Guides / Brand checks
What does ChatGPT say about your brand? 20 prompts to check it by hand
What to prepare
You need a free account on each assistant you care about, a spreadsheet, and about an hour. Open a new chat for every prompt so earlier answers do not colour the next one, and turn web search on if the assistant offers it, because an answer built from live pages can differ from one without. Write down which assistant, which setting and the date. Answers change between runs, which is why every prompt gets asked twice.
Fill the brackets with your own words: [category] is what you sell (for example "specialty coffee beans"), [country] is where you ship, [brand] is your shop name and [rival] is a shop you compete with.
The 20 prompts
Group A: your brand (does it know you?)
| Prompt | Ask this |
|---|---|
| P1 | What is [brand]? |
| P2 | Is [brand] a good place to buy [category]? |
| P3 | What do customers say about [brand]? |
| P4 | Where is [brand] based and where does it ship? |
| P5 | What does [brand] sell and what is it best known for? |
Group B: your category (are you named?)
| Prompt | Ask this |
|---|---|
| P6 | Where can I buy [category] online in [country]? |
| P7 | Which online shop is best for [category] in [country]? |
| P8 | Which shop delivers [category] fast in [country]? |
| P9 | What should I buy as a gift: [category], and from where in [country]? |
| P10 | Which small or independent shops sell good [category] in [country]? |
Group C: comparisons (who beats you?)
| Prompt | Ask this |
|---|---|
| P11 | [brand] or [rival] for [category]? |
| P12 | What are alternatives to [rival] for [category] in [country]? |
| P13 | Is [brand] cheaper than [rival]? |
| P14 | Which shops are similar to [brand]? |
| P15 | Why would I choose [brand] over a big marketplace for [category]? |
Group D: facts (is it right?)
| Prompt | Ask this |
|---|---|
| P16 | How much does [brand] charge for [your best-selling product]? |
| P17 | Does [brand] still sell [a product you discontinued]? |
| P18 | What is [brand]'s return policy? |
| P19 | How much is shipping from [brand] to [country]? |
| P20 | Does [brand] have a physical shop? |
How to score each answer
- Run the prompt and save the full answer text and every link.
- Mark named when your brand name or your domain appears in the answer text or in its links. If you appear as a link only, still mark it, and note it.
- Mark linked when a link goes to your own domain.
- Copy every other shop that is named. Rivals that appear again and again are your real competition in that assistant.
- For groups A and D, check every fact against your own site and mark the ones that are wrong or old.
- Run the same prompt once more in a new chat and log it as run 2.
Do not round up. A shop named in 1 of 2 runs is named in 1 of 2 runs, not "recommended".
What to do with your log
- Named in few group B answers: the assistant does not connect your shop to your category. Look at which pages it links for those answers; they are the pages it trusts.
- Wrong facts in group D: fix the source it read. Prices and policies on your own pages come first, then third-party listings.
- Rivals named again and again: open the pages the assistant linked for them and note what they contain that yours lacks.
- Nothing named anywhere, including your brand: check first that assistants can read your site at all (Can ChatGPT read my website?).
The faster way
Twenty prompts across five assistants is 200 manual runs. CitedBy asks the questions your buyers ask in your market, twice each, and lists who is named and linked. The audit starts at €9.
Questions people ask
Do I need ChatGPT Plus to run these prompts?
No. A free account is enough to see what a free user sees. Paid plans can answer differently, so note which plan you used.
Why ask every prompt twice?
Answers vary between runs. Two runs show whether a result is stable; one run can be luck. Our own audits ask each question twice for the same reason.
Should I ask for my brand by name in every prompt?
No. Groups B and C test whether you are named when the buyer does not know you yet, which is the case that brings new customers. Groups A and D test what is said once they do.
How often should I repeat this?
After each change to your site and about once a month. Log the date every time so you can compare.
Sources
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