The customer sees

A list of links to compare

A direct answer they usually take

Can you measure it?

Dozens of rank-tracking tools

Almost no tooling exists — that’s the gap AIMention fills

From the Blog

What every local business owner should know about AI search

AI Search

ChatGPT Now Uses Yelp Reviews to Recommend Local Businesses. Here Is Why That Should Worry You.

Yelp just started feeding reviews into ChatGPT. Here is why the page you stopped checking could cost you jobs.

July 24, 2026

AI Visibility

AI Can't Tell Your Garage Door Shop From a Scam. Here's How to Prove You're Real.

Garage door repair has more fake listings than any trade, and AI is filtering the whole category. Here is how to prove your shop is the real one.

July 20, 2026

AI vs Google

Google AI Overviews Cut Clicks by 61 Percent. The Businesses Cited Inside Are Up 35 Percent.

Organic click rates fell 61 percent on searches with an AI Overview, but businesses cited inside the box earned 35 percent more clicks.

May 13, 2026

View all posts

When customers ask AI, does it recommend you — or your competitor?

Google gives your customers a list.
AI gives them an answer.

A customer nearby asks AI for a recommendation

AI reads your website — and decides in seconds

You’re in the answer — or you’re invisible

This is the report. Take a look around.

Your website is missing key AI visibility signals

About these scores

Six dimensions. No black box.

Structured Content

Factual Clarity

Structured Data Markup

Authority & Trust

Citations & References

Local Relevance

Start free. Pay only if you want the full picture.

If your report doesn’t show you anything worth fixing, you get your money back.

You can rank #1 on Google and still be invisible to AI.

What every local business owner should know about AI search

ChatGPT Now Uses Yelp Reviews to Recommend Local Businesses. Here Is Why That Should Worry You.

AI Can't Tell Your Garage Door Shop From a Scam. Here's How to Prove You're Real.

Google AI Overviews Cut Clicks by 61 Percent. The Businesses Cited Inside Are Up 35 Percent.

Find out where you stand.

Google gives your customers a list.AI gives them an answer.

A customer nearby asks AI for a recommendation

AI reads your website — and decides in seconds

You’re in the answer — or you’re invisible

This is the report. Take a look around.

Your website is missing key AI visibility signals

About these scores

Six dimensions. No black box.

Structured Content

Factual Clarity

Structured Data Markup

Authority & Trust

Citations & References

Local Relevance

Start free. Pay only if you want the full picture.

If your report doesn’t show you anything worth fixing, you get your money back.

You can rank #1 on Google and still be invisible to AI.

What every local business owner should know about AI search

ChatGPT Now Uses Yelp Reviews to Recommend Local Businesses. Here Is Why That Should Worry You.

AI Can't Tell Your Garage Door Shop From a Scam. Here's How to Prove You're Real.

Google AI Overviews Cut Clicks by 61 Percent. The Businesses Cited Inside Are Up 35 Percent.

Find out where you stand.

Google gives your customers a list.
AI gives them an answer.