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AI answer spot-check template

Once a month, ask the AI assistants your customers use the same fixed set of questions, and write down whether you're mentioned and which sources they cite. One run proves little; the trend over several months is what's useful.

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Why a manual check, and its limits

• Published studies of which sites AI assistants cite use different prompts and tools, and one of them (Semrush) saw citation shares swing by tens of percentage points within weeks. So a single result is not a trend.
• Answers may differ by country, signed-in state, wording and day. Keep conditions as constant as you can and record them.
• This tells you what's being said. It can't tell you why, and it doesn't prove any change you made caused a change.

Step 1: write your fixed prompt set (8 to 12)

Use the same wording every month. Swap the words in brackets for yours.

• Local: "best vegan restaurants in [your city]"
• Local, specific: "vegan [dish or product type] near [your neighbourhood]"
• Product: "is [your product] vegan?"
• Category: "best vegan [your product type] in [your country]"
• Comparison: "[your business] vs [a competitor you know]"
• Reputation: "what do people say about [your business]?"
• Service businesses: "who can help with [your service] for vegans?"

Step 2: run them, the same way each time

• Pick the assistants you care about (for example ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI answers).
• Use a fresh chat each time, ideally in a private window.
• Note the date, the assistant, and whether web search or browsing was on.

Step 3: log what you see

Step 4: act on what you find

• If the answer is wrong or out of date, fix the source it is likely drawing from: your own site, your Google Business Profile, your directory listings.
• Note which sites the assistants cite for your topic (for example directories, publishers, forums). Make sure your details there are right. Don't trade links for mentions: Google's spam policy lists exchanging goods or services for links as link spam.
• Add specific, first-hand facts to your site that an answer could quote: what you sell, where, how it's made, certifications you really hold.
• Check analytics for visits from AI assistants. OpenAI says it adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to links.