AI Local Search Skill — Optimize for ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Overviews

When a potential customer asks ChatGPT “who’s the best electrician in Denver for same-day service,” three businesses get named. If you’re not one of them, you’ve lost a lead that will never see your website, never scroll your reviews, never know you exist. AI search visibility is the emerging competitive surface that most local businesses don’t know exists and fewer know how to measure. The ai-local-search skill gives Claude the expertise to audit, measure, and improve visibility across every AI platform that handles local business queries.

What This Skill Does

The ai-local-search skill enables Claude to probe AI platforms for business mentions, measure visibility scores across platforms and keywords, identify what signals are driving or suppressing AI inclusion, and generate a prioritized action plan for improving AI visibility. This isn’t generic “optimize for AI” advice — it’s platform-specific analysis backed by actual query testing.

Prompt: "How do I show up in ChatGPT for 'best electrician in Denver'?"

Skills fired: dispatch → ai-local-search + localseodata-tool
Data pulled: ai_visibility, ai_mentions, ai_llm_response, business_profile

Output: Platform-by-platform visibility report showing you appear in Perplexity (mentioned
with 4.8 rating cited from Yelp), absent from ChatGPT Browse (Bing Places profile
incomplete), absent from AI Overviews (competitor dominates with FAQ schema), present in
Gemini (GBP data strong). Signal gap analysis: Bing Places completion is the highest-
priority fix. Prioritized 5-step improvement plan with expected effort levels.

The skill doesn’t stop at telling you whether you’re visible. It explains why you’re visible on some platforms and invisible on others, connecting the visibility gap to specific signals you can influence.

The AI Platforms This Skill Covers

ChatGPT

ChatGPT handles local queries through Browse capability powered by Bing’s index. When users ask for local recommendations with Browse enabled, ChatGPT searches the web via Bing, retrieves relevant results, and synthesizes an answer. Businesses visible in Bing’s local index — through Bing Places optimization and citation presence — have better odds of appearing in ChatGPT answers.

The skill understands this dependency. When analyzing ChatGPT visibility, Claude checks Bing Places profile status, citation presence on directories Bing indexes, and structured data that helps Bing understand the business entity.

Google AI Overviews

AI Overviews appear above traditional organic results for an increasing number of queries. For local queries, AI Overviews synthesize answers from Google’s local index, web content, and GBP data. They may name specific businesses, quote review highlights, and suggest next actions.

The skill evaluates AI Overview potential by checking GBP completeness, FAQ schema implementation (which triggers featured snippet eligibility that feeds AI Overviews), E-E-A-T signals on the website, and category alignment with the query.

Gemini

Google’s Gemini has deep integration with Google Business Profile and Knowledge Graph data. For local queries, Gemini draws heavily on structured Google data — if your GBP is complete and accurate, Gemini has what it needs to recommend you. If your GBP is sparse, Gemini lacks the data confidence to mention you.

The skill recognizes that Gemini optimization overlaps significantly with GBP optimization. Strong GBP signals translate directly to Gemini visibility.

Perplexity

Perplexity differentiates through real-time web retrieval and transparent citation. For local queries, Perplexity actively searches the web, finds relevant sources, and shows exactly what it cited. Businesses mentioned across authoritative directories, review platforms, and local publications have sources Perplexity can retrieve and cite.

The skill analyzes citation breadth when evaluating Perplexity visibility. Thin citation presence means fewer sources for Perplexity to find and cite.

Microsoft Copilot

Copilot draws from Bing Places and the Bing index, appearing across Edge, Windows Search, Microsoft 365, and the standalone interface. Like ChatGPT, Copilot visibility depends heavily on Bing ecosystem optimization.

The Signals That Drive AI Visibility

The ai-local-search skill carries expertise about what drives inclusion in each platform’s answers. This isn’t generic advice — each platform has specific signal dependencies.

For ChatGPT and Copilot, Bing index presence is primary. Bing Places profile completeness, citations on directories Bing crawls, and structured data that helps Bing understand your entity all contribute. Many businesses have optimized for Google while ignoring Bing entirely — this creates ChatGPT and Copilot invisibility.

For Gemini and AI Overviews, GBP completeness and Google ecosystem signals dominate. Complete profiles with accurate categories, strong review signals, and Knowledge Graph presence (verified business, Wikipedia mention, Wikidata entry) all contribute.

For Perplexity, citation breadth and authoritative mentions matter most. Perplexity retrieves from the open web — the more authoritative sources mention your business, the more likely Perplexity finds and cites you.

Across all platforms, consistent NAP provides entity validation. AI systems need confidence that a business exists and operates as claimed. Inconsistent NAP across sources undermines that confidence.

Review signals function as quality proxies across platforms. AI systems synthesizing recommendations use review data as evidence that a business is legitimate, active, and well-regarded. Volume, recency, and rating all contribute to the signal AI systems interpret.

