Methodology
How namedly measures AI visibility
namedly's AI visibility check tests whether a business gets mentioned when potential customers ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Perplexity for a provider in their industry and city. For each AI engine, namedly asks the same buyer-intent questions a real prospect would ask, then checks whether and how often the audited business shows up in the answer. The free lite check covers two engines and four core questions; the full audit (490 euros) covers all four engines and the complete question set, plus a full accessibility and technical scan. This page explains every step: the AI engines tested, the prompt taxonomy and how the score is calculated.
Four AI engines tested
Depending on the package, each question runs against up to four AI systems:
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Text answer, no source citations.
Claude (Anthropic)
Text answer, no source citations.
Gemini (Google)
Grounded, sometimes returns real source links.
Perplexity
Grounded, sometimes returns real source links.
The prompt taxonomy: 7 categories
Every engine gets the same set of question templates from 7 categories. 12 of them are "unaided": they name the industry and city, but never the business name, exactly how a real prospect would ask. Only these 12 templates feed into the AI visibility score.
| Category | Templates | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Best local provider | 4 | Best Dentist in Manchester |
| Comparison | 1 | What sets the best Dentist providers in Manchester apart from each other? |
| Problem-based | 2 | We've had a toothache for days. Who can help in Manchester? |
| Service-specific | 3 | Who offers teeth cleaning in Manchester? |
| Price question | 1 | How much does a professional teeth cleaning cost at a Dentist in Manchester, roughly? |
| Voice-style | 1 | Hey, do you know a good Dentist around Manchester? |
Plus: 2 trust questions (aided)
On top of the unaided templates, namedly asks two aided trust questions per engine that name the business directly, for example "Does Smile Dental Clinic in Manchester have good reviews?". These answers appear in the report as a reputation signal but do not count toward the AI visibility score, because they do not measure whether a prospect finds the business on their own.
How the score is calculated
The AI visibility score is the share of unaided answers that mention the audited business, measured against all answers that could be technically evaluated. Requests that fail for technical reasons never lower the score. If a run produces too few usable answers (more than a quarter errors, or fewer than two successful engines), namedly flags the data basis as unclear instead of showing an unreliable number.
Scope per package
- Lite check (free): two AI engines times four core questions, up to 8 AI requests, result in about 30 seconds.
- Full audit (490 euros): all available AI engines times the complete prompt set, up to 56 AI requests, plus a full accessibility scan and technical check.
Applied: the bytebrise study
In July 2026, bytebrise used namedly to evaluate 20 independent businesses across 10 industries and 10 cities in Germany and Austria, using an earlier version of this method (3 AI engines times 8 buyer-intent prompts, 24 checks per business, 480 in total). Result: 19 of 20 businesses received not a single recommendation, and the overall mention rate was 1 in 480 queries (0.2 percent).
Read the full study →Frequently asked questions
What does the AI visibility check measure?
Whether a business gets mentioned when potential customers ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Perplexity real buyer-intent questions about its industry and city.
How many AI systems does namedly check?
Up to four: ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), Gemini (Google) and Perplexity.
Do the trust questions count toward the score?
No. The two aided trust questions per engine name the business directly and appear separately as a reputation signal, not in the AI visibility score.
What does the check cost?
The lite check is free. The full audit with all AI engines, a complete accessibility scan and an action plan costs a one-time fee of 490 euros.
Is the result legal advice?
No. namedly provides a technical analysis. The accessibility compliance statement requires an additional manual review.