The $0 GEO Audit: How We Scan Google AI for Free

We built ScanMyGEO to answer a question that most local businesses can’t answer: “Does Google AI know my business exists?”

The tool is free. No credit card, no account, no catch. You type in your business name, industry, and city, and in about 60 seconds you get a concrete score showing whether Google’s AI mentions you when people ask relevant questions.

This article explains exactly how the scan works — the technology behind it, what we test, how we calculate your score, and where the limitations are. We believe in transparency, especially when asking businesses to trust a diagnostic tool.

Why We Built a Free Tool

We could have gate-kept this behind a paywall. But that would contradict the core principle of Generative Engine Optimization: businesses should have access to the data they need to make informed decisions.

Most business owners don’t even know AI invisibility is a problem. They assume that if they rank on Google, they’re covered. They don’t realize that Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity operate on different signals than traditional search rankings. By the time they figure this out, their competitors who optimized earlier will have a significant head start.

A free scan removes the barrier. Check your score. See the problem (or confirm you’re fine). Then decide what to do about it.

The Technology: Gemini 2.5 Flash + Google Search Grounding

ScanMyGEO uses Google’s Gemini 2.5 Flash model with Google Search grounding enabled. Here’s what that means in plain English:

Gemini 2.5 Flash is the fast, efficient version of Google’s Gemini AI model family. It’s the same model family that powers Google AI Overviews — the AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google search results. When we query Gemini with search grounding, we’re essentially simulating what Google AI Overviews would produce for a given query.

Google Search grounding means that instead of relying only on the model’s training data (which has a knowledge cutoff), Gemini performs a real-time Google search and uses the results to inform its answer. This is critical: it means our scan reflects current data, not stale training data from months ago.

Why Gemini Specifically?

We chose Gemini for a deliberate reason: it’s the model behind Google AI Overviews, which processes over 8.5 billion searches per day. Google is where the vast majority of AI-influenced search happens.

Testing with ChatGPT would tell you about ChatGPT visibility. Testing with Perplexity would tell you about Perplexity visibility. Testing with Gemini + Search grounding tells you about Google AI Overview visibility — the highest-volume, highest-impact AI answer channel for local businesses.

Future versions of ScanMyGEO may expand to test multiple AI engines. For now, we focus on the one that matters most.

What We Check Per Scan: 10 Weighted Queries

When you enter your business name, industry, and city, ScanMyGEO generates 10 search queries across three categories:

High-Intent Queries (Weighted Highest)

These simulate users who are actively looking for a business like yours:

• “Best [industry] in [city]”
• “Top [industry] company near [city]”
• “[Industry] services [city] recommendations”
• “Who is the best [industry] provider in [city]”

These queries carry the most weight in your score because they represent users closest to making a purchasing decision. If Google AI mentions you for “best IT company in San Francisco,” that’s a high-value citation.

Medium-Intent Queries (Weighted Medium)

These simulate users researching their options:

• “How to choose a [industry] provider in [city]”
• “[Industry] cost in [city]”
• “[Industry] reviews [city]”

These queries represent users earlier in their decision journey. Being mentioned here indicates strong general visibility, even if the user isn’t ready to buy yet.

Brand Queries (Weighted for Baseline)

These test whether AI knows your specific business:

• “[Your exact business name]”
• “[Your business name] [city]”
• “[Your business name] reviews”

Brand queries establish a baseline: does the AI know your business exists at all? If Gemini can’t identify your business by name, the non-branded queries almost certainly won’t mention you either.

How Mention Detection Works

For each query, Gemini generates a response with search grounding. We then analyze that response using three detection methods:

1. Name Matching

We check whether your exact business name (or close variations) appears in Gemini’s response. This uses fuzzy matching to catch slight variations — for example, if your business is “Bay Area Tech Solutions” and Gemini mentions “Bay Area Tech Solutions, LLC” or “BayArea Tech Solutions,” we still detect the match.

2. URL Citation

When Gemini cites sources in its grounded response, we check whether any of those citations point to your website URL. A URL citation is stronger than a name mention because it directly links users to your site.

3. Position Analysis

We analyze where in Gemini’s response your business appears. Being mentioned first carries more weight than being the fifth business listed. A prominent position (first or second mention) suggests the AI considers your business a top recommendation.

How Scoring Works

Your ScanMyGEO score is a number from 0 to 100, calculated from four weighted components:

Mention Score (40% of total)

How often your business name appears across the 10 queries. If you’re mentioned in 8 out of 10 queries, your mention score is high. If you appear in 0 queries, this component is zero.

This is the largest component because name recognition is the foundation of AI visibility. If the AI doesn’t know your name, nothing else matters.

URL Citation Score (25% of total)

How often Gemini cites your website URL in its grounded responses. URL citations are more valuable than name mentions because they indicate that the AI is actually retrieving and referencing your website content, not just recognizing your name from other sources.

