AI Visibility Checker: free 5-query brand audit across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude

What is an AI visibility checker?

An AI visibility checker measures how often your brand is cited in AI-generated answers across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews. Traditional rank trackers measure Google blue-link positions. An AI visibility checker measures citation rate, share of voice, position within the answer, and sentiment inside the AI response itself. The Sequence Commerce checker is free, needs no credit card, and is reviewed by a senior strategist within 24 hours.

Most checkers fall into two camps. Automated SaaS tools such as Profound, Otterly and Peec AI charge roughly $200 to $5,000 per month for continuous tracking. Free agency checkers like this one give you a one-time baseline so you can decide whether ongoing tracking is worth paying for. Run the free check first.

Why AI visibility matters in 2026

Independent clickstream studies from SparkToro and Similarweb put the share of Google searches that end without a click at roughly 60%. AI Overviews and chat assistants answer the question in place, often without sending anyone to a website. If your brand is not cited inside that answer, you are invisible to a growing share of category buyers.

Sequence Commerce runs AI visibility audits for 200+ brands. The pattern is consistent: brands sitting at 0–5% citation rate can reach 25–35% within 60 to 90 days with the right schema, content and entity authority work. See the AEO and GEO agency services.

What the report measures

The 5-page baseline covers the seven KPIs that matter for AI search visibility, all of which we break down in the AI search visibility metrics and KPIs guide:

• Citation rate per engine. The share of your queries that mention your brand, split by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews.
• Share of voice. Your mentions as a percentage of all brand mentions in the category. We detect your top 3 competitors from the AI responses themselves.
• Position within the answer. Whether you are the first brand named, the third, or a footnote. The highest-impact metric most checkers skip.
• Sentiment. Whether the AI describes your brand positively, neutrally or negatively. We flag concerning patterns immediately.
• Source link inclusion. When the AI cites you, does it link back to your domain? Linked citations convert far better downstream than unlinked mentions.
• Engine-by-engine breakdown. Each engine has different data sources and ranking factors. You will see where you win and where you lose.
• Three quick wins for the next 30 days. Specific, actionable, and shippable without us.

Free checker vs paid AI tracking tools

The question every prospect asks: free baseline, or paid ongoing tracking? Honest comparison.

The right choice depends on stage. Under $1M revenue: run the free checker quarterly, skip the paid tool. $1M–$5M: free baseline plus an Otterly trial. $5M–$50M: baseline plus an ongoing Profound or Otterly subscription. Above $50M: Profound plus an ongoing Sequence engagement.

Five mistakes brands make tracking AI visibility

1. Tracking branded queries instead of category queries

AI engines already know your brand name. The real test is whether they recommend you for the category queries your buyers ask: “best natural mascara”, “top SaaS analytics tool”, “shopify SEO agency for $5m brands”. Submit those, not “Honeybee Gardens reviews”.

2. Treating every AI engine as equal

The five engines have different data sources, ranking factors and audiences. Being cited constantly by ChatGPT and never by Perplexity is common. Track each engine separately rather than rolling everything into one blended score.

3. Ignoring position within the answer

The most common mistake. Citation rate gets you noticed; position gets you chosen. A brand named seventh performs much worse than one named first, even at identical citation rates.

4. Tracking too many queries

You do not need 500 queries. Thirty to fifty high-value buyer-intent queries tracked weekly is plenty, or three to five for a baseline. Past that you are paying for noise.

5. Skipping manual review

Automated tools miss sarcasm, comparison framing (“Brand X is great, but Brand Y is worth considering”) and outdated information. This checker pairs automated multi-engine querying with a senior strategist reading every response.

How to read your report

The PDF lands in your inbox within 24 hours. Read it in this order:

• Page 1, executive summary. Your headline citation rate, the biggest gap, and the one action to take in the next 30 days.
• Page 2, citation rate by engine. Find your best engine and your worst. Defend the first, attack the second.
• Page 3, share of voice. If your top 3 competitors are at 60% combined and you are at 8%, there is real room. If they are at 25% and you are at 30%, you already lead the category.
• Page 4, position and sentiment. Negative mentions are worse than no mentions — flag them first. Position tells you whether you are being chosen or merely listed.
• Page 5, quick wins. Three actions you can ship without us. Brands that act on all three typically add 5 to 10 percentage points of citation rate within 60 days.

What to do next

• Citation rate 0–5%: start with schema. Deploy FAQPage, HowTo, Article, Person and Organization markup sitewide. See the seven-schema playbook for getting cited in ChatGPT.
• Citation rate 5–15%: focus on direct-answer content. Add a 50 to 100 word answer block in the first 100 words of every category and product page, and build FAQ hubs.
• Citation rate above 15%: focus on position. You are cited but probably not first. Invest in entity authority — named publication mentions, original research, structured entity signals — to climb the citation order.

If this is work you would rather not run internally, Sequence Commerce handles the full implementation as part of our AEO and GEO agency services. The free checker is step one. The engagement is an optional step two.