To find out whether AI mentions your restaurant when people ask, run a fixed set of questions across several AI platforms, rather than asking once on a whim. When AI answers questions like a barbecue place nearby for a group dinner or recommended brunch in Taichung, it draws on Google Business Profiles, your website, reviews, and other sites such as food sites and blog reviews. If what's out there about you is thin, outdated or inconsistent, AI mentions places with more complete information instead. Below: how people ask, what AI reads, how to check, and what to fix first if you're missing.
1. How people ask AI
People ask AI in much longer sentences than they type into Google, and often add conditions: how many people, whether kids are coming, whether they need a booking, whether someone is vegetarian. We group common questions into five types; a check should include all five to show the full picture.
| Question type | Example | What AI needs |
|---|---|---|
| Place plus cuisine | A barbecue place nearby for a group dinner | Address, cuisine, hours, seating |
| City plus meal | Recommended brunch in Taichung | Brunch menu, hours, whether you take bookings |
| With conditions | A hot pot restaurant that's good with kids | High chairs, private rooms or family facilities, as you describe them |
| Occasion | A bistro for a birthday dinner | Private hire, large tables, how to book |
| Dietary needs | A pasta place with vegetarian options | Your vegetarian options and what can be adjusted, as you describe them |
The right-hand column is the information AI needs to answer each question. Wherever your version of that information can't be found online, that question is unlikely to include you.
2. What AI reads when it answers
- Google Business Profile: official name, categories, address, hours, menu, photos, reviews
- Your website: menu text, location and transport, how to book, FAQs
- Reviews: what diners wrote and how you replied
- Other sites: food sites, blog reviews, review sites and local media
Two common gaps deserve attention. First, when your menu is only a photo, AI may not be able to read the text in it, so it doesn't know what you serve. Second, when hours change but aren't updated, AI and Google Maps may give people the old hours; they make a wasted trip and may leave a bad review.
What reviews say gets read too. When diners write that a place is good for groups, has high chairs or has easy parking, AI may draw on those descriptions when answering questions with conditions. So when you reply to reviews, you can add the correct details along the way, such as where the parking is or whether private rooms need booking ahead.
3. How to check accurately
AI answers can change each time, so asking once tells you little. A more reliable approach: pick 10 to 15 questions diners actually ask, run them across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Claude, and note for each whether you're mentioned, which places are, and which sites were relied on. A few weeks later, run the same questions again to compare.
The free quick scan in GEO by TriloAI takes about 1–2 minutes from your URL and shows whether ChatGPT can read your site. The five-platform check runs up to 15 questions across 5 AI platforms at once, and the report shows how often you're mentioned, who you lose to, which sites AI relies on, and the first three things to do.
4. What to fix first if you're missing
- Google Business Profile: correct hours (including holidays and closing days), menu, booking link and photos first
- Website: menu as text, with a section each for location, transport and booking
- FAQ: parking, kids, vegetarian options and private hire, answered the way you actually do things
- Reviews: ask happy diners to leave one, and reply to every review
- Other sites: start with the sites the report shows AI relying on, and check whether you're there and up to date
You don't have to do it all at once. Do the top three items from the report, then re-test with the same questions to see what helped.
The short version
To know whether AI recommends your restaurant, check the same diner questions across several platforms, then start fixing with your Business Profile and menu.
Frequently asked questions
- How is asking AI different from searching Google Maps?
- Google Maps lists nearby places and lets people choose; AI gives a few suggestions with reasons. Both often read the same information, such as your Google Business Profile and reviews, so getting the profile right helps on both.
- If a small restaurant has no website, can AI still mention it?
- It can, since AI also reads Business Profiles, reviews and other sites. But a single page that clearly lays out your menu, location and how to book gives AI more to cite.
- Will doing all this get my restaurant recommended by AI?
- No promise. Each AI platform decides what it recommends, and nobody can guarantee it. What can be done is to fill in what AI needs and measure the before and after with the same questions.
- How do I start checking?
- Start with the free quick scan in GEO by TriloAI: enter your URL and see how ChatGPT answers in about 1–2 minutes. For the full picture, the five-platform check covers ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Claude.