Google AI Mode Checker

What the AI Mode checker shows

Type a search the way a buyer would, and this AI Mode checker reads the answer Google AI Mode gives: the full text, every page it links as a source, and the order Google lists them in. Add your domain and it marks your pages in that list and looks for your brand in the answer.

Google publishes no AI Mode API, so the check reads what Google shows on the AI Mode results page for a desktop search in US English, through DataForSEO. A 99Visibility audit reads its Google AI Mode column the same way.

AI Mode and AI Overviews are different answers

AI Overviews is the summary Google shows above some ordinary results. AI Mode is a separate, conversational answer in its own tab, and Google says it is "particularly helpful for queries where further exploration, reasoning, or complex comparisons are needed."

The two do not have to agree. In Google's words, "AI Mode and AI Overviews may use different models and techniques, so the set of responses and links they show will vary" (Google Search Central). A citation in one proves nothing about the other, so run the same search through the AI Overview checker too.

How to read the result

• AI Mode answered. If AI Mode returns an empty answer, the check says so and you can run it again. An empty answer is never shown as a result.
• Sources cited. How many pages the answer links, each with its site and full address.
• Your domain. "Cited #3" means your first page is third in the order Google listed its sources: a place in a list, not a ranking Google publishes. Subdomains count, so blog.yourdomain.com is matched for yourdomain.com.
• Brand named. Whether the answer uses the name in your domain as a whole word. It is a guess from the domain, so a brand named differently from its domain can read as not named.

The summary, the top of the answer and the first three sources are free. Your email opens the full answer, every source and a CSV download.

What one check cannot tell you

• One search. Your buyers type many searches, and this reads one.
• One place. US English results on desktop. Other countries and languages can get a different answer.
• One moment. AI answers vary. The same search can bring a different answer and different sources next time, so one result is a sample, not a verdict.
• The first answer only. AI Mode takes follow-up questions; the check reads the answer to the search as typed.
• The searches behind the answer. Google says both features may use a "query fan-out" technique, "issuing multiple related searches across subtopics and data sources." No outside tool sees those searches.

Why your site may not be cited

Start with access, the one requirement Google documents. To be a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, Google says "a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet, fulfilling the Search technical requirements. There are no additional technical requirements." It adds: "You don't need to create new machine readable files, AI text files, or markup to appear in these features" (Google Search Central). Check three things, in order:

1. Googlebot can reach the page. Google's list of fundamentals includes "Ensuring that crawling is allowed in robots.txt, and by any CDN or hosting infrastructure." The robots.txt checker shows the line that decides Googlebot, and the AI crawler checker shows which crawlers your firewall turns away.
2. The page is indexed. URL Inspection in Google Search Console says whether it is, and why not.
3. The page can be quoted. Google names nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex as the controls that "limit the information shown from your pages in Search", and says nosnippet "will also prevent the content from being used as a direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode" (Google Search Central). Make sure none sits on a page you want cited.

Passing all three makes a page eligible, not chosen: Google says "Indexing and serving isn't guaranteed." What you control is whether Google can use the page at all.

Track AI Mode on every prompt, over time

One check is one reading. A 99Visibility visibility audit sends every prompt you track to Google AI Mode as typed, alongside 5 other AI platforms, and keeps each answer with its sources, so one audit can be compared with the next.

• Google AI Mode is on paid plans, from Starter ($49/mo). Google AI Overviews is on every plan, Free included.
• Prompts and audits: Free: 5 keywords and 1 audit a month; Starter ($49/mo): 25 keywords and 15 audits a month; Growth ($99/mo): 50 keywords and 50 audits a month; Pro ($149/mo): 100 keywords and 150 audits a month.
• Re-audits run weekly or monthly from Starter, so a change shows as a trend.
• The access check runs with every audit: robots.txt read for 18 AI crawlers, your page requested as each crawler that fetches pages, and a scan for snippet controls.

Paid plans start with a 7-day trial, and a card is needed to start it. Compare plans and pricing.