Build a small question set from real buying decisions
Choose one priority service and write down the questions prospects ask before contacting you. Include suitability, comparison and process questions. For a hypothetical software business, examples might be “What should a small team check before choosing a reporting tool?” and “Which integrations matter for our workflow?”
Keep branded and unbranded questions separate. Asking an AI tool about your company by name tests a different situation from asking it to suggest providers. Do not merge these observations into one success rate without explaining the difference.
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Record the conditions of each observation
Pick the platforms relevant to your customers and keep the checking method consistent. Save enough context for another person to understand the observation. The table below is a suggested working log, not a claim that a sample represents every user.
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Question | The exact wording, including location or other constraints. |
| Context | Platform, date, language and whether this was a fresh conversation. |
| Mention | Whether the business was named, without assuming this is a recommendation. |
| Citation | The actual linked URL, if one was provided. |
| Accuracy | Incorrect service details, unsupported claims or missing context. |
| Next action | A specific page or business-information issue worth reviewing. |
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Distinguish a mention from a useful result
A response can name your business while linking elsewhere or describing the wrong service. Record those separately. Open any cited page and check that it supports the claim. If the answer omits you, inspect the information it used before deciding what your website needs.
Repeat the agreed question set over time, but do not treat one changed answer as proof that an edit caused it. Different phrasing, context and platform behaviour can affect the response. Google itself notes that its AI search features can return different responses and links.
Sources: Google Search Central: AI features and your website
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Connect observations with customer actions
Where your analytics identifies referrals from AI services, review their landing pages and subsequent actions. That referral view will not represent every AI-assisted journey. Someone may encounter an answer, return later through another channel and then enquire.
Use Search Console to review available Google search performance and indexing information. Keep those reports distinct from your manual AI-answer log. Combine the evidence in a decision discussion rather than manufacturing a single universal visibility score.
Sources: Google Search Central: getting started with Search Console
Turn the review into a limited action list
Prioritise inaccurate business information, unanswered buyer questions and inaccessible pages. For each action, write the affected page, the proposed change, who will verify the facts and how completion will be checked.
A practical review ends with decisions. For example: clarify the service area on an existing page, replace a vague process description with approved steps, and add a link from a relevant guide. Record what changed before repeating the checks. A review that only produces screenshots leaves the implementation question unanswered.