Phase 1 · 30 points
Structure
Make the business machine-readable and properly plumbed for AI crawlers.
- 1Lock the canonical brand name used identically on the website, all profiles, directories, and schema.
- 2Define the primary and secondary business categories, including semantic synonyms.
- 3Define the ideal customer profile: exactly who the business helps.
- 4Define the core problems the business solves.
- 5Define the core offers, services, products, or treatments.
- 6Define primary and secondary geographic markets, if location matters.
- 7Write the one-sentence AI-readable business bio.
- 8Write the long-form entity description covering business, audience, offers, and proof.
- 9Audit homepage clarity: who you help and what you offer, explicit above the fold.
- 10Build a semantic About page: mission, market, founder background, credibility.
- 11Optimize the Contact page with complete entity details, official email, and secure contact forms.
- 12Enforce exact NAP consistency (name, address, phone) across the entire website.
- 13Create a dedicated, targeted page for each core offer.
- 14Create dedicated location and industry-vertical pages where the business serves multiple areas or niches.
- 15Build the internal linking structure: homepage, services, proof, and content hubs interconnected.
- 16Build a topical hub around the main category with supporting content clusters.
- 17Add breadcrumb navigation.
- 18Verify crawlability, indexation, and snippet eligibility: Ensure important pages are not blocked by noindex, nosnippet, restrictive max-snippet tags, incorrect canonicals, paywalls, or hidden content.
- 19Create optional AI-accessibility files: Generate llms.txt and llms-full.txt for documentation-heavy businesses, SaaS products, technical sites, or large content libraries as optional machine-readable support assets.
- 20Enable IndexNow where supported: Use IndexNow to notify Bing and participating engines when important pages are created or updated.
- 21Audit robots.txt for AI search crawlers: Ensure important public pages are accessible to OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Googlebot, and Bingbot, unless the business has a deliberate policy reason to block them.
- 22Test JavaScript rendering: verify AI crawlers can read content without executing JS.
- 23Document AI crawler access policy: Decide which crawlers are allowed for search visibility, user-triggered retrieval, and model training, and document the business’s approved crawler policy.
- 24Submit the site and sitemap to Bing Webmaster Tools.
- 25Inject Organization schema.
- 26Inject LocalBusiness or specialty schema (e.g., MedicalClinic) where relevant.
- 27Inject Service schema for each core offer.
- 28Inject Person schema for founders, authors, and key practitioners.
- 29Inject FAQ, Article, Breadcrumb, and Review schema where relevant.
- 30Validate every schema injection: Use Schema.org Validator for general JSON-LD validation and Google Rich Results Test for schema types eligible for Google rich results. Fix errors and review warnings.
Phase 2 · 27 points
Signal
Build trust signals, E-E-A-T, and Knowledge Graph corroboration that AI engines can verify.
- 31Compile the master proof inventory: reviews, case studies, client wins, awards, media mentions.
- 32Check Knowledge Panel status and strengthen eligibility: Search for the brand, founder, and product entities. If a Knowledge Panel exists, claim or verify it. If not, build the corroborating entity signals needed to earn one over time.
- 33Assess open knowledge graph eligibility: Check whether the brand, founder, or product qualifies for Wikidata, Wikipedia, Crunchbase, Google Knowledge Panel, industry databases, or other recognized entity sources.
- 34Inject verifiable testimonials on the homepage.
- 35Inject specific, relevant testimonials on each service page.
- 36Publish at least one deep-dive, metric-backed case study.
- 37Build a Results hub housing all case studies and success stories.
- 38Highlight measurable outcomes everywhere: revenue, leads, bookings, time saved.
- 39Display recognizable client logos and trust badges where permitted.
- 40Publish founder credentials, history, and industry authority.
- 41Publish team and expert bios with specific topical expertise.
- 42Link every piece of educational content to a verified author profile.
- 43Consolidate review links across Google, Trustpilot, G2, Clutch, or niche platforms.
- 44Launch a structured review acquisition campaign for ongoing client reviews.
- 45Inject aggregate Review schema where compliant.
- 46Publish a “Why Choose Us” page outlining the unique methodology and advantage.
- 47Publish a “Who We Help / Who We Don’t” page (anti-ICP included).
- 48Publish a Process page detailing exactly how the business delivers.
- 49Visibly publish guarantees, promises, or risk reversals where relevant.
- 50Add trust-building FAQs that address core buying objections.
- 51Publish comparison proof: how the proprietary method outperforms the old way.
- 52Publish proprietary data, benchmarks, or original industry insights.
- 53Add source-backed outbound links to authoritative domains.
- 54Establish third-party credibility on a Press/Media page: Compile press releases, podcast interviews, digital PR mentions, and external media features as verifiable trust signals.
- 55Display certifications, associations, partnerships, and accreditations.
- 56Cross-reference the brand story: history, mission, and facts identical across every web asset.
- 57Execute fact-density injection: replace vague adjectives with precise, verifiable statistics on core pages.
Phase 3 · 25 points
Syndicate
Distribute the entity and authority to high-value AI community platforms and review aggregators.
- 58Optimize the Google Business Profile: complete categories and AI-readable descriptions.
- 59Optimize the LinkedIn company page to match exact entity data.
- 60Optimize the founder’s LinkedIn profile around the core category and expertise.
- 61Optimize the YouTube channel: descriptions and links aligned with the main entity.
- 62Establish presence on intent-rich niche platforms where active buyer conversations occur.
- 63Claim and complete profiles on the top 3 industry-specific review aggregators.
- 64Submit only to high-trust citation surfaces: Prioritize industry-specific review platforms, professional associations, local authority sites, niche directories, partner pages, and platforms AI engines already cite in the category.
