Free resource
Is your brand ready for AI search?
Answer engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI features pull from the open web. They tend to cite sources that are clear, consistent, well structured and trusted. Use this checklist to see where you stand today. Tick what is already true. The gaps are your to-do list.
30 checks, about 20 minutes. No one can promise that an AI assistant will name you, but each of these makes it more likely.
Prefer paper? Download the printable PDF, or print this page from your browser.
1. Be findable and consistent
- Your name, business name, service area or address, phone and website are written the same way everywhere they appear online.
- If you serve a local area, your Google Business Profile is claimed and complete, with the right categories and recent photos.
- Your main profiles (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and any directory or partner listing) all link back to your website.
- Your website has an About page that names real people, their roles and their credentials.
- Your website links out to those same profiles so the connection runs both ways.
2. Write for answers
- Each key page opens with a direct one or two sentence answer to the question it targets.
- Your headings use the real questions your clients ask, in plain language.
- You have an FAQ page, or FAQ sections on key pages, with short, honest answers.
- Your pages include specifics only you would know (local detail, prices, process, timing), not generic advice anyone could copy.
- Important pages show when they were last updated and are reviewed at least once a year.
- Claims are backed by a source or by your own numbers.
3. Make it easy for machines to read
- Your site uses structured data (schema.org) for your business, the people behind it, your FAQs and your articles, and it passes a free validator such as Google’s Rich Results Test.
- Every page has one main heading (H1) and a logical order of subheadings.
- Every page has its own title and meta description, written for people.
- Images that matter have meaningful alt text.
- Your contact details and service area appear as text on the page, not only inside images.
4. Technical basics
- Your whole site loads over HTTPS and is fast on a phone.
- An XML sitemap is submitted in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Your robots.txt does not block pages you want found.
- You have decided on purpose which AI crawlers may visit (such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot) instead of leaving it to defaults.
- Your important content is real text on the page, not hidden behind scripts, pop-ups or a login.
- Each page has one canonical address, and no page carries an accidental noindex tag.
5. Build trust signals
- You get a steady flow of recent reviews on Google and on the main review site for your industry, and you reply to them.
- Other credible sites mention or link to you: local press, partner pages, interviews, guest posts, directories.
- Your short bio and photo are the same on every profile.
- You publish on a regular schedule, under the same name and voice, on channels you own.
6. Check and measure
- Once a month you ask three to five AI assistants the questions your clients ask, and note whether you are mentioned and what they say about you.
- You review Google Search Console every month for the queries and pages that bring people in.
- Your analytics separates visits that come from AI assistants and search engines.
- You fix first the pages that get views but few clicks or enquiries.
Score yourself
Count your ticks out of 30.
- 0 to 12: Start with sections 1 and 2. Consistent profiles and answer-first pages give the biggest early lift.
- 13 to 23: You have a solid base. Pick the section with the fewest ticks and close those gaps first.
- 24 to 30: You are in strong shape. Keep it fresh and keep measuring with section 6.
Want a hand?
We can walk through it with you.
Tell us where you landed and we will point out the quickest wins for your brand.