Am I chasing a problem that doesn't exist? (AI visibility)
I need some honest input from people who actually run stores, because I'm starting to wonder if I've been chasing a problem that isn't real.
I've spent a lot of time building something that measures how visible a store is when people ask ChatGPT or Gemini things like "where do I buy X" or "best store for Y." My assumption was that more people start their shopping journey inside these tools instead of on Google.
The part that actually nags at me: the stores that keep showing up aren't always the biggest ones. It seems to come down more to what's written about them on third-party sites than to their own SEO. I can't fully explain the pattern, which is half of why I'm posting. I feel the tool gives a lot of information about what sources AI actually grounds its answers on, which for ChatGPT is an ridiculous amount of Reddit.
But every time I bring it up with people in the industry, I get a polite nod and not much else. So I'll ask it straight: do you actually care about this at all, or is it still just Google and Meta that matter when you plan? I can't tell if I'm too early or simply wrong that this matters. Tell me how it is.
So, SEO people, AI visibility is this something you use time on? Is it some thing you measure, if so how?