What Is AI Saying About Your Nonprofit Right Now?

Here is a number worth sitting with: the four AI platforms your donors, funders, and volunteers are using right now, ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude, collectively reach billions of people every single month. Let’s dive in deeper:

• ChatGPT alone crossed a billion monthly active users in June 2026 and processes more than 2 billion queries every day (Source: Demandsage). 

• Google's Gemini surpassed 750 million monthly active users as of its Q4 2025 earnings, with CEO Sundar Pichai citing the launch of Gemini 3 as a major growth driver. Google's AI Overviews, powered by Gemini, reach 2 billion monthly users inside Google Search alone (Sources: TechCrunch & Panto). 

• Perplexity processed 780 million queries in a single month in 2025. Claude is the fastest-growing major AI assistant by nearly every measure (Sources: Business of Apps & Demandsage)

• Claude's share of global generative AI web traffic nearly tripled in a single quarter, going from 2.22% in December 2025 to 6.02% in March 2026, making it the fastest-growing major AI assistant by most metrics (Source: fatjoe)

All of those people are asking questions. Some of them are asking about organizations doing exactly the work you do. The question is whether your nonprofit shows up when they do.

The Test You Can Run Today

You don't need a consultant to take a first look. Open ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overview, and Claude. Then run three types of searches.

First, search for your cause. Ask something like "What are the most effective nonprofits working on food insecurity in [your city]?" or "Which organizations are leading the way in youth mental health in [your region]?" Read who gets named. Notice who doesn't.

Second, search your organization directly. Ask "What does [your nonprofit name] do?" and "Is [your nonprofit name] a reputable organization?" Read what comes back. Check whether the facts are accurate, whether your programs are described correctly, and whether your impact numbers appear anywhere.

Third, search the questions your funders ask. Think about the language in grant applications you've written. Turn those criteria into questions and ask AI to answer them. See whose name comes up.

What you find will tell you a lot. You may not appear at all. You may appear with outdated information. You may appear accurately but without the depth that builds confidence. Each of these is a different problem with a different fix.

What the Findings Usually Mean

If you don't appear in cause-area searches, your digital presence isn't structured for AI comprehension. Your about page, your program descriptions, and your impact data aren't written in a way AI can extract and cite with confidence.

If you appear but the information is wrong, there are inconsistencies across your web presence. Your organization name, founding date, service area, or program descriptions differ from one platform to the next, and AI is assembling a blurry picture from conflicting sources.

If you appear accurately but without depth, you have a foundation to build on, but you're not yet the kind of source AI cites with authority. Third-party corroboration, press mentions, directory listings, and structured impact data are likely thin.

Why This Is Now a Grant Strategy Problem

As we've covered throughout this series, funders are using AI as part of their research process. Your AI visibility is no longer just a marketing question. It is a funding question. A weak AI presence means a weaker first impression before your proposal is ever opened, and a missed opportunity to let AI do some of your grant writing heavy lifting when your digital foundation is strong.

The self-test above is a starting point. What it won't tell you is how you compare to peer organizations competing for the same grants, which specific pages and sources need to change, or what a remediation plan looks like from start to finish.

That's Where We Come In

At Refugio Partners, our AEO/GEO audit does exactly that. We assess how AI currently understands and represents your organization, benchmark you against comparable nonprofits, identify the specific gaps costing you visibility, and build a clear plan to close them. From there, we execute, so your team doesn't have to.

If the self-test above raises questions you're not sure how to answer, that's a good sign it's time to talk. Use our Contact form to book a call. The audit findings tend to surprise people, and knowing is always better than guessing.