Position Score (20% of total)

When your business is mentioned, how prominently does it appear? Being the first recommendation earns more points than being the last in a list of five. Position reflects the AI’s confidence in recommending your business.

Brand Recognition Score (15% of total)

How well does the AI recognize your business by name in brand-specific queries? This baseline component measures whether Google AI has your business in its knowledge graph at all.

The Letter Grade

Your numerical score maps to a letter grade:

Score	Grade	What It Means
90-100	A	Excellent — AI actively recommends you
80-89	B	Good — visible with room for improvement
70-79	C	Average — mentioned sometimes, but inconsistently
50-69	D	Below average — rarely mentioned, major gaps
0-49	F	Failing — invisible or nearly invisible to AI

Most local businesses we scan score in the F range (0-49). This isn’t a failure of those businesses — it’s a reflection of how new and under-addressed AI visibility is for the local business market.

What Your Score Actually Tells You

A high score means Google AI is actively recommending your business when users ask relevant questions. This translates to real opportunities: users who see your business in an AI-generated answer are more likely to visit your website, call you, or walk through your door.

A low score doesn’t mean your business is bad. It means AI engines don’t have enough structured, consistent, authoritative data to confidently recommend you. This is a data problem with specific, fixable causes:

• Missing JSON-LD structured data on your website
• Incomplete Google Business Profile
• Thin website content without citable facts
• Few directory citations and online mentions
• No FAQ or Q&A content with proper schema markup
• Inconsistent business information across the web

For a detailed breakdown of each cause and how to fix it, read Why Your Business Is Invisible to ChatGPT and Gemini.

Transparency About Limitations

We believe in being upfront about what our scan can and cannot tell you:

Single-Engine Limitation

ScanMyGEO currently tests Google AI (via Gemini) only. Your visibility on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI engines may be different — higher or lower. We chose to focus on Google because it’s the highest-volume AI search channel, but a complete AI visibility picture would require testing multiple engines.

Point-in-Time Snapshot

Your scan result reflects AI visibility at the moment the scan runs. AI search results change over time as models are updated, new content is indexed, and the competitive landscape shifts. A score from today might be different next week. We recommend scanning monthly to track trends.

Query Approximation

Our 10 generated queries approximate the kinds of questions real users ask, but they can’t cover every possible query. Your business might be visible for queries we don’t test, or invisible for queries we don’t include. The score is a representative sample, not an exhaustive test.

No Competitor Comparison

The current free scan evaluates your business in isolation. It doesn’t show how you compare to specific competitors. Understanding your competitive position requires a more detailed analysis.

Regional Variation

AI search results can vary by the user’s location. Our queries simulate searches from a general geographic perspective, but a user searching from downtown San Francisco might get different AI results than someone searching from a suburb.

The Full Scan Process: Step by Step

Here’s exactly what happens when you run a scan on ScanMyGEO:

1. You enter your info. Business name, industry, and city. That’s all we need.

2. We generate 10 queries. Based on your industry and city, we create 10 weighted queries across the high-intent, medium-intent, and brand categories described above.

3. We query Gemini. Each query is sent to Gemini 2.5 Flash with Google Search grounding enabled. We receive 10 AI-generated responses, each including cited sources.

4. We analyze responses. Our detection algorithms check each response for name mentions, URL citations, and position prominence.

5. We calculate your score. The four weighted components (mention 40%, URL citation 25%, position 20%, brand 15%) combine into a score from 0-100 with a letter grade.

6. You get your report. The report shows your overall score, letter grade, and query-by-query breakdown showing which queries mentioned you and which didn’t.

The entire process takes about 60 seconds. No account required. No data stored beyond what’s needed to generate your report.

What Comes After the Free Scan

The scan tells you where you stand. What you do next depends on your score and your resources:

If you scored A or B: You’re ahead of most businesses. Focus on maintaining your visibility and monitoring for changes. Run monthly scans to catch any drops early.

If you scored C or D: You have a foundation but significant gaps. The most common fixes are adding structured data, completing your Google Business Profile, and expanding your website content. Our $49 Fix-It Package provides a customized checklist with exactly what to change, including ready-to-paste JSON-LD code for your specific business.

If you scored F: You need comprehensive optimization. Our $499 Done-for-You GEO Package handles the full implementation: structured data, Google Business Profile optimization, directory citations, content recommendations, and monthly monitoring for three months.

Full details on both options are on our pricing page.

Why Transparency Matters

We published this article because we think audit tools should explain their methodology. Too many marketing tools give you a number with no explanation of how it was calculated, what it means, or what its limitations are.

When you understand how AI search works and how our scan measures it, you can make better decisions about where to invest your time and money. Maybe you’ll fix everything yourself using our free guides. Maybe you’ll decide our paid packages save you time. Either way, you’re making an informed choice.

That’s the whole point.

Ready to see where your business stands? Run your free scan now. It takes 60 seconds and gives you a clear answer to the question that matters: does Google AI know you exist?