In short: to check Gemini and Claude for your business, ask each one the same customer questions and read the sources each engine shows: Gemini puts a Sources button at the bottom of a response or inline when it has links, and Claude gives direct citations when it uses information from the web. Check the crawler rules that matter for each (Google-Extended for Gemini Apps grounding, Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User for Claude), then repeat the same questions over several weeks.
Many business owners test ChatGPT and stop there. But Gemini and Claude are assistants in their own right, and each one can give a different answer to the same question. A guesthouse in Jinja or a law firm in Lomé might be named by one engine and missing from the other. The only way to know is to check them one by one.
Why check each engine separately?
Each assistant finds sources in its own way, with its own crawler rules and its own way of displaying links. A fix that helps with one engine may make no difference with another. Checking each one separately tells you where you are strong, where you are missing, and which settings to look at first.
One point to keep clear: Gemini is not the same as the AI Overviews at the top of Google Search. This guide covers the Gemini assistant. AI Overviews and AI Mode can only be checked by hand, and Amaso AI does not track them.
How does Gemini show its sources?
Google’s Gemini Apps help explains that when sources are available, you find a Sources button at the bottom of the response or inline throughout it, and a panel shows the links. Those links can include public websites, files you uploaded or, if connected, your Google Workspace content. Google also notes that not all responses include related links or sources.
So with Gemini you can see three outcomes: your business is named and linked, your business is named with no link, or you are absent. Record which one you get, because “named but not linked” points to a different fix than “absent”.
The crawler setting that matters for Gemini
Google-Extended is not a separate crawler but a token in your robots.txt. Google says it controls whether content it crawls may be used to train future Gemini models and for grounding, which means providing content from the Google Search index to the model at prompt time, in Gemini Apps. Google also says it does not affect your inclusion or ranking in Google Search. If your robots.txt blocks Google-Extended, Gemini Apps may not use your pages to ground its answers.
How does Claude show its sources?
Anthropic says that when Claude uses information from the web in a response, it provides direct citations so you can check the sources. Web search is available on all Claude plans, and Claude searches the web when it is relevant to the request. If an answer shows no citations, there is nothing to verify: start a new conversation and ask again, so you compare like with like.
The crawler settings that matter for Claude
Anthropic documents three bots. ClaudeBot collects content that could contribute to model training. Claude-SearchBot reads content to make search answers more relevant and accurate, and Anthropic says blocking it may reduce your visibility in user search results. Claude-User fetches pages when people ask Claude questions, and blocking it may reduce your visibility for user-directed web search. Anthropic adds that each subdomain needs its own robots.txt rules. Our guide on which AI crawlers to block or allow covers all of them side by side.
A side-by-side checking routine
- Use one list of questions for both. Eight to ten real customer questions, without your brand name: “family-friendly lodge near Lake Kivu with a pool”, “lawyer in Lomé for company registration”.
- Start a fresh conversation each time in Gemini and in Claude, so earlier messages do not steer the answer.
- Read the sources, not only the text. Open Gemini’s Sources panel and Claude’s citations. Note whether your domain appears.
- Record mentions without links too. A name with no link still tells you the engine knows you from somewhere.
- Write down who appears instead. The domains cited in your place are your to-do list.
- Repeat in two weeks with exactly the same wording.
| Gemini | Claude | |
|---|---|---|
| Where sources appear | Sources button at the bottom of the response or inline | Direct citations in the response when it uses the web |
| Robots.txt token to review | Google-Extended (training and Gemini Apps grounding) | Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User (and ClaudeBot for training) |
| Outcome to log | Linked, named only, absent | Cited, named only, absent |
Checking both engines automatically with Amaso AI
Doing this by hand for two engines and ten questions every two weeks adds up. Amaso AI runs the same questions in Gemini and Claude, as well as ChatGPT and Perplexity, from inside WordPress with your own API keys. Each result shows the exact question, the engine and the date, the businesses and websites named instead of you, and the sites the assistant consulted. The settings include a short guide to getting a Gemini key.
Two honest notes. Amaso AI’s documentation says results from the providers’ APIs can differ from what you see in the Gemini or Claude apps, so keep a few manual checks for your most important questions. And the AI provider bills its API usage directly to you. On-demand checks are free and unlimited in Amaso AI Lite on WordPress.org; scheduled checks and email alerts come with the paid plans, from $35.99 a year. If you are still weighing tools, our seven questions for choosing an AI visibility tool may help.
What to do when one engine names you and the other does not
- Check access first. A block on Claude-SearchBot or Google-Extended can explain a gap with one engine only.
- Compare the sources each engine used. If Gemini cites directories and Claude cites news sites, being present on both kinds of sites helps.
- Make your pages easy to quote. Clear answers near the top, facts such as city and services, and structured data. Our JSON-LD guide is a good start.
- Measure again after each change, with the same questions, so you know what worked.
Frequently asked questions
Is checking Gemini the same as checking Google AI Overviews?
No. Gemini is Google’s assistant; AI Overviews appear in Google Search results. Amaso AI checks Gemini, not AI Overviews or AI Mode.
Why does Gemini name my business without a link?
Google notes that not every Gemini response includes sources. A mention without a link still shows the engine knows your business; keep logging it separately.
Do I need a paid Claude plan to test it?
Anthropic says web search is available on all Claude plans, so you can run your checks on any plan.
Will blocking ClaudeBot remove me from Claude’s answers?
ClaudeBot is Anthropic’s training crawler. The bots linked to search visibility are Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User.
How often should I compare the two engines?
Every two weeks with the same questions is enough to see a trend without chasing day-to-day variation.
See how Gemini and Claude answer your customers’ questions today: install Amaso AI Lite free, add your keys and run your first side-by-side check.
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