Start with a buyer’s need, rather than your brand name. A question that already names your business tests something different from a neutral request for options.
1. Write five useful buyer questions
Use specific questions that reflect the job the customer wants to do. “Which tools help a small design agency collect client feedback?” is more interpretable than “What is the best software?”
These are suggested research questions, not verified high-volume queries. Keep branded checks in a separate group.
2. Choose the interfaces deliberately
Pick two AI interfaces relevant to your audience. Record their names, the date, whether search was enabled where visible and the context you provided. Do not assume a developer API behaves exactly like the consumer interface.
Run the same five questions twice per interface. That gives twenty exploratory observations—not a representative estimate of all customer experiences.
3. Keep the actual evidence
Save the exact question and answer, which businesses were named, whether a recommendation was made and which sources were cited. Record failures separately: an unavailable response is not an answer that omitted your business.
Do not paste confidential business or customer information into a public AI service for this exercise.
4. Describe what you observed
You can report that a brand appeared in a specific number of the completed observations. Always show the numerator and denominator and keep the question set and method visible.
You cannot conclude from that alone that a certain percentage of all buyers will see your brand.
5. Select one investigation
Look for incorrect service descriptions, outdated sources or questions your public material does not clearly address. Check the evidence before deciding what to update.
The goal is a useful baseline, not a promise of increased rankings.
Get the worksheet and CSV to run this process yourself.
Further reading
Google’s guidance for websites and AI Search features explains why normal search fundamentals remain relevant. It does not establish that any particular business will be recommended in an AI answer.