How Should an Economic Development Organization Choose an AI Visibility Program?
Michael Etheredge is VP of Product Development at QuestionFuel, where he leads how the firm measures and corrects the way AI answer engines describe companies. He was featured by the Southern Economic Development Council on how AI is changing the way companies research communities and regions.
Economic development organizations have three realistic ways to respond to answer engines. This guide compares them, lists seven questions to ask any partner, and explains when a program is premature. QuestionFuel offers one of these services, and we say so where it matters.
Key takeaways
- The three options are staff training, in house testing, and a regional narrative audit.
- The right choice depends on whether the goal is internal skill, a low cost baseline, or an independent baseline for the region.
- Ask any partner how many prompts, how many repeat runs, which engines, and how accuracy is verified against documented facts.
- No honest partner can guarantee what ChatGPT will say, so treat any guarantee as a warning sign.
Quick answer: Economic development organizations have three realistic options: staff training, in house testing, or a regional narrative audit. The right choice depends on whether the goal is internal skill, a low cost baseline, or an independent baseline for the region. Ask any partner about prompts, repeat runs, and accuracy checks.
Disclosure: QuestionFuel offers regional narrative audits, so we have an interest in one of the three options below. The comparison is written to help you choose, including when our approach is not the right fit.
What are the options for an economic development organization?
| Option | What it is | Best for | Not best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff training | A workshop on search and answer engine basics. For example, Development Counsellors International offers an SEO best practices workshop for economic development organizations that covers on page fundamentals and writing for people and AI driven search | Building internal skill and fixing basic web content | Measuring how the region is described today |
| In house testing | Staff run a prompt set themselves, using a guide such as How to Audit What AI Says About Your Region | A first baseline at low cost, and learning the method | Many industries, or repeated tracking over time |
| Regional narrative audit | An outside team runs a larger prompt set with repeat runs and checks accuracy against your documented facts | An independent baseline for the region and board reporting | Organizations that have not yet reviewed their own published record |
These options are not exclusive. Many organizations begin with in house testing, then add an audit.
What questions should you ask any AI visibility partner?
Seven questions separate careful methods from marketing.
- •How many prompts, and who wrote them? Prompts should reflect how a company asks, not how your organization describes itself.
- •How many repeat runs per prompt? The Site Selectors Guild found that the same question asked repeatedly produced different shortlists, so a method with one run per prompt is incomplete.
- •Which engines, and were chats logged out? Saved history can change answers.
- •How is accuracy checked? The partner should compare answers to documented facts supplied by you, not to its own opinion.
- •What is delivered? Ask for the raw prompts, runs, and scoring, not only a summary.
- •What is not promised? Treat any guarantee about what ChatGPT will say as a warning sign.
- •How are your data and results handled? Confirm who owns results and whether anything is shared without your consent.
For how QuestionFuel answers these, see our methodology and how it works.
Which option fits which situation?
- •Your own web content is dated or thin. Start with training and a content refresh. Testing will mostly tell you what you already know.
- •You want proof before committing budget. Run the in house test from our audit guide and review the evidence on answer variation.
- •A board or state partner wants an independent baseline. Choose a regional narrative audit, with repeat runs and a fact check against your record. QuestionFuel describes its approach on our page for AI visibility for economic development organizations.
- •You compete on power, water, and talent. Pair any option with the criteria worksheet so findings tie to what site selectors screen on.
What does a regional narrative audit deliver?
A regional narrative audit measures how answer engines describe the region to companies in your target industries. It shows whether the region appears, how it is framed, and whether the stated facts match your record, using the same distinctions as the company level Silent Exclusion and AI Narrative Drift work described elsewhere in this series.
Two safeguards are worth asking about. First, neutrality: results should describe your region against its own record, not be shaped by who is paying. Second, consent: nothing should be shared outside your organization unless you agree.
When is a program premature?
A program may be premature if the region has not published current data on power, water, sites, and workforce, because there is little accurate material to improve or measure. It may also be premature if no one can own the results internally. In both cases, start with the evidence column of the criteria worksheet and the in house test.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to start?
In house testing. Use a private window, run each prompt several times, and compare answers to your own fact sheet. It will not replace an independent audit, but it shows whether a problem exists.
Is an AI visibility program the same as search engine optimization training?
No. Search training covers how pages rank and how to write for search. A visibility program measures how answer engines describe the region and checks accuracy. The two can complement each other.
Can a partner guarantee that ChatGPT will recommend our region?
No. Answers vary by engine and by repeat, and no partner controls them. Look for partners that promise measurement and correction of the public record, not specific answers.
Should we run our own test before hiring anyone?
Yes, if you have the time. An in house test gives you a baseline and a sense of the method, which makes it easier to judge any outside proposal.
Sources and references
- •Development Counsellors International, SEO and AI Search Visibility for economic development organizations
- •Site Selection Magazine, AI Challenges Traditional Site Selection, November 2024
Related reading: How Does AI Describe Your Region to Companies Deciding Where to Build? · How to Audit What AI Says About Your Region · Why Does ChatGPT Give Different Site Selection Shortlists to the Same Question? · Does AI Describe Your Region by the Criteria Site Selectors Now Use? · How Do Answer Engines Describe Regions? A Guide for Economic Development Organizations