What to say when a client asks if they appear in ChatGPT (a script for the next meeting)
The scene is this. Monthly review meeting, you go through the usual reporting — positions, traffic, conversions — and the client drops it: "Hey, my brother-in-law asked ChatGPT about companies like mine and we didn't come up. Why?".
And you don't have the data. You can improvise something about "AI algorithms", but the client can tell when you're improvising. The question is reasonable, besides: frequent ChatGPT use in Spain has gone from 4% to 28% in two years (Funcas, III Survey on AI, 2026), and according to the INE, 37.9% of the population used generative AI in the last quarter of 2025. Their brother-in-law isn't an oddity; he's the new normal.
This article is the script so that next time that question is your best moment in the meeting, not the worst.
Before the meeting: 30 minutes of preparation
Don't answer from memory. Arrive with the work done:
1. Write the prompts your client's customer would type. Not "do you know Talleres García?", but what someone who doesn't know them yet would ask: "best bodywork and paint garage in Alcorcón", "which dental clinic would you recommend in Bilbao for implants?", "invoicing software for the self-employed in Spain". Between 5 and 10 prompts in natural language, the way people actually talk.
2. Try them in several AIs, not just ChatGPT. The client says "ChatGPT" because it's the brand they know, but their audience also asks Gemini, Perplexity and Claude, and the answers don't match. In the study we ran on 9,865 Spanish SMEs across 30 sectors and 10 cities, 91% appeared in only 1 of the 4 AIs (the full data, here). Showing up in one and missing from the other three is the norm, not the exception.
3. Save dated screenshots. The AI's answers change from one week to the next. The dated screenshot is your baseline: without it, you won't be able to prove improvement when it comes.
4. Try their two main competitors too. Because the client's next question is going to be "and does my competition show up?", and you'd better know before they do. If the answer stings, we have a separate script for that case.
With this you already have a mini AI visibility audit. Now, the script.
Scenario 1: the client does appear
It's the easy scenario and the rarest. The script:
Key data
"Good news: I've checked it across the four main AIs with the questions your typical customer would ask, and you appear in these answers. Let me show you the screenshots."
And then, the two sentences that separate you from an amateur:
Key data
"That said: this is a snapshot of this week. The AI's answers change constantly and nobody controls 100% of what they say, so the serious thing is to watch it every week, not celebrate it for one day."
Key data
"And appearing isn't enough: you have to look at what it says about you, with what data and who else it recommends alongside you."
With this you achieve two things: the client leaves happy and understands this is ongoing work, not a box ticked.
Scenario 2: the client doesn't appear
The most likely, and not the drama it seems if you tell it well:
Key data
"I've checked and, as of today, you don't appear in the answers. Before you panic: we tried this same thing with nearly 10,000 Spanish SMEs and 91% are the same or worse. It's not that the AI has it in for you; it's that almost nobody has worked on this yet."
Pause. And the turn:
Key data
"That's exactly what's interesting. Whoever gets going now starts with almost no competition, because your rivals don't appear either. And the traffic that comes from AI answers converts much better than classic organic — 14.2% versus 2.8%, according to sector data compiled by roymo.es — because whoever asks an AI arrives with the decision almost made."
Closing the scenario:
Key data
"I propose we measure it properly: which questions matter in your sector, where you show up and where you don't, and a plan to start appearing. I'll present it in two weeks."
Notice what you haven't said: you haven't promised "we'll get you into ChatGPT in a month." Nobody can promise that honestly. You've promised measurement, a plan and work, which you can deliver.
Scenario 3: they appear, but badly or with false data
The scenario nobody prepares for and the one that generates the most urgency. The AI says the restaurant closes on Mondays (it closes on Tuesdays), gives an old address or describes it as "budget" when it's premium. The script:
Key data
"You show up in the answers, but with errors: here it says [false fact]. This happens because the AI feeds on outdated or incomplete sources: your website, directories, reviews. You can't 'call ChatGPT' to correct it, but you can correct the sources it drinks from."
Key data
"This is worth fixing soon: every person who asks this week gets the wrong fact, and neither you nor anyone is seeing it."
It's the best scenario for closing new work, because there's a concrete, visible problem with a clear solution: correct and reinforce the sources — website, structured data, listings and directories, reviews — and watch that the change is reflected in the answers.
From the question to the service
If the question has come up in one meeting, the other clients are going to ask the same; better to systematise it than to improvise client by client. This discipline is called GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation): working on a brand's presence in the answers of AI search engines, just as SEO works on its presence in Google.
The minimum structure of the service: an initial audit (the one you did by hand for the meeting), weekly tracking of the prompts across the 4 AIs, corrections on the sources and a monthly report. What exactly to deliver in the first weeks, when there are no results to show yet, we develop in what to deliver in the first month of an AI visibility service.
Doing all this by hand for one client is manageable once; for the whole roster, every week, it doesn't scale. That's why we built Surfeo for agencies: each client in their workspace, the 4 AIs queried every week with their sector's prompts and a PDF report for your reporting. The first check — the one you need for next week's meeting — you can do for free with the AI visibility test: you drop in the client's website and see in minutes where they appear and where they don't.
Frequently asked questions
And if the client asks why I hadn't told them about this before?
Honesty: "Because until recently it didn't move the needle. Now it does: 28% of Spaniards already use ChatGPT frequently (Funcas, 2026) and we're building it into the service of all our clients." Arriving six months before their previous agency wasn't possible; arriving before their competition is.
Can I promise them they'll appear in ChatGPT?
No, and be wary of anyone who promises it. The AI's answers are volatile and nobody controls them. What you can commit to: continuous measurement, corrections on the sources, citable content and a report that shows the evolution.
Isn't this the same as the SEO I already do for them?
In part. A quality SEO base helps you appear in the AIs, but the questions change (conversational, not keywords), the engines change (4 AIs, not just Google) and the way of measuring changes (prompts and mentions, not positions). That's why it's measured and worked on separately.
What do I do if the AI recommends my client... in an answer about their competitor?
Note it as a partial win and look at the context: if they appear as a secondary alternative, there's a base to work on. The goal is for them to appear in the generic sector questions ("best X in Y"), which are the ones that bring new clients.
Next time a client asks if they show up in ChatGPT, the answer starts with having the data. Take the free visibility test with their website and arrive at the meeting with the screenshots in hand.
