How to check if your Singapore business shows up on Google and ChatGPT
Are you invisible because Google can't read your site, because you rank on page eight, or because AI has never heard of you? Here is how to check, free.
- 01Three free checks: are you ranking on Google, can Google and AI even read your site, and do AI assistants know you exist.
- 02AI checks are partly personalised: test logged out or via someone unconnected, or your own site shows only to you.
- 03Readable but low is an authority problem; not readable is a technical problem; not cited by AI is a specificity problem.
Before you spend a dollar trying to improve your Singapore business's visibility, it helps to know where you actually stand. Most owners have a vague sense that they are "not showing up," but never check properly, so they cannot tell whether the problem is that Google cannot read their site, that they rank on page eight, or that AI assistants have never heard of them. These are different problems with different fixes. Here is how to check all of it yourself, for free.
Check 1: are you ranking on Google at all?
Open an incognito window (so your own history does not skew the results) and search the terms a customer would actually use, with Singapore in mind: "aircon servicing Tampines," "corporate secretary Singapore price," whatever fits your business. Look honestly at where you appear.
- On page one? Good, protect and build on it.
- On page three to ten? This is the most common and most frustrating spot. Google knows you exist but does not trust you enough yet. This is an authority problem, not usually a content problem.
- Nowhere at all? Either Google cannot properly crawl your site, or you have no page targeting that search. This is the most fixable situation.
For the real picture, set up Google Search Console (free). It shows exactly which searches you appear for, your average position, and how often anyone clicks. Most owners are surprised to learn they already get impressions for terms they never targeted, they are just sitting at position eighty where nobody scrolls.
Check 2: can Google and AI even read your site?
A site that looks fine to you can be half-invisible to a crawler. The usual culprits: text trapped inside images, content that only loads with heavy JavaScript, a menu or key info locked in a PDF, or no clear titles. If a crawler cannot read it, neither Google nor ChatGPT can use it.
This is the check most owners cannot do by eye, which is why we built a free checker that fetches your page the way a crawler does and tells you what is and is not visible. Fifteen checks, no sign-up.
Check 3: do AI assistants know you exist?
This one is new and most businesses have never tried it. Open ChatGPT (or Google's AI Overview) and ask the way a customer would: "what's a good [your service] in Singapore," or a specific question your customers ask. See whether you are mentioned, and who is. Two honest cautions:
- Results are partly personalised. If you constantly visit your own site, an assistant may show it to you and to nobody else. Try it logged out, or ask someone unconnected to your business to try, for a truer read.
- Being absent is normal at first, and being present once is not a strategy. What matters is whether you can be cited consistently for the questions that bring customers, which comes from having clear, specific, factual pages that answer them.
What the results actually mean
Put the three checks together and you get a real diagnosis:
- Readable but ranking low: an authority problem. You need links and brand mentions over time, not more pages.
- Not readable: a technical problem. Fix crawlability first; everything else depends on it.
- Readable, ranking, but not cited by AI: a specificity problem. Your pages need to state concrete, checkable facts that an assistant can quote, not vague marketing copy.
Most Singapore SMEs we scan score well on page hygiene and still rank nowhere, because hygiene makes you eligible and authority makes you rank. Knowing which of the three problems you have is the whole point of checking before you spend.
We build this for Singapore SMEs and test it on our own sites first. If you want the diagnosis turned into a plan, that is the work rankr does.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check my SEO ranking in Singapore for free?
Search your target terms in an incognito window set to Singapore, and set up Google Search Console (free), which shows the exact searches you appear for, your average position and your clicks. Incognito avoids your own history skewing the results, and Search Console gives you the true, personalisation-free picture.
How do I check if ChatGPT recommends my business?
Ask ChatGPT the way a customer would ("a good [service] in Singapore") and see if you are mentioned. Do it logged out or via someone unconnected to your business, because AI results are partly personalised and can show your own site back to you even when others never see it. One mention is a data point, not proof of reliable visibility.
Why do I get impressions but no clicks?
Almost always because you are ranking too low, around position eight to ten on Google, or worse, so you appear in the results Google counts as an impression but nobody scrolls far enough to click. That is an authority problem, not a content one, and it is the most common pattern we see for young Singapore sites.
What is the difference between being crawlable and ranking?
Crawlable means Google and AI systems can read your page at all. Ranking means they trust it enough to show it near the top. A site can be perfectly crawlable, even score 100 on a technical checker, and still rank nowhere, because ranking depends on authority and demand, which a technical check does not measure.