Start with ordinary discoverability
Google states that its AI search features use the same foundational SEO requirements and do not require special AI markup or a new AI text file. A page must be indexed and eligible for a search snippet to be a supporting link in those features; inclusion is not guaranteed.
Make important answers available as readable HTML, link them from the site and use a consistent canonical URL. An isolated page can be technically accessible while remaining difficult for people and crawlers to discover.
Make claims easy to inspect
Put a concise answer near the start, then explain the reasoning, conditions and sources. Distinguish a company’s own statement, independent evidence and an illustrative example. Avoid invented statistics or a personal expert byline that the named person has not authorized.
Use headings that describe the actual question and tables where a comparison becomes clearer. Structured data should match visible content. It describes entities and page meaning; it is not a mechanism for instructing an assistant to recommend a business.
Check search access separately from training preferences
| System | Official documentation distinction |
|---|---|
| OpenAI | OAI-SearchBot serves search; GPTBot has a separate model-training purpose |
| Anthropic | Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User and ClaudeBot have distinct purposes |
| Perplexity | Documentation distinguishes search crawling and user-request retrieval |
| Standard search eligibility and technical access support AI search features |
Review current official documentation before changing host-root robots rules or firewall settings. OpenAI documents that search and training settings are independent. Allowing search access should not be confused with making a separate training-policy decision.
Check the whole access path
Inspect HTTP status, redirects, robots rules, page-level indexing directives and CDN or firewall behavior. A robots file under a content subdirectory does not replace the host-root file. A successful visit from a browser does not prove that every crawler is permitted.
Build corroboration carefully
Consistent company identity and genuine third-party references can help people assess credibility. Pursue relevant profiles, original contributions and permissioned case evidence because they are useful and accurate. Do not create fake reviews, mass directory entries or unsupported claims about institutional relationships.
Measure observations without promising outcomes
Track indexing, search queries, referral traffic and a dated set of relevant AI search checks. Record prompt, system, date and cited URL where available. Responses vary, and a small set of checks is not a stable market-share metric. Investigate whether the cited answer is accurate as well as whether the brand appears.
An optional llms.txt directory can provide another human-readable route into a library, but it is supplementary. It is not required by Google’s AI search guidance and is not treated here as a guaranteed discovery mechanism. The priority remains distinct answers, supportable evidence and reliable access.
A practical next step
Make each important page answer a real buyer question with clear claims and supporting evidence. Check indexing, internal links and accurate entity information. Record dated observations of citations without treating a small prompt sample as a stable ranking metric.
Discuss the question with Nancy, or continue with the related guides below.
Make an answer easy to verify
A hypothetical guide promises better AI visibility but provides no example or evidence. Improve it by answering one specific buyer question, explaining the conditions, showing a worked scenario and linking to the relevant service or supporting result. Record what the page can establish and avoid turning a small set of AI responses into a ranking claim.
Make the example useful in your business
- Question: what decision does this answer?
- Evidence: which statements are supported?
- Conditions: when does the advice change?
- Next step: which guide or tool helps the reader act?
Use the experiment planner to record the evidence and decision rule, or prepare a consulting brief when the work needs outside support.