  "Changing look" Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are a subset of Seyfert galaxies
characterized by rapid transitions between Compton-thin and Compton-thick
regimes. In their Compton-thin state, the central engine is less obscured,
hence spectroscopy or timing observations can probe their innermost structures.
However, it is not clear if the observed emission features and the Compton hump
are associated with relativistic reflection onto the accretion disc, or complex
absorption by distant, absorbing gas clouds passing by the observer's
line-of-sight. Here, we investigate these two scenarios under the scope of
X-ray polarimetry, providing the first polarisation predictions for an
archetypal "changing look" AGN: NGC 1365. We explore the resulting polarisation
emerging from lamp-post emission and scattering off an accretion disc in the
immediate vicinity of a supermassive black hole. The computed polarisation
signatures are compared to the results of an absorption-dominated model, where
high column density gas partially covers the central source. While the shape of
the polarisation spectrum is similar, the two models differ in net polarisation
percentage, with the relativistic reflection scenario producing significantly
stronger polarisation. Additionally, the variation of the polarisation position
angle is distinctly different between both scenarios: the reflection-dominated
model produces smooth rotations of the polarisation angle with photon energy
whereas circumnuclear absorption causes an orthogonal switch of the
polarisation angle between the soft and the hard X-ray bands. By comparing the
predicted polarisation of NGC 1365 to the detectability levels of X-ray
polarimetry mission concepts proposed in the past, we demonstrate that with a
large, soft X-ray observatory or a medium-sized mission equipped with a hard (6
- 35 keV) polarimeter, the correct interpretation would be unambiguous.
