Your customers are asking AI assistants for recommendations instead of Google. Are you in the answer?
Introduction
When a prospect has a problem, they don’t always turn to Google anymore. They open ChatGPT. Or Claude. Or Gemini. They ask: “What’s the best email security platform for small businesses?” or “Who can help us redesign our website?” or “What financial software do small companies use?”
And here’s the uncomfortable question: does the AI mention your company?
For most businesses, the answer is no. And if your competitor gets mentioned and you don’t, you’ve lost a lead before the prospect even searched your name.
This is AI visibility — a new business problem that nobody’s talking about yet, and it might already be costing you sales.
What Is AI Visibility?
AI visibility is simple: it’s whether AI assistants mention your company when people ask questions in your industry.
If someone asks ChatGPT “best DMARC providers,” and PowerDMARC gets recommended but you don’t — that’s a visibility problem. If a business owner asks Claude “who can build a WordPress website in Luton,” and your competitor appears in the answer but you don’t — that’s a visibility problem.
Unlike search engine rankings (which you can optimize for), AI visibility happens in a black box. The AI was trained on data that may or may not include you. It makes recommendations based on patterns it learned, sources it was trained on, and how well those sources are cited.
You can’t game it. But you can measure it. And you should.
Why This Matters Now (Not Later)
Three reasons AI visibility is urgent in 2026:
1. Customers are already asking AI. If you work in B2B, your prospects are already using AI to research vendors. They’re not hiding it — they’re doing it openly, because it’s faster than Googling. By 2027, asking AI for recommendations will be the norm, not the exception.
2. AI mentions are citations. When an AI recommends you, it usually cites your website, your case studies, or your reviews (from G2, Trustpilot, etc.). That citation is a vote of confidence that drives real results. More citations = more credibility = more trust.
3. Your competitors are already visible. You don’t have to guess. Run a test: ask ChatGPT a question about your industry. Count how many of your competitors appear. Odds are, at least three do. And you probably don’t.
The Score: What Good AI Visibility Looks Like
AI visibility breaks down into a simple score (0–100):
- 0–40 (Low): AI assistants barely mention you, or only in generic contexts. Your industry appears, but your company doesn’t. This is a prospect magnet — it shows businesses exactly what they’re missing.
- 40–70 (Moderate): You appear in some conversations, but competitors are cited more often or more confidently. This is where you compete for mindshare — you’re close, but not dominant.
- 70+ (Strong): AI consistently recommends you, cites your sources, and prefers you over competitors. This is where word-of-mouth and content quality have won.
The interesting part: most businesses sit at 0–40. That’s not a failure — it’s an opportunity.
How to Measure Your AI Visibility (Free)
We built a free tool to show you exactly what AI says about your company. Here’s how it works:
- Enter your domain.
- We ask ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini a tailored set of questions about your business (no jargon, real questions your customers would ask).
- You get a score: how visible you are, which competitors beat you, and which sources AI cites most.
- See the findings: usually one of three things: “AI doesn’t know you exist,” “AI mentions you but your competitor more,” or “You’re winning.”
It takes 60 seconds. Zero credit card. [Try the free scan →]
Three Reasons Your AI Visibility Is Probably Low
1. Your website isn’t cited enough. AI learns from sources it trusts. If your website isn’t linked from industry directories, review sites, or partner websites, AI has nothing to learn from. You exist, but the AI doesn’t have good sources about you.
2. You’re competing on keywords, not trust. Google rewards keywords. AI rewards trust signals: reviews, press mentions, citations from high-authority sources, case studies that solve real problems. If you’re optimized for search but not for credibility, AI won’t recommend you.
3. Nobody’s explicitly describing what you do. If your website says “enterprise solutions” and your competitor’s website says “we fix broken DMARC configurations for accountancy firms,” the AI knows exactly who does what. Specificity wins.
What to Do About It (The Easy Wins)
Improving your AI visibility isn’t complicated. Here are three concrete moves:
- Get listed on trusted directories (G2, Trustpilot, industry-specific directories) and ask clients to review you. AI cites these.
- Write content about specific problems you solve (not generic marketing speak). “How to fix DMARC in Microsoft 365” beats “enterprise email security solutions.”
- Ask happy customers to link to you (in blog posts, case studies, partner pages). Backlinks from trusted sources teach AI that you’re credible.
None of this is hard. It just requires knowing what to prioritize.
For MSPs and Agencies: This Is Your Lead Gen Play
If you sell services to businesses, AI visibility is your new funnel top. Here’s why:
A prospect with low AI visibility is a warm lead. They don’t know they have a problem yet, but once you show them (with the free scan), they do. They’re motivated to fix it. And the fix usually involves working with a specialist — you.
This is the same motion as DMARC reports: show them the problem, offer a solution.
The Honest Truth
AI visibility isn’t magic. It’s not a ranking system you can hack. It’s a reflection of real credibility — whether your sources are trustworthy, whether businesses actually use you, and whether you’re solving real problems.
If your AI visibility is low, it probably means your overall visibility is low. Fix that, and AI visibility follows.
Try the Free Scan
See what ChatGPT says about your company →
Takes 60 seconds. No credit card. You’ll get:
- Your AI Visibility Score
- Which competitors rank higher
- What to fix first
Not ready to scan? Meet us.
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