Structured data helps AI systems understand your business with precision. LocalBusiness schema, FAQPage schema, and Review schema provide machine-readable data that AI systems can parse confidently.

How Claude Audits AI Visibility

The audit workflow starts with a prompt specifying the business and target keywords. Claude activates the ai-local-search skill and pulls data through LocalSEOData’s AI-specific endpoints.

Prompt: "Check my AI visibility for Downtown Dental at 123 Main Street, Seattle for these
keywords: dentist Seattle, emergency dentist Seattle, cosmetic dentist Seattle downtown.
Where am I showing up and what do I need to fix?"

Skills fired: dispatch → ai-local-search + localseodata-tool
Data pulled: ai_visibility, ai_mentions, ai_overview, business_profile

The ai_visibility endpoint runs probe queries across multiple AI platforms and returns mention presence. This tells Claude which platforms currently include the business in answers for the target keywords.

The ai_mentions endpoint identifies how the business is described when mentioned. This reveals what sources AI systems are citing and what context surrounds mentions.

The ai_overview endpoint checks whether Google is showing an AI Overview for each query and extracts the content, showing whether the business appears in Google’s AI-generated answers.

The business_profile endpoint provides signal context: what’s the GBP completeness? What categories are selected? This helps Claude explain why visibility gaps exist.

Claude synthesizes this data into a platform-by-platform visibility report: where you appear, where you’re absent, and what signals explain each platform’s decision. The output includes a prioritized improvement plan connecting specific fixes to specific visibility gaps.

Measuring and Monitoring Over Time

AI visibility is dynamic. Models are updated, retrieval algorithms change, new competitors enter AI answers. A visibility audit represents a point-in-time snapshot that will shift.

The skill supports recurring audits. By running the same visibility audit quarterly, you can track progress: are fixes translating to improved visibility? Is a competitor who wasn’t appearing six months ago now dominating AI answers?

Snapshot comparison shows trajectory. If your Perplexity mentions increased after building citations, the connection is clear. If ChatGPT visibility hasn’t improved despite Bing Places optimization, you know to investigate further.

For agencies managing multiple clients, recurring AI visibility audits can be systematized: same keywords, same platforms, tracked over time. This creates the data layer for proving AI optimization ROI.

Platform-Specific Optimization

The skill doesn’t apply generic advice. It distinguishes what helps on each platform.

For ChatGPT visibility, the priority is Bing ecosystem optimization. Claim and complete your Bing Places profile. Build citations on directories Bing crawls. Ensure structured data that Bing can parse. These fixes directly feed ChatGPT Browse results.

For Gemini visibility, GBP is primary. Complete every attribute, optimize categories, generate ongoing reviews, and respond thoughtfully. Gemini pulls heavily from GBP data — a strong profile translates to strong Gemini visibility.

For Perplexity visibility, citation breadth matters. Build presence on authoritative directories, seek local press coverage, encourage reviews on multiple platforms. Perplexity’s retrieval approach rewards businesses mentioned across the web.

For AI Overviews visibility, content optimization and featured snippet capture help. Implement FAQPage schema on genuinely useful FAQ content. Structure content to answer questions directly. E-E-A-T signals (author expertise, business credentials, authoritative mentions) contribute to inclusion.

The Data Layer: LocalSEOData AI Endpoints

The ai-local-search skill relies on LocalSEOData’s AI-specific endpoints.

The ai_visibility endpoint scores brand visibility across platforms for specified keywords. It runs probe queries and reports mention presence, giving you a visibility score per platform.

The ai_mentions endpoint finds where a brand appears in AI outputs. It identifies which responses include your business and what context surrounds mentions.

The ai_llm_response endpoint queries specific LLMs and returns structured responses. This enables testing specific prompts to see exactly how each AI platform responds.

The ai_overview endpoint checks Google AI Overview presence for specific queries. It extracts AI Overview content, showing whether your business appears in Google’s AI-generated answers.

The ai_top_sources endpoint identifies which sources AI platforms cite most frequently for relevant queries. This reveals where to build presence for improved AI citation likelihood.

Local Falcon has also developed AI platform scanning capability, extending their geogrid methodology to AI visibility surfaces. For agencies wanting geographic variation analysis — which AI platforms mention you in which service areas — Local Falcon’s tooling provides additional depth.

Get Started

Install LocalSEOSkills and configure your LocalSEOData MCP connection, then run your first AI visibility audit:

Check my AI visibility for [Business Name] in [City] for these keywords: [keyword 1],
[keyword 2], [keyword 3]. Which platforms mention me, which don't, and what's the fastest
way to improve?

Claude will probe each platform, analyze your signal profile, and return a prioritized improvement plan. For businesses just discovering AI visibility as a competitive surface, this audit provides the baseline for systematic improvement.

Learn More

To learn what this skill can do for your local SEO workflow, see the skill overview.