The short answer: On 30 October 2026 we tested our own agency the way we test clients. Our AI score came out at 14 out of 100. Our search score was 74. AI named us in 48 of 295 answers to questions without our name, and it got some basic facts about us wrong. We are publishing the numbers because an agency that sells this should show its own.
It would have been easy to skip this. If you sell AI visibility, a low score on your own business is awkward. But I would not trust an agency that tests everyone except itself, so we ran the same test on SEO Smart and wrote down what came back.
Some of it is good. A fair bit of it is not. Here it is, as it was.
How we ran the test
On 30 October 2026 we asked five AI tools: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI answer. We used 30 questions. Twenty did not have our name in them, such as “Who is the best SEO agency in Nairobi?” Ten did, such as “Where is SEO Smart Limited located?” Each question was asked three times.
That is 450 answers. We got 444 usable ones, because six Claude calls failed and we left them out. Claude and Gemini also did not accept the Kenya location setting, so they ran without it. That matters, and I come back to it below.
The numbers
Of those 48 mentions, 45 recommended us and 30 linked to our site. So when AI did name us, it was usually kind. The problem is how rarely it did.
Source: SEO Smart’s own test using DataForSEO, 30 October 2026. 30 questions, 3 runs each, 444 usable answers. The AI score and search score are our own scoring and limits, not an industry standard.
It depended on which tool you asked
This was the biggest surprise. Same business, same questions, very different results.
- Perplexity: named us in 19 of 60 answers.
- Gemini: 14 of 60.
- Claude: 10 of 55.
- Google’s AI answer: 3 of 60.
- ChatGPT: 2 of 60.
If we had only tested ChatGPT, we would have decided we were nearly invisible. If we had only tested Perplexity, we would have felt pretty good. Neither would be the whole picture. This is why we tell owners to test more than one tool, and why a single screenshot proves very little.
One more thing in the interest of honesty. Claude and Gemini ran without the Kenya setting, so their answers may lean less towards Kenyan businesses than a real Kenyan user would see. I cannot tell you how much that changed the result.
Who got named instead of us
Every answer that did not name us named someone else. One agency was named in 79 answers across the whole test. Others appeared in anywhere from 15 to 37 answers. We are not going to list them here, because this piece is about us. The point is that the gap is real and you can count it.
If you want to see this for your own business, our 30-minute AI test for Nairobi businesses shows you how to do the same thing yourself. And if you are asking why one name keeps winning, read why ChatGPT names your competitor and not you.
What AI got wrong about us
When our name was in the question, some answers had basic facts wrong.
- Claude said we were founded in 2004, in 3 answers. We were founded on 16 April 2020.
- Gemini called me the CEO, in 2 answers. My title is Founder and Managing Director.
- Three answers, one each from Claude, Gemini and Google’s AI answer, put us on Kabete Lane in Spring Valley. We are at Msapo Close, Nairobi.
- Claude, Gemini and Perplexity quoted our prices in US dollars in 11 answers between them. We price in Kenyan shillings.
I will not pretend that did not sting. A buyer who reads the wrong address or the wrong currency may never get in touch. This is also the point of the exercise: you cannot fix what you have not seen.
Our own website did not pass everything either
We also ran 26 yes or no checks on our own site and listing. We passed 19 and failed 7. The fails were:
- Mobile speed score of 50 out of 100, when we want 90 or more.
- Main content took 10.7 seconds to show on mobile. We want 2.5 seconds or less.
- Server answered in 2.7 seconds. We want 0.8 or less.
- 29 pages linked to pages that return an error.
- 20 of 102 homepage images had no alt text.
- 5 broken links pointing at us from other sites.
- Our Google Business Profile had only 2 photos. We want at least 10.
The other 19 passed, including robots.txt letting AI bots in and 230 sites linking to us.
Source: DataForSEO On-Page, Lighthouse (mobile), Backlinks and Google Business Profile lookups, and a direct fetch of seosmart.co.ke, all on 30 October 2026. Page checks cover the homepage only, and speed is one mobile run.
Yes, the speed one is awkward for an agency that also fixes slow sites. It is on our list.
What we are doing about it
First, the wrong facts. We are making our name, address, phone and founding date identical everywhere, and publishing clear pages that state them. Second, the site fixes above. Third, this set of articles, because pages that answer buyers’ questions are the thing AI can quote.
Then we run the same 30 questions again and compare. We have only one run so far, so I cannot tell you whether anything has improved. When we have a second run, we will publish it, good or bad.
If you want to know what to ask before you pay anyone for this work, read our piece on asking for one screenshot before you pay for AI SEO. For the full method, start with how to know if AI recommends your business.
Key points
- On 30 October 2026, AI named SEO Smart in 48 of 295 answers to questions without our name (DataForSEO, 30 questions, 3 runs each).
- The result depended on the tool: Perplexity named us in 19 of 60 answers, ChatGPT in 2 of 60.
- AI got basic facts wrong about us: our founding year, my title, our address and our currency.
- We passed 19 of 26 checks on our own site and listing, and failed 7, including mobile speed.
- This is one run. We will run it again and publish what changes.
Questions people ask
Why publish a score as low as 14 out of 100?
Because it is what we found. An agency that sells AI visibility should be willing to show its own numbers, including the ones that do not look good.
Is one test enough to judge a business?
No. It is a starting point. AI answers change from week to week, so one run shows where you stand on one day. That is why we repeat questions three times and plan to test again.
How is the AI score worked out?
It is our own scoring, based on how often AI mentioned, recommended and linked to us in answers to questions without our name. It is not an industry standard.
Can I run the same test on my own business?
Yes. Write questions your buyers ask, leave your name out of most of them, and ask each one three times on several tools. The Nairobi test guide walks you through it.
What happens when AI gets my facts wrong?
Start by making your name, address and phone identical on your site, your Google Business Profile and every directory. Wrong facts often come from old or conflicting listings.
See your own numbers
We ran this test on ourselves. If you would like the same view of your business, let us sit down together in Nairobi.
Bring the questions your customers ask before they buy. We will put them to the AI tools in front of you and write down who gets named.
Mehul Shah, Founder and Managing Director, SEO Smart Limited
Mehul Shah is the Founder and Managing Director of SEO Smart Limited, a specialised SEO, GEO and AEO agency based in Kenya. With nearly 20 years of experience, Mehul helps agencies and businesses build scalable SEO strategies, performance-optimised websites, and conversion-driven content marketing frameworks.