In this article6 sections · 4 min
Which AI tools should I check?
Check the ones your customers are likely to use: Google Search, where AI Overviews appear above the results for many questions, and the main chat assistants, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity. Each gives a slightly different answer because each searches and summarizes in its own way. That difference is useful: a theme that appears in all of them is well established in public material.
How should I set up the check?
- Use a private or logged-out window where you can, so earlier conversations do not color the answer.
- Name your business the way customers do, plus your town, for example “Smith Plumbing in Leeds”.
- Copy each answer into one document with the date, the tool and the question.
- Save any links the answer shows. They are the pages it relied on.
What are the eight questions to ask?
- “Is [business] in [town] any good?” The plain reputation question most customers start with.
- “What do customers complain about at [business]?” This brings the negative themes to the surface.
- “What are the reviews like for [business]?” Shows which review platforms the tool reads.
- “Is [business] legit or a scam?” Worth asking even if you are confident: it shows whether any warning page exists.
- “Best [your trade] in [town]” Shows whether you appear at all when nobody names you.
- “[business] vs [competitor]” Shows how you are described side by side.
- “What are [business]’s opening hours and phone number?” Tests whether basic facts are right.
- “Who owns [business]?” or “How long has [business] been trading?” Tests whether the tool can find a clear description of who you are.
How do I read the answers?
Sort what you find into three piles. Facts that are wrong, such as hours, address or services, go on a correction list; what to do when AI gets your business wrong covers the fixes. Themes drawn from genuine reviews go on an operations list, because the only lasting fix is the thing customers keep mentioning. Themes drawn from reviews that may break platform rules go on a review list, to check against the signs a review breaks the rules.
Pay attention to the sources. If every answer cites the same review site, that site matters more for your trade than you may have assumed. Our guide to review sites that matter for your business helps put that in context.
How often should I repeat the check?
Once a month is enough for most businesses, and after any burst of new reviews, good or bad. Ask the same eight questions in the same words each time. Answers vary from one try to the next, so look for themes that persist across tools and months rather than reacting to a single response.
What should I not read into the results?
An AI answer is not a ranking and not a score. A missing mention in a “best in town” answer does not mean you are ranked last anywhere; it means the tool did not pick you for that answer. And a bad answer is a symptom of public material, not a separate opinion the tool holds, as we explain in how AI search summarizes your reviews.
Sources
The policies and laws above are the platforms’ and regulators’ own pages. This article explains them in plain words; it is not legal advice.
About this guide
Written by the Erase Trax review team: specialists in review policy, working with businesses in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. Each guide is written against the platforms’ own published policies. Last reviewed .
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- We never buy, write or incentivize reviews
- The platform makes the final decision
