Send one page with four answers. Are we named when buyers ask, and how often. Is what the assistants say about us right. Who is named in our place. What we will fix first, and when we will check again. Put the questions, assistants and dates on the back, so anyone can see where the numbers came from.
The question often arrives after someone typed the company name into ChatGPT and read a paragraph about it. That is the wrong test. Asked by name, an assistant will describe almost anyone. The useful test is whether you come up when a buyer asks a question without your name in it.
Here is how to collect the four answers by hand in an afternoon, and a layout that fits on one page.
How do you collect the answers in an afternoon?
Ten questions, three assistants, two modes.
About three hours, start to finish.
- Write ten questions a buyer asks before they know you. Ask a salesperson which questions prospects ask on first calls, and turn those into the questions they would type into an assistant.
- Ask each in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, in fresh chats with personalisation off. Ask once with web search on and once with it off where you can.
- For each answer, record: named or not, what it says about you, who is named, and the cited pages.
- Then ask each assistant once to describe your company by name. You are not checking whether you are named here. You are checking whether the description is right.
Sixty answers, give or take. It is a small sample, and the page should say so. It is also enough to see a pattern, and enough to show your CEO you measured rather than guessed.
Asked by name, an assistant will describe almost anyone.
What goes on the page?
Four rows on the front. The method on the back.
| Row | What to write | Example wording |
|---|---|---|
| Are we named? | A fraction per assistant, with search and from memory | Named in 4 of 20 ChatGPT answers, 1 of 20 Claude, 0 of 20 Gemini |
| Is it right? | Each wrong or outdated fact, and where it comes from | Two of three assistants still give our old pricing, from a directory profile |
| Who is named instead? | The three companies named most often in our place | Three competitors, with how many answers each |
| What we fix first | One fix, one owner, one date | Update the directory profile and the pricing page this week, and check again on the first Monday of next month |
On the back, list the ten questions word for word, the assistants, the date of each run and the settings used. Anyone who doubts a number can run it again.
How should you word it?
Plain counts, no scores, no promises.
Write counts as fractions. “Named in 4 of 20 answers” says what happened. “AI visibility score 20%” sounds like more than it is and invites the question of how it was calculated.
Say what you do not know. One afternoon is one sample, answers vary from run to run, and memory answers change on the model makers’ schedule. One sentence covering this is enough. It makes the rest of the page more believable, not less.
Do not promise a timeline for being named. Promise the next check. The second page, a month later, is where the story starts, because it shows whether anything moved.
What happens next month?
The same questions, the same way, and a second column.
Run the same ten questions in the same assistants with the same settings. Add a second column to each row. Now your CEO can see change, and change is the only thing a one-off check cannot show.
If the fix in row four was the right one, the count in row one or the wrong fact in row two should move first in the search answers. If nothing moved, the page says so, and the next fix is chosen from what the citations show.
Your CEO did not ask for a score. They asked what buyers hear. Tell them, on one page, and say when you will check again.
Questions people ask next
How do I report AI visibility to my CEO or board?
On one page: how often you are named for buyer questions, what the assistants say about you and whether it is right, who is named instead, and the one fix you will make first. Put the questions, assistants and dates on the back.
Is asking ChatGPT about our company by name a good test?
It checks whether the description is right, which is useful. It does not tell you whether buyers who do not know you will find you. For that, ask the questions they ask without your name.
Should we report an AI visibility score?
Fractions are clearer. A score hides how many answers it came from and how it was calculated. “Named in 4 of 20” cannot be misread.
How often should we update the page?
Monthly is enough for most companies. Use the same questions and settings each time so the numbers can be compared.
Can Throughline prepare this for us?
Yes. Request an AI visibility check. A growth strategist reviews how AI assistants see your company and replies by email within two business days.