A few months ago, we looked at the basic factors that make a business visible in AI Search and explained why each of them matters.
This time, we are taking the practical approach.
Below are ten basic areas to work on if you want to improve how your business appears in AI-generated answers.
1. Check Access for Search and AI Crawlers
Review your robots.txt file and the indexing directives on important pages. Make sure public pages that should be discoverable are not blocked from crawling or marked noindex.
Check the rules for AI crawlers separately. They can be blocked even when traditional search crawlers are allowed.
Also make sure that other website or security settings are not preventing the relevant bots from accessing your content.
2. Set Up Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
Add and verify your website in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Submit an up-to-date XML sitemap and check whether your important pages are being discovered and indexed.
Monitor indexing errors and other issues that may prevent search engines from accessing important information.
Also keep an eye on AI-related reports and metrics as they become available in webmaster tools. They can provide additional information about your site’s presence in AI Search.
3. Make It Clear Who You Are, What You Offer and Where You Operate
Review your homepage, About page, Contact page and other key pages.
They should make it easy to identify:
- your business name;
- what the business does;
- its main products or services;
- who they are for;
- where the business is located or which areas it serves;
- how customers can contact you.
The same core business information should appear consistently across the website.
4. Create Dedicated Pages for Important Products and Services
Give important services, products or logical groups of related offerings enough space to be explained properly.
Each important offering should have its own substantial page where appropriate.
Make it clear what is being offered, who it is for, what problem it addresses and any important conditions or characteristics a potential customer should know.
5. Answer Real Customer Questions
Collect the questions prospective and existing customers actually ask about your business, products and services.
Answer them on the relevant pages, in FAQ sections or on a dedicated FAQ page. Larger questions may deserve their own articles or resources.
Make simple facts easy to spot instead of hiding them inside several paragraphs of marketing copy.
6. Create and Fully Complete Your Google Business Profile
If your business serves customers in a particular geographic area, create and verify your Google Business Profile.
Check your business name, primary and relevant categories, description, services, address or service area, opening hours, contact details and website.
Review the profile regularly so the information stays accurate over time.
7. Make Sure Other Trusted Websites Have Information About Your Business
Check whether your business is represented on relevant external platforms such as Bing Places, professional and industry directories, LinkedIn, partner websites and other appropriate resources.
Look for genuine external evidence of the business as well: customer reviews, partner mentions, industry publications, expert contributions and other independent sources.
Make sure important facts about the company on these platforms do not conflict with the information on your own website.
8. Structure Your Content So Important Information Is Easy to Find
Divide pages into clear, logical sections.
Use descriptive headings and subheadings, focused content blocks, lists and tables where they make information easier to understand.
Separate unrelated topics so each section has a clear purpose.
State important facts, conditions, definitions and answers clearly and directly.
9. Check That Your Business Information Is Accurate, Current and Consistent
Review the main facts about your business on your own website and in external profiles.
Pay particular attention to:
- products and services;
- addresses and service areas;
- opening hours;
- contact details;
- staff and specialists;
- published prices and conditions;
- other information that may have changed.
Correct outdated information and obvious inconsistencies between different sources.
10. Regularly Check Your Actual AI Visibility
Create a set of questions that a potential customer might realistically ask an AI system when looking for your products or services.
Test those questions across several AI systems, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity.
Record:
- whether your business appears;
- whether it is described accurately;
- whether the AI recommends it;
- whether your website is cited;
- which sources are being used;
- which competitors appear instead;
- whether the answers contain inaccurate or outdated information.
Save the first set of results as a baseline, then repeat the checks periodically to track changes over time.
Beyond the Basics
These ten steps cover the core areas worth addressing first. Some are familiar from traditional SEO, while others are more specific to AI Search, but together they influence whether AI systems can find the business and form an accurate picture of it.
At OZZOU, AI Search Optimization goes further when needed, with deeper technical, content, external and AI-specific work tailored to the business, its market and its goals.
