For years, I’ve encouraged people to Google themselves. It was one of the easiest ways to understand what potential clients, employers, recruiters, referral sources and others would find when they searched for your name. Sometimes the results reflected exactly how you wanted to be perceived professionally. Other times they revealed outdated information, old job titles, incomplete profiles or very little information at all.

I think there’s a new exercise every professional should add to that routine: ask ChatGPT what it knows about you. Then ask Claude. Then ask Copilot.

While the answers won’t always be perfect, they can provide a useful snapshot of your professional visibility. More importantly, they can reveal how artificial intelligence is interpreting the information available about you online.

Most people still think of AI primarily as a tool for writing, brainstorming or research. What many don’t realize is that people are increasingly using these platforms to learn about professionals before reaching out. They’re asking AI to identify experts, recommend consultants, explain industries, suggest speakers and summarize information about people and companies. As these tools become more integrated into daily life, they are becoming another way that opportunities are discovered and decisions are made.

That’s why I believe AI visibility is becoming just as important as Google visibility.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

The way people search for information is changing. For years, finding information online meant sorting through pages of search results, opening multiple websites and piecing together a picture of a person or company. AI changes that process. Instead of presenting a list of links, it attempts to summarize what it knows and provide a direct answer.

Think about the implications of that shift. A conference organizer looking for speakers may ask AI who the leading voices are in a particular field. A recruiter may use it to learn more about candidates before reaching out. A journalist may ask for experts to interview on a topic. A prospective client may use it to identify professionals who specialize in a particular area.

In each of those situations, AI is helping form a first impression. Whether that impression is accurate depends largely on the information available online. If there is very little information about you, AI has very little to work with. If there is a rich body of content connected to your name, it has a much stronger foundation for understanding who you are, what you do and what you are known for.

This is why I encourage professionals to become more proactive about understanding their AI footprint. If people are using these tools to learn about you, it makes sense to know what they are seeing.

The Questions Everyone Should Ask

The exercise itself is simple. Open ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot and ask a series of questions about yourself.

Start with a broad question such as, “Tell me everything you know about me.” Then move into more specific territory. Ask what you are known for. Ask who your competitors are. Ask what strengths it associates with your name. Ask what industries or topics it believes you are connected to. Ask how it would describe your professional brand.

The goal isn’t to determine whether every answer is correct. AI can make mistakes and sometimes produces incomplete information. What matters is understanding how these platforms interpret the information that exists about you online.

I often describe this as a professional visibility audit. The responses can reveal whether your online presence is effectively communicating your expertise or whether there is a disconnect between how you see yourself and how the internet sees you. That disconnect is often larger than people expect.

Are You Known for What You Want to Be Known For?

One of the most revealing parts of this exercise is discovering whether AI associates you with the topics you want to be known for.

Most professionals have a vision for their careers and reputations. They may want to become known for healthcare, private equity, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, leadership, legal marketing or another area of specialization. They may be working hard to develop expertise in a particular industry or position themselves as a thought leader in a niche area.

Yet when AI describes them, those topics are sometimes nowhere to be found.

This happens because many professionals assume people already know what they do. They assume their strengths are obvious. They assume their expertise speaks for itself. While that may be true for the people they work with regularly, it is often not true for someone encountering their name for the first time.

Your expertise and your visibility are not the same thing. You can be exceptionally knowledgeable and highly respected within your organization while remaining largely invisible outside of it. AI often exposes that gap. If it fails to connect your name to the areas where you want to build a reputation, it may be a sign that your online presence isn’t reinforcing your goals as effectively as it could.

Pay Attention to What’s Missing

Many people focus on what AI says about them. I think it’s often more valuable to focus on what it doesn’t say.

Does it mention your speaking engagements? Does it reference articles you’ve written, interviews you’ve given or industry events where you’ve participated? Does it highlight leadership positions, awards, certifications or other accomplishments that are important parts of your professional story?

If the answer is no, that doesn’t necessarily mean those accomplishments lack value. It may simply mean they aren’t visible enough online for AI to recognize and connect them to your name.

