The REAL Method is RankingLocal's way to organize a local website review. It asks four questions: can a reader identify the business, find supporting evidence, get useful answers, and reach the relevant pages? It is an internal checklist and diagnostic model. It is not a formula used by Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, or Perplexity.
Recognize: is the business clear?
Check the business name, service, location or service area, and contact path on the page. If structured data is present, it should match those visible facts. A specific LocalBusiness subtype may describe the business more precisely where it applies, but Google says AI features require no special schema. Schema alone does not establish that an assistant recognizes or recommends a business.
Evidence: can a visitor verify claims?
Use real service details, current public profiles, authentic reviews, and case material that has permission and a documented observation window. A star rating or invented example cannot replace proof. A website check can flag missing evidence; it cannot determine how a model weighs it.
Answer: does the page help a customer decide?
Answer actual questions about scope, process, service area, and what changes a price or timeline. Put important information in visible text and avoid unsupported precision. There is no guaranteed FAQ length or passage format that wins an AI citation. A useful answer is worthwhile even when it receives no special search display.
Link: can people and crawlers reach the page?
Check internal links, HTTP responses, published robots.txt rules, and what a browser renders. A rule test does not prove that a crawler visited or indexed the page. For Google, Search Console provides separate crawl and indexing observations; Google's AI guidance also says eligibility does not guarantee inclusion.
The free AI Visibility check turns some of these website signals into a score so the next issue is easier to see. Treat it as a work list. To measure real AI mentions, use a defined live-query sample with saved responses, and keep search clicks and qualified leads as additional, separate measures.