How to Check If Your Website Shows Up in ChatGPT

Most owners check if their website is in ChatGPT by typing their company name. Buyers don't search that way. They ask for categories.

This post is a testing methodology — prompts, a scorecard, and what to record. It is not a diagnosis of why you're missing (→ that post) and not a fix guide (→ implementation post.

The two tests you need (different questions)

You need both. ChatGPT can "know" your brand from old training data while failing to cite your site in a live search answer. Access test without recommendation test = you don't know if buyers see you. Recommendation test without access test = you can't explain why.

Step 1: Build your prompt list (5 queries minimum)

Pull from sales calls and proposal requests — not marketing brainstorms.

Template prompts:

1. What are the best [your category] in [your city/region]?
2. Recommend a [your service] for a [customer size/type] company
3. Who are trusted [your niche] providers for [specific use case]?
4. Compare top [your category] companies — who should I shortlist?
5. What should I look for when hiring a [your service] firm?

Do not use: "Do you know [Company Name]?" — that measures brand recall, not category visibility.

Run each prompt 3 times on different days. ChatGPT answers shift. You're scoring patterns.

Step 2: Score each answer (0–3 rubric)

For each prompt run, record:

Scorecard template:

Interpretation:

Median 0 across category prompts + strong Google rankings → run the access test next. Don't open a schema guide yet.

Step 3: Run the access test

Check whether AI search crawlers can reach your site:

1. Visit yoursite.com/robots.txt — look for OAI-SearchBot or blanket Disallow: / rules
2. Review Cloudflare or security plugin settings for AI bot blocks
3. Run GEO Fix's paid Express Check diagnostic — it tests crawler access and flags structure gaps

Red flags to watch for:

Recommendation test median 0 + blocked crawlers = Bucket 1 in our diagnosis framework. Fix is technical — Starter from £199 or Pro from £399 one-time covers most Bucket 1–2 deployments (see the fix guide), not more blog posts.

Step 4: Side-by-side competitor spot check

Pick one competitor ChatGPT cited in your scorecard. Don't audit their whole site — check three things only:

This isn't competitive intelligence theatre. It's one row of evidence for which bucket you're in.

Step 5: Google comparison (one query only)

Pick your highest-stakes category query. Run it in Google and ChatGPT same day.

Divergence is normal. Semrush found AI-referred visitors convert roughly 3x more often — so "we rank on Google" doesn't answer the ChatGPT column.

What this methodology deliberately excludes

• robots.txt syntax tutorials → GPTBot guide
• Fix deployment steps → fix post
• Why competitors win on authority alone → competitors post

Keeping tests separate from fixes stops the "read six articles, same checklist" problem.

What to do next

Key takeaways

• To check if your website is in ChatGPT, score category prompts 0–3 — not brand lookups.
• Run 5 prompts × 3 days; use the median.
• Pair recommendation scores with a crawler access check.
• Median 0 + blocked crawlers = technical bucket; don't start with content.
• This post tests only — fix and diagnosis live in sibling posts.