By Christopher Eshnaur, Creative Director at Draft Creative
Methodology note: Draft Creative makes one of the tools in this comparison, the AI Visibility Score. We've described every tool, including ours, from what its own page states, and noted where each one falls short.
Quick Answer
For local service businesses, the best free AI visibility check in 2026 is Draft Creative's AI Visibility Score, which tests whether six AI assistants, including ChatGPT, Google's AI and Claude, recommend you when customers ask who to hire in your area, with every report reviewed by a person. For an instant snapshot, the best free tools are HubSpot's AI Search Grader, which grades how AI describes your brand; Ahrefs' Free AI Visibility Checker, which counts mentions across six platforms; and Semrush's free checker, which scores a website out of 100. The instant tools need no account, but they test prompts the tool chooses rather than your customers' questions.
Key takeaways
Draft Creative's free AI Visibility Score is the only option here that tests local "who should I hire" questions across six AI assistants, including Claude, with a person reviewing every report.
Of the instant tools, Ahrefs' free checker covers the most platforms: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode.
Semrush's free checker gives a score out of 100 and a competitor comparison, with three free checks a day.
HubSpot's AI Search Grader focuses on sentiment and share of voice across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini.
None of the three instant checkers includes Claude, and none lets you choose the exact question being tested.
Asked the same question repeatedly, AI tools returned the same list of brands less than 1% of the time (SparkToro, 2026), so a single snapshot is only a starting point.Ahrefs' free checker covers the most platforms: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode.
Free AI visibility checkers at a glance
| Tool | Cost | AI platforms checked | What you enter | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Draft Creative AI Visibility Score | Free, form, report in two business days | ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude | Website, city, industry | Score out of 6 and a personalized PDF, reviewed by a person | Service businesses that want to know if AI recommends them locally |
| 2. Checking by hand | Free, about 20 minutes | Any you open | Your customers' own questions | Whatever you record | Testing the exact questions your customers ask |
| 3. HubSpot AI Search Grader | Free, form to unlock full report | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini | Company name, location, product or service, industry | Score out of 100 for sentiment, presence, recognition, share of voice and competition | Seeing how AI describes your brand |
| 4. Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker | Free, no sign-up | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode | Brand name | Mentions by platform, top 5 topics, top 5 cited sites and pages | A fast snapshot across the most platforms |
| 5. Semrush AI Search Visibility Checker | Free, 3 checks a day, no sign-up | ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode | Website domain | Score out of 100, mentions and citations, top cited pages, competitor comparison | A score to benchmark against competitors |
Tool details checked October 2026. Free tools change often, so check each tool's page for its current limits.
The free AI visibility checkers, ranked
We ranked these for local service businesses, such as mortgage brokers, lenders, real estate agents and law firms, by one question: does it tell you whether AI recommends you when customers ask who to hire? Each tool is still the best choice for something, and we say what.
1. Draft Creative AI Visibility Score
Draft Creative's AI Visibility Score tests the local questions your customers ask across six AI assistants: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude. You get a score out of 6, one point for each assistant that recommends you, in a personalized PDF. A person reviews every report, and it is free.
Good for: service businesses that want to know whether AI recommends them when someone asks who to hire in their area.
Watch out for: it is not instant. You fill in a short form and get your report within two business days, and it is a one-off check rather than ongoing tracking.
Does ChatGPT name your business when customers ask who to use?
2. Checking by hand
The most direct check costs nothing but time. Open each AI assistant in a fresh session, ask the questions your customers would ask, such as "who is the best [what you do] in [your city]?", and note who gets named. Our guide on how to check if your business shows up in AI search walks through the full method.
Good for: testing the exact questions that bring you customers, on every platform, including Claude.
Watch out for: one search proves very little. A reliable check means asking many questions, more than once, and recording the results consistently.
3. HubSpot AI Search Grader
HubSpot's AI Search Grader asks for your company name, location, product or service and industry, then checks ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini. It gives a score out of 100 built from five parts: sentiment, presence quality, brand recognition, share of voice and market competition. It is free and needs no account, though you fill in a form to unlock the full report.
Good for: seeing how AI describes your brand and whether the tone is positive.
Watch out for: it covers three platforms, none of them Google, and it does not say whether it tests local "who should I hire" questions.
4. Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker
Ahrefs' free checker takes a brand name and runs search-backed prompts across six AI platforms: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. It reports how many times your brand is mentioned on each platform, your top topics and the sites AI cites most. There is no sign-up and no limit on the number of brands you can check.
Good for: the widest free snapshot, and checking competitors as easily as yourself.
