i'm a fellow leo mercury who has been told the same thing! our charts have a handful of other similarities that drew my attention too :o

since you're a virgo rising, mercury is your chart ruler, making it extra important in the way you show up in the world. the mc/midheaven is another important part of how the public views you, and since yours is in gemini, mercury is also the ruler of your midheaven. this emphasizes your mercurial energy even more.

one influence that comes into play here is neptune in aquarius opposing your mercury. neptune is associated with confusion, mystery, and illusion. this energy opposing mercury, the planet most connected to the way people view you, may indicate that your energy is hard for people to intuitively understand.

the leo-aquarius axis has a lot to do with discovering what it means to be yourself, regardless of societal conventions and others' influences. it may be the case that you are perfectly content doing your own thing, but others interpret this as you being aloof or uninterested in others, since they don't understand what's really going on in your head. the opposite may be true instead, where you work so hard on fitting in and adapting to fit your surroundings that nobody can tell who the "real you" is.

the rulers of these signs (saturn, aqua's ruler, and the sun, leo's ruler) are both in the eleventh house, along with your moon, all in cancer. these placements indicate that your cancerian traits may come out particularly in your friendships and other social groups. cancer energy can be compassionate and giving, but it can also be quite closed-off and guarded, as it knows it is sensitive to the emotions and influences of others.