How to start a conversation about AI visibility with a local business
Lead with a count and a named rival, send the evidence, and give one next step. With an email you can adapt.
Lead with a count and a name. "ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini named you in 6 of 18 answers. They named A Pizza da Mooca in 7." A local business owner understands that in one read, and it is about their business, not about AI in general.
Here is how agencies can turn an AI check into a first conversation without overselling it.
Open with what you measured
Most owners have heard that "AI is changing search". That sentence does not make anyone reply. Their own result does. Put 2 facts in the first lines of your email:
- How many of the answers named them, for example "6 of 18".
- The business the AIs named most often instead.
Use digits, keep it to what you counted, and leave out adjectives.
Send the evidence, not a summary
Owners are right to be skeptical of marketing claims. Give them a link where they can read the questions, the full answers and the sources themselves. If they can check it, they are more likely to trust it.
Give one specific next step
Pick one fix that comes from the answers. If the AIs cited Yelp in 7 of 18 answers and the business's own site in 3, the first step is the Yelp listing. If a local guide was cited again and again, the step is getting listed there. One clear step beats a long audit.
Stay inside what you measured
AI answers change from day to day, and a single audit is one snapshot. Say so. Do not promise a position in ChatGPT, and do not use fear words such as "invisible". A calm, exact message reads as more credible than an alarming one.
Offer to check again
The natural follow-up is a second audit after the fixes, with the 2 counts side by side. That turns one cold email into a reason to talk again in a few weeks.
An email you can adapt
Subject: [Business] in AI answers: [X] of 18
Hi [Name],
I asked ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini 6 questions your customers might ask, such as "[question]". They named [Business] in [X] of 18 answers. They named [Rival] in [Y].
The full report, with every question, answer and source, is here: [link]
The answers cited [site] more than any other site, so that is where I would start. Happy to walk you through it in 15 minutes.
[Your name]
How RecoRadar helps
RecoRadar runs the 18 answers in about 60 seconds and builds the report you send. It drafts the opening lines from the measured result. On paid plans the report carries your agency's name and logo, and weekly tracking gives your follow-up new numbers.