Watch out for: it shows only the top five results in each section, it is a one-time snapshot, and a mention in an answer is not the same as a recommendation.
5. Semrush AI Search Visibility Checker
Semrush's free checker takes your website domain and checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. It returns an AI Visibility Score out of 100, your mentions and citations, your most-cited pages, your best topics and a comparison with competitors. You can run it three times a day without an account.
Good for: a single score to benchmark against competitors and track roughly over time.
Watch out for: it does not check Perplexity or Claude, and the score reflects topics Semrush chooses, not necessarily the questions your customers ask.
What free AI visibility checkers can't tell you
The three agencies below were selected against the four criteria above. Each leads in a different area, noted clearly so you can match the agency to your goal.
Free checkers are a good first look, but they have limits worth knowing before you act on a score.
They choose the questions. Most tools generate their own prompts from your brand, domain or industry. Your customers may be asking something quite different.
A mention is not a recommendation. Being named in an answer about your industry is not the same as being the business AI suggests when someone asks who to hire.
AI answers keep changing. In a SparkToro study published in January 2026, ChatGPT and Google's AI returned the same list of brands less than 1% of the time when asked the same question repeatedly. One snapshot can catch you on a good day or a bad one.
Scores are not comparable. A 62 out of 100 from one tool and a 4 out of 6 from another measure different things on different platforms.
If a checker shows you are missing, the next question is why. Our guide to why ChatGPT doesn't recommend a business covers the eight most common reasons.
When is a paid AI visibility tracker worth it?
Paid trackers run the same prompts on a schedule, so you can see whether your visibility changes month by month. They are useful once you are actively working on AI search, but they only measure the problem. Tracking tells you your score; it does not change it. What moves the score is content, technical fixes and earned media, which is why most businesses either build that skill in-house or bring in a partner.
Which free AI visibility checker should you use?
For whether AI recommends you locally: the AI Visibility Score, which we run across all six assistants, or check by hand.
For how AI talks about your brand: HubSpot's AI Search Grader.
For the quickest instant overview: Ahrefs' free checker, because it covers the most platforms of the instant tools.
For a score to compare with competitors: Semrush's free checker.
Running two side by side is often the most useful approach: one instant snapshot, and one check built around your customers' real questions.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is an AI visibility checker?
An AI visibility checker is a tool that tests whether AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews mention or recommend a business. Most free checkers run a set of prompts against several AI platforms and report how often your brand appears, which sites are cited and how you compare with competitors.
Which free AI visibility checker covers the most AI platforms?
Draft Creative's AI Visibility Score and Ahrefs' Free AI Visibility Checker each cover six AI platforms. Draft Creative's Score checks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude. Ahrefs checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. Semrush's free checker covers four and HubSpot's AI Search Grader covers three.
Are free AI visibility checkers accurate?
Free AI visibility checkers give a useful snapshot, but not a final answer. AI assistants change their answers from one search to the next, and each tool tests prompts it chooses rather than the exact questions your customers ask. Treat a free check as a starting point and confirm it with the questions that matter to your business.
Why do AI visibility tools give different scores?
AI visibility tools give different scores because they test different AI platforms, use different prompts and measure different things. One tool may count brand mentions, another may grade sentiment and another may score whether you are recommended. A score out of 100 from one tool cannot be compared directly with a score from another.
Do I need a paid AI visibility tool?
Most businesses do not need a paid AI visibility tool for a first check. Paid trackers are worth it when you are actively working on AI search and need to measure progress every month across many prompts. For a one-off view of where you stand, a free checker or a manual check is enough.
How is Draft Creative's AI Visibility Score different?
Draft Creative's AI Visibility Score tests the local questions your customers ask, such as who the best firm in your city is, across six AI assistants: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude. A person reviews every report, and you get a score out of 6 and a personalized PDF within two business days. It is free.
The Bottom Line
The free checkers from Ahrefs, Semrush and HubSpot are genuinely useful, and they cost nothing to try. They are best at showing whether AI mentions your brand. Whether AI recommends you to the customers in your area, when they ask who to hire, is a narrower question, and it is the one that wins business.
Want to know which AI assistants recommend you?
About the Author
Christopher Eshnaur is Creative Director at Draft Creative, where he leads brand, content, and AI-search strategy for real estate and financial-services clients, including engagements with JLL and Houlihan Lokey. He works at the intersection of regulated-finance messaging, conversion-focused web design, and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), helping mortgage and real estate brands get found by borrowers — and cited by AI answer engines.
Connect: LinkedIn →