Local AI Visibility Audit: Does ChatGPT Recommend You?

Local AI visibility audit: see if ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI name a business for "best [service] in [city]", who they name instead, and the GBP, NAP and city-page fixes. Real Leeds run included.

What's different: most local audits count map-pack rankings and stop. This one asks the questions customers now ask AI, counts which businesses get named, and then checks the details those answers rely on: the phone number AI gives for the business, the directories it cites, and look-alike businesses it confuses with yours. It runs inside your own agent for a one-time $14, and every number comes from a recorded answer or a fetched public page.

What agencies charge for this: published one-off local AI visibility audits run from $79 to $497 (checked 20 Oct 2026): Agent Ready $79 for 6 buyer questions, mshahid.com $199 Local Visibility Audit, AI Find My Business $300, Keith Local $497 for 10-20 queries, Web Guy Nick $497. This skill gives you the question panel, the site and listings checks, the scoring and the white-label report, so you can run it yourself or sell it to local clients.

Sample output: real run, emergency plumber + boiler repair in Leeds, 20 Oct 2026 (22 questions, 1 run, agent web search). Target: PK Plumbing (pkeeling.co.uk), picked from the answers. Not a client and not contacted.

What the audit found:

• Not named in any "most trusted", "affordable" or Headingley question. The trust answers quoted directory review scores; the price answers quoted published prices (£80 first hour, £89, from £96).
• 3 answers gave 0113 123 4567 as the business's number. That number is in the Leeds and Horsforth pages' tel: links, but the same pages' LocalBusiness schema says 0191 622 2039 (a Newcastle number), and the 123 4567 pattern needs a test call before anyone relies on it.
• Both review answers cited profiles of a different, similarly named Leeds business (myjobquote, BookaBuilderUK). That's a look-alike entity problem.
• Checkatrade was cited in 6 of 22 answers, more than any other directory.

Every question, every answer (verbatim), the page checks, the listings sheet and all output files from this run ship inside the pack.

Trust Works in Claude Code, Cursor and Codex · v1.0.0 · October 2026 · tested on a real 22-question Leeds run with every answer included · stdlib Python, no API keys, no paid tools · public pages only, polite one-at-a-time fetches; sites that block scripts are marked "unverified", never worked around · engines named honestly (agent web search is a proxy; paste mode gives true ChatGPT / Perplexity / Gemini / Google AI numbers) · no ranking, call or recommendation promises, no invented addresses or reviews · questions answered within 24h · Cygnix Labs (13 live actors on Apify: apify.com/cygnix_labs)

How it works

Tell your agent local audit <business> <city>. It:

1. Sets up the services, the city, 2-4 nearby areas and the business's site and city pages
2. Drafts 12-40 buyer questions (best, top rated, open now, same day, most trusted, affordable, near [area], "who do I call for [problem]") for you to approve
3. Runs them through its own web search, or imports answers you paste from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google AI Mode
4. Adds every business the answers recommended as a tracked competitor
5. Checks the website: phone in text vs tel: links vs schema, placeholder or non-local numbers, LocalBusiness schema, hours, areaServed, missing area pages, answer-first first paragraph
6. Checks the directories the answers cite and flags look-alike businesses
7. Fact-checks what AI says about the business, scores everything and writes the report

What you get

• Local AI Visibility Score (0-100) with every part shown: AI mentions, named first, own site cited, website + NAP, listings
• Who AI names instead: every local business named, how often, how often first, and for which service
• By service, by area and by intent tables that show where the business vanishes
• Where the answers come from: directories, maps data, competitor sites, best-of lists, official sources, with "are you listed?"
• Phone numbers AI gives for you, checked against your pages and schema
• Website + NAP check per page, and a listings check with look-alike detection
• What AI says when asked about you directly, with a fact check
• 30-day fix plan (P1-P3) with evidence, also as fixes.csv
• Fix pack: answer-first city-page template, GBP + listings checklist, review-request scripts
• White-label client report (your agency name and footer) and a monthly compare

Commands

local audit <business> <city> · local quick · local discover <service> <city> · local setup · local prompts · local run · local paste · local site · local listings · local report · local compare · local fixes

Who it's for

Local SEO agencies adding an AI-visibility audit or monthly report · agencies prospecting a city (local discover lists which businesses AI names and which it ignores) · owners of plumbing, HVAC, dental, legal, salon, restaurant and other local businesses asking "does ChatGPT recommend us?"

What it won't do

It doesn't log into chat apps, scrape Google Maps, invent answers, reviews or addresses, edit anyone's listings, or promise rankings, calls or AI recommendations. Local AI answers change between runs and locations (BrightLocal found only 20-33% overlap on repeat searches), so the report states runs and engines and recommends 3 runs for client work.

Pairs with

Local SEO Audit: GBP + NAP Fix Plan ($5) and Local SEO Keyword Pack: Service × City Matrix ($7). For non-local brands, use the AI Citation Share-of-Voice Panel ($17).