The same applies to outdated information. I’ve seen AI reference jobs people held years ago while overlooking significant accomplishments from the last several years. I’ve seen professionals described primarily by an earlier stage of their career rather than the work they are doing today.

While you can’t control every piece of information that exists online, but you can influence the overall picture by creating more current and relevant information. Over time, newer signals can help provide a more accurate representation of who you are and where your expertise lies.

What Your Competitors Can Teach You

Another useful exercise is asking AI who your competitors are and then examining how it describes them.

The answers won’t always be perfect, but they can provide valuable insight into how visibility works within your industry. Are the people AI identifies actually your competitors? What topics are they being associated with? What accomplishments or expertise does AI highlight when discussing them?

Sometimes you’ll discover that competitors are being recognized for areas where you have equal or greater expertise. The difference is often not capability. The difference is visibility.

Many professionals spend years doing excellent work but rarely share insights, write articles, speak at events or participate in industry conversations. Others consistently create content, contribute to discussions and build a body of work that is easy to find online. Over time, those efforts create a stronger digital footprint and make it easier for both people and AI to understand what they do.

This isn’t about competing with others for attention. It’s about understanding how visibility is created and making informed decisions about how you want to show up professionally.

How to Strengthen Your AI Visibility

One of the most common questions I hear is whether there is a specific strategy for improving AI visibility. The answer is surprisingly simple. The same activities that have helped professionals build strong reputations for years are the ones that help improve AI visibility today.

A strong LinkedIn profile remains one of the most important assets you can have. It should clearly communicate who you are, what you do, who you help and the areas where you have expertise. If your profile is vague or outdated, AI may struggle to understand your professional focus.

Creating content is equally important. When you consistently share insights about the topics you want to be known for, you create additional signals that reinforce your expertise. Articles, LinkedIn posts, interviews, podcasts and other forms of content all contribute to a larger body of work that people and AI can reference.

Speaking engagements, media coverage and professional association involvement can also play a meaningful role. Every article, event page, speaker biography and interview creates another opportunity to strengthen your digital footprint and provide context about your expertise.

There is no shortcut here. AI can only work with the information it can find. The more high-quality information that exists about you online, the easier it becomes for AI to understand who you are and what you do.

Looking Ahead

I don’t believe AI is replacing traditional search anytime soon. People will continue to use Google and other search engines for years to come. What is changing is how people gather and consume information. Increasingly, they want quick answers, summaries and recommendations. AI is becoming one of the tools they rely on to provide them.

That shift has important implications for personal branding and professional visibility. The professionals who benefit most will be the ones who are intentional about their digital presence and proactive about shaping their professional narrative. They won’t assume people know what they do. They’ll make it easy for others to understand their expertise, their accomplishments and the value they bring.

If you haven’t asked AI what it knows about you, I’d encourage you to spend a few minutes doing so. The exercise can reveal gaps in your visibility, opportunities to strengthen your positioning and insights into how you’re perceived online. At a minimum, it will help you better understand how these increasingly influential tools are interpreting your professional reputation.

Key Takeaways

  • Ask ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot what they know about you.
  • Review whether AI accurately describes your expertise and professional focus.
  • Pay close attention to what’s missing, not just what’s included.
  • Look for outdated information that may no longer reflect your work.
  • Compare how AI describes you versus others in your field.
  • Strengthen your LinkedIn profile and ensure it reflects who you are today.
  • Create content around the topics you want to be known for.
  • Pursue writing, speaking and media opportunities that expand your digital footprint.
  • Remember that AI can only work with the information it can find online.

The rise of AI is changing how people discover, evaluate and learn about professionals. Understanding what these tools know about you is no longer just an interesting exercise. It’s becoming an important part of managing your professional reputation.

Stay in Touch! Connect with me on LinkedIn,  Threads, YouTube, Instagram, sign up for my email list and follow my blog. Obtain a copy of my LinkedIn Secrets guide. Sign up for my personal branding summer school course.