Your best clients came from referrals. Someone trusted you, talked about you, and a new client showed up.
Now imagine that happening at scale, 24/7, without you lifting a finger.
That's what AI visibility is. Except instead of one person recommending you to one contact, it's ChatGPT recommending you to thousands of people asking "Who should I hire for [exactly what you do]?"
The question is: when someone asks, are you the answer?
The new referral engine is AI
Consulting has always been about trust. Clients hire people they believe can solve their problem. That's why referrals work so well. Someone they trust vouches for you.
AI recommendations work the same way. When ChatGPT says "For marketing strategy consulting, you might want to consider working with [consultant name] because they specialize in...", that carries weight.
The client didn't find you through ads they distrust. They didn't come from a cold email they resent. An AI they trust told them you're worth talking to.
It's a warm introduction at scale. And it's happening right now, whether you're visible or not.
Why you're probably invisible
Here's what most consultants have:
A LinkedIn profile that says "Marketing Consultant | Helping companies grow | Strategy | GTM | 15 years experience." That describes about 50,000 people.
Maybe a website with a services page that hasn't been updated since launch. Some blog posts from 2021. Good client relationships that mean everything for repeat business but do nothing for AI discoverability.
AI doesn't recommend you because it has no reason to. You haven't given it anything to work with.
You're not bad at marketing. You're just not playing the game where new clients are increasingly being won.
The specificity trap
"Marketing consultant" is a category. "Marketing strategy consultant for B2B SaaS companies going from $1M to $10M ARR" is a recommendation.
Most consultants resist narrowing down because it feels limiting. What if someone outside that niche wants to hire me?
But here's what actually happens: when you're specific, AI knows exactly when to recommend you. When you're generic, AI has no reason to pick you over thousands of equally generic alternatives.
The consultant who owns "supply chain optimization for mid-market e-commerce" gets recommended for that. The consultant who's "a business consultant" gets recommended for nothing.
Your positioning needs to be specific enough to match real queries. Not so broad that you match everything and therefore nothing.
What makes AI recommend consultants
Content that demonstrates expertise, not just claims it.
"I help companies with their marketing" is a claim. A 5,000-word guide on "How B2B SaaS Companies Should Think About Their First Marketing Hire" demonstrates expertise.
AI learns from content. When someone asks a question in your domain, AI looks for content that answers it authoritatively. If you've created that content, you get mentioned. If you haven't, you don't.
One comprehensive, genuinely useful piece beats 50 LinkedIn posts about "lessons learned from my journey."
Third-party validation that AI can find.
AI trusts what others say about you more than what you say about yourself.
Being quoted in industry publications. Featured on podcasts. Mentioned in "best consultants for X" lists. Client testimonials on your site. Speaking at events that get covered online.
This is stuff you might already do for your reputation. But it also directly impacts whether AI recommends you.
Consistency everywhere AI looks.
Your positioning needs to be the same on your website, LinkedIn, guest posts, and anywhere else you appear. If your website says "B2B SaaS marketing" but your LinkedIn says "helping companies grow", AI gets confused about what to recommend you for.
Pick your positioning. Stick to it everywhere.
The prompts that turn into clients
Some prompts are just curiosity. Others are buying signals.
Focus on the ones where someone is ready to hire:
"Best [your specialty] consultant" is someone shopping. "Who should I hire for [your area]" is someone with budget. "I need help with [problem you solve]" is someone with urgency.
These are the prompts to track. These are the prompts where a recommendation turns into an inquiry.
Generic prompts like "what is marketing strategy" don't matter. Someone asking that isn't hiring a consultant. They're doing research for a homework assignment.
Building visibility without becoming a content machine
You don't need to become a full-time content creator. You're a consultant, not an influencer.
Start with your website. Is your positioning crystal clear? Can someone landing on your homepage immediately understand what you do, who you help, and why you're different? If not, fix that first.
Create one definitive piece. Pick the question you answer most often for clients. Write the comprehensive guide. The thing that makes someone think "okay, this person really knows their stuff."
Get validation on the record. Ask past clients for testimonials. Look for podcast opportunities. Pursue one guest post on an industry site. These don't have to be constant. A few solid validation points matter more than volume.
Then track what happens. Use Mentionable to see which prompts mention you. Identify gaps where competitors show up and you don't. Know where to invest your limited time.
The advantage you have right now
Most consultants aren't thinking about AI visibility yet. They're still relying purely on referrals, networking, and the occasional LinkedIn post.
That's an opportunity. The consultants who build visibility now create a moat. By the time competitors realize this matters, you're already the established recommendation.
The clients asking AI for consultant recommendations are qualified. They have a real problem. They've decided to hire someone. They're just looking for the right fit.
Being the recommendation AI gives them? That changes everything.
Where to start
Sign up for Mentionable. Enter your consulting website. See where you stand on the prompts that matter for your practice.
You might be surprised. Maybe you're already visible for some prompts and didn't know it. Maybe there are gaps where competitors are winning clients you never even knew were looking.
Either way, you'll know. And knowing is where strategy starts.