Visibility audit

A visibility audit is a thorough review of how easily your business is found online. Whereas a traditional SEO audit mainly looks at your website, a visibility audit goes broader: how do you rank in Google, how do you appear on maps and in local results, and are you mentioned when someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity for advice?

The result is not a long list of technical terms, but a clear picture of where you stand, what is holding you back and which steps will have the most impact. That way you make choices based on facts rather than gut feeling.

What is examined?

• Technical health: accessibility, speed, indexing and error messages.
• Content: do your pages answer the questions customers ask, and are there thin or duplicate pages?
• Keywords and rankings: which search terms are you found for, and where are the opportunities?
• Local presence: your Google Business Profile, reviews and consistent NAP details.
• Authority: which sites link to you and how do you compare with competitors?
• AI visibility: how often and how are you mentioned in answers from AI assistants?

Why AI visibility now belongs in the audit

More and more people no longer put their questions only to a search engine, but to an AI assistant. "Which accountancy firm in Manchester helps start-ups?" or "Which roofer in Yorkshire also does insulation?" Whether you appear in that answer depends on different factors from a traditional Google ranking, such as mentions on other sites, clear information about who you are and what you do, and content that is easy to cite. An audit that only looks at Google therefore misses a growing part of the picture. Read more about this concept under GEO.

A real-world example

An interiors shop in Leeds sees the number of enquiries through its website falling. The audit shows that the site is technically sound, but that the category pages contain hardly any text, that the business profile shows an old address and that AI assistants only name two competitors when asked about interior design advice in the area. Those competitors are often mentioned in local articles and have extensive guides on their sites. Now the shop knows where to start.

The action plan that follows is concrete: first correct the address in the business profile and in every other listing, then expand the category pages with advice on styles, materials and maintenance, and finally work on mentions in regional media and on local platforms. Without the audit, the shop might have invested in a new website, while the real causes lay elsewhere.

What results can you expect?

A good audit gives you three things: a baseline against which you can compare progress later, a comparison with your main competitors, and a list of priorities with an estimate of impact and effort. An audit doesn't guarantee better rankings, but it does make clear which steps offer the best chance.

When should you have an audit done?

1. Before or after a new website or redesign.
2. When visitors or enquiries drop for no clear reason.
3. Before you invest in content, advertising or link building.
4. Periodically, for example once a year, as a baseline to measure progress.

An audit is only valuable if action follows. A visibility audit that looks at Google and AI search together gives you a prioritised plan, so you know which step matters most.