- 65Enforce exact NAP, description, and category consistency across every listing and profile.
- 66Verify one official root domain and an identical set of social links on every external profile.
- 67Inject sameAs schema linking the website entity to all official syndicated profiles.
- 68Inventory all third-party sites already mentioning the brand.
- 69Fix incorrect or outdated brand mentions across the web.
- 70Identify the top “best of” listicles ranking for the category.
- 71Launch listicle outreach: pitch inclusion in the identified target articles.
- 72Identify the top subreddits and forums AI engines cite for the category.
- 73Contribute expert answers in relevant communities: Publish genuinely useful, non-promotional answers in Reddit or niche communities where real buyers already ask category questions.
- 74Identify the top high-traffic, relevant Quora questions in the category.
- 75Contribute expert answers on Q&A platforms: Publish useful, experience-backed answers on Quora, forums, and niche Q&A platforms where the target audience already seeks advice.
- 76Republish core methodology to Medium, Substack, or LinkedIn Articles, linking back to the entity.
- 77Syndicate to specialized industry hubs where relevant (e.g., Dev.to, GitHub, clinical directories).
- 78Identify podcast opportunities for founder placement and citation generation.
- 79Distribute press releases and digital PR: Pitch proprietary data, milestones, or insights to industry media to generate high-trust third-party content and citations.
- 80Repurpose service pages and FAQs into structured social posts, carousels, and short-form video.
- 81Publish and distribute one flagship citable asset: a guide, benchmark, or free tool.
- 82Monitor which seeded and syndicated content AI engines actually pick up, and double down.
Phase 4 · 25 points
Surface
Penetrate AI-native real estate, target Data Voids, and structure content for LLM ingestion.
- 83Map the top buyer-intent and “best provider” prompts prospects type when ready to buy.
- 84Map the top comparison and “alternatives to X” prompts.
- 85Map the top location-based prompts, if relevant.
- 86Map the top educational and problem-aware prompts asked early in the journey.
- 87Identify 3+ data voids: high-intent prompts where AI currently hallucinates or has no good answer.
- 88Seed data-void answers: publish exact-match content that fills the identified voids.
- 89Inject answer-first intros: the first paragraph of every service page directly answers its core prompt.
- 90Publish “Best [Category]” pages designed to answer recommendation prompts.
- 91Publish direct “Us vs. Them” comparison pages.
- 92Publish “Alternatives to X” pages targeting buyers leaving established competitors.
- 93Publish a comprehensive “How to Choose” buying guide for the category.
- 94Publish problem-solution pages for the highest-intent pain points.
- 95Publish use-case pages for specific customer scenarios.
- 96Publish educational content answering the mapped educational prompts.
- 97Publish standalone capsule content: Inject dense, answer-first summary blocks (TL;DRs) at the top of all long-form articles to directly feed AI Overviews and snippet extraction.
- 98Restructure lists and feature sets into clean comparison tables.
- 99Add structured pros-and-cons sections to comparison content.
- 100Add “Who this is for / not for” sections to service pages.
- 101Add “Questions to Ask Before Hiring” sections inside buying guides.
- 102Directly answer the buyer objections AI tools commonly surface about the category.
- 103Assess AI-native platform opportunities: Identify whether Perplexity Pages, Custom GPTs, Gemini Gems, Claude Projects, or similar AI-native assets make sense for the business’s niche and buyer journey.
- 104Build an optional AI assistant asset: If useful for sales enablement, create a Custom GPT, Gemini Gem, Claude Project, or website AI assistant that educates prospects and routes qualified visitors to the correct next step.
- 105Connect the AI assistant to conversion paths: Ensure the assistant references official website content, recommends relevant pages, and routes users to lead capture, booking, quote, or purchase flows.
- 106Match every page’s CTA exactly to its intent level: audit, call, demo, quote, download, or purchase.
- 107Apply AI-readable content architecture: Structure core pages with clear H2/H3 sections, answer-first paragraphs, summary blocks, comparison tables, proof blocks, FAQs, and scannable formatting where useful.
Phase 5 · 20 points
Strengthen
Close the loop, measure AI engine visibility, identify gaps, and force recency.
- 108Run the baseline AI Search Audit before any implementation begins.
- 109Log baseline scores across Structure, Signal, Syndicate, Surface, and Strengthen.
- 110Test target prompts in ChatGPT and Perplexity; log visibility and citations.
- 111Test target prompts in Claude, Gemini, Google AI Mode, and Google AI Overviews; log visibility and cited sources separately.
- 112Track whether the brand is mentioned positively, ignored, or hallucinated per prompt.
- 113Track which competitors AI recommends instead.
- 114Track exactly which source URLs the AI engines cite for the category.
- 115Track brand-prompt visibility: what AI says when asked about the company directly.
- 116Track category and buying-intent prompt visibility.
- 117Re-validate schema markup after every site update.
- 118Track indexation of new and updated pages in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- 119Audit external pickups: new citations, backlinks, mentions, and directory placements.
- 120Track review growth on the priority aggregator platforms.
- 121Flag core pages not updated in the last 6 months.
- 122Apply freshness and review signals: Add visible “Last reviewed” or “Data verified” dates where useful, update dateModified in schema where appropriate, refresh stale examples, and revalidate any sensitive claims every 30 days.
- 123Track AI Visibility Score changes monthly.
- 124Capture every AI recommendation win as a screenshot for the proof inventory.
- 125Re-run the full AI Search Audit every 30 days.
- 126Identify the weakest flywheel phase from the latest audit.
- 127Launch the next 30-day sprint focused entirely on the weakest phase.
Where to start
The free AI check tests your business against the starting checkpoints and gives you your top three fixes.