Key Takeaways
- Ask where they first came across you. Most clients touch several things before they book. "First" gets you the start of the trail, which is the part no report can show you.
- Name the AI option in the list. Given a blank box, people write "online" or "Google". An option that reads "ChatGPT or another AI assistant" gets ticked by the people it applies to.
- Add one follow-up for that answer only. "What did you ask it?" turns a tick into a real buyer question, in the buyer's own words. Those are the questions worth checking yourself.
- Ask in two places, not one. The booking form catches everyone. The first conversation catches the detail. When the two disagree, trust the conversation.
- Treat a small tally as a signal. Three clients out of fourteen is worth knowing. It is not a rate you can plan a budget around until you have a year of answers.
A new client books a call. Your analytics says they typed your address in directly, which tells you nothing. Somewhere before that, something put your name in front of them, and more and more often it is an answer from an AI assistant.
How do you ask new clients whether AI sent them? With one plain question on the booking form, a short list of options that names AI assistants, and one follow-up. It takes ten minutes to set up, and the wording decides whether the answers are worth anything.
Below is the short answer, the wording, the follow-up worth adding, where to ask, and how to read the answers without talking yourself into a conclusion.
How do you ask new clients whether AI sent them?
Ask every new client "Where did you first come across us?" and give them a short list to tick that includes "ChatGPT or another AI assistant". For anyone who ticks it, ask one more thing: what they typed. Put it on the booking form and repeat it in the first conversation.
You have to ask because the trail is mostly invisible. A buyer who reads an answer, remembers your name and looks you up later arrives with no label on the visit. We set out what can and cannot be counted in whether you can see how many clients come from AI answers. This post is about the asking: what to say, where, and what to do with the replies.
The habit behind the question is common now. Pew Research Center's 2026 survey of Americans and AI, which questioned 5,119 U.S. adults in February 2026, found that about half of U.S. adults now use AI chatbots, and that searching for information is one of the two most common uses. The survey covers adults in general, not people hiring a coach or consultant, so it tells you the habit exists and not how often it leads to you.
The wording that gets a true answer
Use "Where did you first come across us?" with five or six options to tick, one of them naming AI assistants. Three choices in that sentence do the work: the word "first", a list in place of an empty box, and an AI option that names a product people know.
"First" asks for the start of the trail. A client may have read an AI answer, searched your name, read your site and then asked a friend. "How did you find us?" tends to get the last step. "First" gets the step you cannot see any other way. The steps in between are described in the new client journey from an AI question to a booked call.
A list gets better answers than a blank box. People filling in a form write the shortest thing that is true. "Online" is true. So is "Google", for almost anything involving a screen. A list lets them recognize what happened without having to describe it.
Name ChatGPT in the option. "An AI tool" is vague. "ChatGPT or another AI assistant" is something a person knows whether they did. The same Pew survey found ChatGPT to be the most widely used chatbot, which is the reason to lead with that name.
Two smaller points. Do not put the AI option first, because the top of a list gets ticked more than it should. And include "Not sure, or something else", so that a person who cannot remember is not pushed into guessing.
The follow-up that makes the answer useful
Add one field that appears only when the AI option is ticked: "Which one, and roughly what did you ask it?" A tick tells you that an assistant named you. The follow-up tells you which question you were the answer to.
The figure shows the whole thing as it would sit on a booking form. The form and the reply in it are made up.
Where did you first come across us?
- A friend, client or colleague told me
- A Google search
- ChatGPT or another AI assistant
- Social media
- A podcast, talk or article
- Not sure, or something else
Shown only when that option is ticked
Which one, and roughly what did you ask it?
ChatGPT. I asked for an executive coach in Denver who works with first-time managers.
The tick tells you an assistant named you. The reply tells you which question you were the answer to.
The reply in the figure is invented. A real one will be shorter and messier, and it is still the most useful line on the form. It is a buyer question in the buyer's own words, from someone who went on to hire you.
Keep each reply. After a few, you will have a short list of real questions to type into an assistant yourself and see who gets named. That is better material than any list you could write from your side of the desk.
Keep the follow-up optional and keep it to one field. Each extra question on a booking form is another point where a person can give up, and the booking matters more than the answer.
