What does the AI visibility checker look at?
The checker runs 40 checks in five layers. Each layer answers one question an AI system has to settle before it can quote you:
- Crawl and access: Can AI crawlers get in? Robots.txt rules, firewall blocks, sitemaps, redirects, indexing directives, and whether your content is in the HTML or hidden behind JavaScript.
- Content structure: Can an answer be lifted out? One clear headline, ordered subheadings, an opening that answers the question, question-style headings, lists, tables, summaries and structured data.
- Fact density: Is there something worth quoting? Specific figures, plain definitions, concrete examples, links to primary sources, statistics with their source beside them, and content that is kept fresh.
- Entity and trust: Can they tell who you are? Organization data, named authors with their own pages, about and contact pages, one consistent brand name, linked profiles, and a place in the knowledge graph.
- Measurement: Will you know if it works? Analytics, search console verification, an llms.txt file, and whether you track AI referrals, crawler visits and your share of citations.
Every result comes with the evidence we found, for example the exact robots.txt rule that blocks a crawler, or the opening sentence that does not answer its headline. The full list is explained on the AI visibility audit page.
What do the scores mean?
| Score | Band | What it means |
|---|
| 80 to 100 |
Citable |
AI systems can reach the site, tell who is behind it, and find content worth quoting. What is left is polish. |
| 60 to 79 |
Nearly there |
The foundations are in place, with clear gaps between this site and the ones AI systems quote most. |
| 40 to 59 |
Patchy |
AI systems can use some of the site, but several things stand between it and being cited regularly. |
| 0 to 39 |
Invisible |
AI systems are unlikely to find, trust or quote the site as it stands. |
Why would AI assistants miss my website?
The most common reason is that their crawlers are turned away before they read a word. When we tested the checker on 32 well-known websites in October 2026,
6 refused our crawler at the firewall, 2 delivered empty pages that only fill in with JavaScript, and 4 offered fewer than three readable pages.
Among the sites we could read, the problems that cost most points were:
- No direct answer at the top of the page. AI systems quote the passage that answers the question; an opening that tells a story first is passed over.
- Claims without sources. Articles that state figures without linking to where they came from are trusted less.
- No clear identity. Missing Organization data, no named authors, or a brand name spelled three different ways.
- No questions in the headings. People ask AI assistants questions; pages whose subheadings are phrased as those questions, with the answer underneath, are easier to match.
Is an AI visibility checker the same as an AI visibility tracker?
No. A checker audits your website: what AI crawlers can reach and whether the content is easy to quote. An AI visibility tracker is a tool that monitors what AI assistants say over time:
which brands they mention for a set of questions. The checker tells you what to fix on your site; a tracker tells you whether it is working.
CitableReport is a checker. Its report includes five questions about whether you track the results, and how to start.
What is free, and what is in the full report?
- Free: your AI Visibility Score, its band, and six of the 40 checks with the evidence. No signup or email address.
- Full report, US$9 once: all 40 checks, every fix with what to change, why it matters to AI systems and an example to copy, a score for each page, PDF and CSV exports, and one post-fix report within 60 days to show what your changes achieved.
Questions and answers
Is the AI visibility checker free?
Yes. The check, your AI Visibility Score out of 100 and six of the 40 results are free, with no signup and no email address. You can check three sites a day. The full report, with every result and the fix for each problem, costs US$9 once.
Which AI assistants does it check for?
It checks what ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google's AI Overviews depend on: whether their crawlers are allowed in by your robots.txt and your firewall, whether your pages can be read without JavaScript, and whether the content is clear, specific and attributed. It tests 17 crawler names in all.
Does it tell me whether ChatGPT mentions my brand?
No. It checks your website, not what AI assistants currently say. Whether you are mentioned depends on your site and on your reputation elsewhere; the checker covers the part you control. To see what assistants say today, ask them the questions your customers ask, on a regular schedule, and note who they cite.
How long does a check take?
About a minute for most sites. The checker reads your robots.txt, your sitemap and up to 20 public pages, then runs 40 checks on what it finds.
Will checking my site slow it down?
No. A check makes about 30 requests, no more than four at a time, once. The crawler identifies itself as CitableReportBot and obeys your robots.txt.
What if my site cannot be checked?
If your firewall turns our crawler away, your pages are empty until JavaScript runs, or fewer than three pages can be read, we say which and what to do about it. Nothing is charged, and the attempt does not count toward your three free checks.