AI Citation Checker
A 60-second readiness audit + one-click query launcher for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. Find out if AI engines are citing your business — and what to fix if they’re not.
AI Citation Readiness Checker
Answer 6 quick questions about your AI-search readiness. Get a score, a checklist, and one-click query buttons to verify your citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews.
Quick audit (yes/no)
Why AI visibility matters in 2026
AI Overviews now appear on more than 20% of Google searches, according to SparkToro/Similarweb clickstream research reported by Search Engine Land, and that share keeps growing. Separately, ChatGPT alone reached 900 million weekly active users in February 2026, according to OpenAI’s own figures reported by TechCrunch. When ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, or Google’s AI Overviews answer a question like “best plumber in Tampa” or “who should I hire for a roof repair near Austin,” the business they cite gets the lead — and the rest of the results page effectively disappears for that searcher. Tracking your AI visibility is no longer optional groundwork for businesses of any size; it’s a core part of how customers find and vet a business in 2026.
Getting cited by AI engines is a different discipline than traditional SEO — often called answer engine optimization (AEO) or generative engine optimization (GEO), and together the two make up what’s broadly known as AI search optimization. Ranking #1 in classic blue links still helps, but it’s no longer sufficient on its own. Modern AI answer engines weigh three additional signals: entity authority (third-party citations, structured data), topical depth (deep, well-structured content covering the topic from every angle), and crawl permission (llms.txt, robots directives that explicitly allow AI training and citation). The checker above scores your AI visibility on each of the three.
The 7 signals AI engines use to cite a business
1. Schema markup
LocalBusiness, FAQPage, Service, Review, AggregateRating — the structured data that tells AI engines what your business is and what it offers.
2. Google Business Profile
Claimed, verified, complete, and posting in the last 30 days. GBP is still the single highest-weight local-citation source for all major AI engines.
3. Review volume + recency
50+ Google reviews with a 4.5+ star average is the threshold most AI engines weight as “established and trusted.”
4. FAQ section + schema
6+ Q&As marked up with FAQPage schema gives AI engines pre-formatted answer chunks that fit AI Overview snippets perfectly.
5. llms.txt directive
A standards-emerging file at yourdomain.com/llms.txt that explicitly permits AI training + citation. The 2026 equivalent of robots.txt.
6. “Best of” content depth
AI engines lean heavily on “top 10” and “best in city” listicles when generating recommendation answers. Get listed in 5+ third-party rankings.
7. Third-party media coverage
A press release, local news segment, association profile, or industry-publication feature in the last 12 months establishes “real entity” status.
AI visibility, AEO, and GEO: quick answers
What is AI visibility?
AI visibility measures whether AI-answer engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews — actually surface and cite your business when someone asks a relevant question. It’s a separate metric from traditional search rankings: a business can rank well in Google’s classic results and still have little to no AI visibility if AI engines have no structured, trustworthy signal to cite it from. The checker above gives you a fast, free read on where your AI visibility currently stands.
What does an AEO agency do?
An AEO agency — short for answer engine optimization agency — helps a business get cited inside AI-generated answers instead of just ranked in a list of links. That work covers FAQ content and schema markup, entity-authority signals like reviews and third-party citations, and technical groundwork like llms.txt. Frostbite Marketing works as an AEO agency for clients of every size, building the same signals this checker scores.
How is GEO different from SEO?
Traditional SEO optimizes a page to rank in a list of search results that a person scrolls through. GEO — generative engine optimization — optimizes a business’s content and entity signals so an AI model can accurately summarize and cite that business inside a generated answer, with no results list involved. The two overlap heavily since both reward authoritative, well-structured content, but GEO adds AI-specific requirements like crawl permissions and answer-ready formatting. A GEO agency builds for both outcomes at once rather than treating them as separate disciplines.
What is AI search optimization?
AI search optimization is the umbrella term covering both AEO and GEO work: making a business easy for AI systems to find, understand, and cite accurately across chat assistants and AI-powered search features. It includes the seven signals this checker scores — schema markup, Google Business Profile completeness, review volume, FAQ content, llms.txt, listicle placement, and third-party media coverage.
Want us to fix all 7 for you?
Frostbite Marketing is an AEO agency and GEO agency serving businesses of every size — our AEO + GEO program closes every gap above: schema, GBP, reviews, FAQ markup, llms.txt, listicle placement, and PR, as a single integrated retainer. Get a free Snapshot Report to see your current state.
Related guide: Read our complete Answer Engine Optimization guide for the full 2026 playbook.
Related guide: Read our complete AI Overviews guide for the full 2026 playbook.
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