Where to ask, and which answer to trust
Ask on the booking form and again in the first conversation. The form reaches everyone, and the conversation gets the detail. When the two answers differ, the spoken one is usually closer to what happened, because you can ask a second question.
| Where you ask | What you get | Where it falls short | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| The booking or contact form | An answer from nearly everyone, including people who never become clients | Quick ticks, little detail, and "Google" for anything on a screen | The running count |
| The first conversation | The story in order, and the chance to ask what they typed | Only people who reach a call, and you have to remember to write it down | The detail, and settling unclear form answers |
| The welcome questionnaire after they sign | A considered answer from a person with no reason to hurry | Weeks may have passed, so memory is weaker | A second reading on paying clients |
| A short email to past clients | A look back over a year or more in one afternoon | The weakest memory of the four, and few replies | A rough starting picture, once |
In conversation, the question can be looser. "Out of interest, what first put us on your radar?" works, and so does the natural second question: "Did you ask it for a coach, or were you asking about something else?"
One answer needs care, and it is "Google". Google now writes AI answers at the top of many results pages, and a person who read one will say Google in good faith. Your reports cannot separate the two either. Google's page on AI features and your website says sites appearing in those features "are included in the overall search traffic in Search Console". So in conversation, ask whether they clicked a result or read the summary at the top.
How to read a small tally without fooling yourself
Read the answers one at a time first, and wait for about 30 before you turn them into percentages. A coach or consultant takes on few clients, so every tally is small, and a small tally swings on one or two people.
An illustrative example, with made-up numbers. A practice signs 14 new clients in a quarter. Six say a referral, three say Google, three tick the AI option and two are not sure. Three of 14 is worth knowing. It is not "21 percent of our clients come from AI", because next quarter it could be one or five with nothing having changed.
The 30 is a working guide, not a tested rule. The point is to keep counting for long enough that one busy month does not decide the picture. For most small practices that means a year.
Four limits are worth keeping in view:
- People misremember. A self-reported answer is a signal, not a record. Someone who heard your name twice will credit the one they recall.
- One tick hides several steps. A client who was referred and then checked you with an assistant may tick either. Both are true.
- You only hear from people who showed up. The question cannot count the buyers who asked an assistant and were given three other names.
- A zero is not proof of absence. No ticks in six months may mean no assistant names you, or that your clients come by referral and never ask one.
The third limit is the reason to pair the question with a direct look at the answers. Asking clients tells you about the ones who arrived. Reading what assistants say tells you about the ones who never did. How the two fit with what you spend is worked through in how to measure whether AI visibility work paid for itself.
And if every client you have came through two referrers, a form question is all you need for now. Add it, look at it once a quarter, and spend your time on the referrers.
The free check asks ChatGPT 25 real buyer questions from your niche at $0 and emails a plain-English readout: your score, who got named in your place, and the one fix to start with. It runs as soon as you ask for it, and the report lands within the hour between 7am and 5pm Central, or by 10am the next morning outside those hours.
Questions we hear the most
How do I ask new clients whether AI sent them?
Add one question to your booking form: "Where did you first come across us?" Give a short list of options that includes "ChatGPT or another AI assistant". For anyone who picks it, add one follow-up asking what they typed.
What is the best wording for the question?
Use "Where did you first come across us?" with five or six options to tick. The word "first" asks for the start of the trail, and a list with the AI option named in it gets more accurate answers than an empty box.
Should the question be required?
Make it optional on a booking form. A required field is one more reason to abandon the form, and a forced answer is often a careless one. Ask again in the first conversation, where it costs nothing.
What if a client says Google but it was an AI answer?
That happens, because Google shows AI answers at the top of its results and people call the whole page Google. In conversation, ask whether they clicked a result or read the summary at the top. On a form, accept the answer as given.
How many answers do I need before the tally means anything?
Read the answers one by one from the start, and hold off on percentages until you have about 30. That number is a working guide, not a tested rule. For a small practice it usually means a year of new clients.
Can the AnswerHalo free check tell me whether AI is sending me clients?
No. The free check shows whether ChatGPT names you when buyers ask, which is the cause. Whether a client then arrived because of it is something only the client can tell you. The two answers are worth having together.
What does the AnswerHalo free check include?
The free check asks ChatGPT 25 real buyer questions from your niche at $0 and emails your score, who got named in your place and the one fix to start with. It runs as soon as you ask for it.
Your buyers are already asking. Find out what AI tells them.
The free check asks ChatGPT 25 real buyer questions about your niche and sends you the report within the hour, at $0. If it shows you are already getting named everywhere, we will say so in plain words.
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