Before you can improve your AI search visibility, you need to know where you stand.
Most Malaysian business owners assume they either show up or they don’t. The reality is more nuanced — and more useful — than that. AI tools might know your business exists but describe it incorrectly. They might surface you for some queries but not others. They might recommend your competitor over you despite you being the better choice.
The only way to know is to check.
This guide walks you through exactly how to audit your business across the three AI tools that matter most in Malaysia right now: ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
Before You Start: What You’re Looking For
As you run through each test below, you’re checking for four things:
- Awareness — does the AI know your business exists at all?
- Accuracy — does it describe what you do correctly?
- Recommendation — does it include you when someone asks for businesses like yours?
- Positioning — when it does mention you, how does it describe you relative to competitors?
Write down what you find for each platform. The pattern across all three will tell you a lot about where your GEO gaps are.
Step 1: Check ChatGPT
ChatGPT is the most widely used AI tool globally and has strong adoption among Malaysian professionals and consumers.
How to access it: Go to chat.openai.com. A free account is sufficient for this audit.
Test 1 — Direct name search
Type your business name followed by your city:
“Tell me about [Your Business Name] in [Your City], Malaysia.”
What to look for:
- Does ChatGPT know you exist?
- Is the description accurate — correct services, correct location, correct category?
- Does it mention anything outdated or wrong?
Test 2 — Category search
Now search as a customer would, without using your name:
“What is the best [your service/product] in [your city or area]?”
For example:
- “What is the best physiotherapy clinic in Petaling Jaya?”
- “Recommend a reliable air conditioning service company in Shah Alam.”
- “Which digital marketing agency in KL is good for small businesses?”
What to look for:
- Does your business appear in the results?
- Which competitors are mentioned instead?
- What language does ChatGPT use to describe the businesses it recommends?
Test 3 — Specific query
Try a query that matches something your business specifically offers:
“Where can I find [specific service/product you’re known for] in [your area]?”
If you’re a halal catering business, try: “Best halal catering for corporate events in KL.” If you run a dental clinic, try: “Dental clinic in Subang Jaya that does Invisalign.”
Note whether your business appears — and if not, which businesses do.
Step 2: Check Perplexity
Perplexity is an AI search engine that combines real-time web search with AI-generated answers. It’s particularly good at surfacing local and specific information, and its usage is growing fast in Malaysia.
How to access it: Go to perplexity.ai. No account needed.
Test 1 — Direct name search
“[Your Business Name] Malaysia — what do they do?”
Perplexity will often show source links alongside its answer. Check which sources it’s drawing from — this tells you which of your online profiles it’s found.
Test 2 — Category search
Run the same category search you used on ChatGPT:
“Best [your service] in [your city], Malaysia”
Compare what Perplexity returns versus ChatGPT. Different businesses often surface on different platforms — and understanding where each of your competitors is strong helps you prioritise where to focus.
Test 3 — Check the sources
Perplexity shows its sources. Look at which sources it cites when answering questions about businesses in your category. These are the platforms AI is pulling from — and the platforms you need to be present on.
Common sources you’ll see for Malaysian local businesses:
- Google Business Profile / Google Maps
- TripAdvisor
- Facebook pages
- Individual business websites
- Local news articles (The Edge, Malay Mail, The Star)
- Industry directories
If your business appears on these sources, Perplexity is more likely to find and recommend you.
Step 3: Check Google AI Overviews
Google AI Overviews appear at the top of Google search results for many queries — above the blue links, above ads. They’re generated by Google’s AI and increasingly influence which businesses customers contact.
How to access it: Search on Google as normal. AI Overviews appear automatically when triggered.
Test 1 — Service + location search
Search Google for:
[your service] [your city]
For example: “accounting firm Petaling Jaya” or “florist delivery Kuala Lumpur”
Check whether an AI Overview appears at the top of the results. If it does:
- Is your business mentioned in it?
- Which businesses are mentioned?
- What information does Google’s AI include about each business?
Test 2 — Question-format search
Try phrasing your search as a question:
“Which [your service] in [your city] is best for [specific customer type]?”
Question-format searches are more likely to trigger AI Overviews. If an Overview appears, note the same things as above.
Test 3 — Check for your business name
Search directly for your business name on Google:
[Your Business Name] [your city]
Does an AI Overview appear? If so, what does it say about you? Is the information accurate and complete?
How to Interpret Your Results
Once you’ve run through all three platforms, you’ll have one of these four situations:
Situation 1: You appear accurately and prominently across all three. Your GEO foundation is solid. Focus on maintaining it and expanding — more content, more reviews, more third-party mentions.
Situation 2: You appear, but the description is wrong or incomplete. This is common and fixable. AI is pulling inaccurate information from somewhere in your online presence. Common causes: outdated Google Business Profile, inconsistent business details across platforms, vague website copy. Fix the source data and AI will correct itself over time.
Situation 3: You appear sometimes — on one platform but not others, or for some queries but not others. This means you have partial visibility. You’re likely strong on one or two signals (maybe reviews, maybe your website) but missing others (maybe third-party mentions, maybe schema markup). The gaps are specific and addressable.
Situation 4: You don’t appear at all. You’re starting from zero on GEO. This is the most common situation for Malaysian SMEs and it’s not a crisis — it’s an opportunity. Your competitors are probably in the same position. The GEO checklist is the right place to start.
What to Do With What You Find
If competitors are appearing instead of you, look at what they have that you don’t. More reviews? A better website? Coverage in local media? More directory listings? That gap is your roadmap.
If the AI description of your business is wrong, the fastest fix is to update your Google Business Profile with accurate, detailed information — and rewrite your website’s homepage to clearly state what you do, where you operate, and who you serve.
If you’re not appearing at all, start with the three highest-impact GEO actions:
- Complete and optimise your Google Business Profile today
- Ask your last 10 customers for a Google review this week
- Rewrite your homepage to answer the question: “What does this business do, for who, and where?”
These three steps alone will move you from invisible to present for most local AI queries within a few weeks.
Run This Audit Every Quarter
AI search visibility is not static. New competitors will optimise. Your reviews will age. Google’s AI will update. A quarterly check — running the same tests above — will tell you whether your visibility is improving, holding steady, or slipping.
At SeenBy Digital, this is exactly the kind of ongoing monitoring we build into our GEO audits for Malaysian businesses. Knowing your current position is step one. Knowing whether it’s improving month by month is how you stay ahead.
Ran the tests and not sure what to do with what you found? Get a full GEO audit from SeenBy Digital →
We’ll go through every platform, score your business out of 100, and give you a prioritised action plan — so you know exactly what to fix and in what order.