Free AI visibility check that returns queries, not just a score
A score tells you you're behind. A query list tells you where, against whom, and what to do about it. Here's the difference — and how to run the second kind free.
A free AI visibility check should return the queries the AIs cite your domain on — not just a single 0–100 score. Most free checkers sample a few prompts, count how often you appear, and hand back a number; that number is easy to report and impossible to act on, because it hides which questions you win, which you lose, and who is named instead of you. A query-level check runs a reverse domain lookup against an index of real ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok answers and returns the underlying list: the exact buyer questions, their intent, which models named you, and the competitors named alongside. That list is a worklist, not a verdict. MentionRadar’s free Domain Check works this way — free to run, no credit card — so you walk away with something you can actually do, not a grade you have to interpret.
Why is a single visibility score not enough?
A score is a lagging summary of many things collapsed into one. It can go up or down and you won’t know why. It can’t tell you which question to fix, which competitor took a slot, or whether the change is real or just session noise. Worse, two domains with the same score can have completely different realities — one cited broadly but shallowly, the other on a handful of high-intent commercial questions that actually drive revenue. The number erases the only detail that matters.
What does a query-level check return instead?
For each query where your domain shows up, a proper check returns:
- The literal question the model was asked.
- Intent — informational, commercial or transactional, so you can prioritise.
- Model coverage — which of ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok named you.
- Competitors — the other domains in the same answer.
That combined output is your AI citation footprint — the answer-layer analogue of your organic keyword profile, and the starting point for finding your AI keyword gap.
How does the free check actually work?
It runs a reverse domain lookup against an index of real model answers. A background system continuously asks ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok a broad range of buyer questions and records which domains they cite; entering your domain reads that record backwards. The mechanic is covered in reverse domain lookup for AI citations. Because it’s reading recorded real answers, the list is evidence you can trace — not a black-box score you have to defend.
A fair note on free checkers
Plenty of capable tools — including the big SEO suites — offer a free AI visibility number, and a score has its place as a rough temperature read. The honest framing is this: a score answers “am I behind?” and a query list answers “where, and what do I do next?” If you only ever get the score, you’re missing the part that turns a check into a plan. Use whichever you like for the temperature read; come here for the worklist.
How to get the most from your first check
- Run your own domain to see your current footprint and the queries you already win.
- Run a competitor’s domain and compare — the difference is your gap.
- Sort by intent and start with the commercial, ready-to-buy questions.
- Re-check periodically, because AI answers change; a one-off check is a snapshot.
Run it now
The free Domain Check returns the real query list across all three models. Try your domain, then a competitor’s, and read the answers side by side. For the full method behind it, start at the Reverse AI Search pillar.