AI tools like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews now influence how millions of people find businesses
If AI crawlers can’t access your site or understand your content, you won’t appear in AI-generated answers
Schema markup, clear headings, and FAQ sections make your content easier for AI to cite
E-E-A-T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) determine which sources AI trusts
Work through this checklist to improve your AI visibility
When someone asks ChatGPT “Who offers the best accounting services in Manchester?” or searches Google and sees an AI Overview, your business is either mentioned or it isn’t.
There’s no page two in AI search. You’re either part of the answer or you’re invisible.
Understandably, most small business owners know AI search matters but feel overwhelmed by where to start.
The terminology sounds technical. The advice often assumes enterprise budgets and dedicated marketing teams.
This checklist changes that.
It breaks AI search optimisation into 15 specific actions you can check or implement yourself. No developer required. No expensive tools needed. Work through them systematically, and you’ll build a website that AI platforms can find, understand, and confidently cite to their users.
Table of Contents
Why Your Business Needs an AI Search Optimisation Checklist
AI search works fundamentally differently from traditional Google search.
Rather than showing a list of blue links, AI tools read content from multiple websites, synthesise what they find, and present a direct answer.
They show sources they consider trustworthy and skip those they don’t.
The shift is happening faster than most businesses realise. Recent research shows AI search referrals to websites grew by 357% year-over-year in 2025. More telling still, visitors arriving from AI search convert 4.4 times better than traditional organic traffic.
They’ve already researched their options through the AI conversation and arrive ready to act.
For UK small businesses, this creates both urgency and opportunity.
Some of your competitors may already be appearing in AI answers. But it’s early days and many businesses haven’t optimised yet, leaving a window to establish authority before the space gets crowded.
This checklist addresses three areas: technical foundations that let AI access your content, content structure that helps AI understand and extract information, and authority signals that make AI trust you enough to cite.
Technical Foundation Actions
These first three actions ensure AI platforms can actually reach and read your website. Without them, nothing else matters.
Action 1: Check Your AI Crawler Access
AI platforms send web crawlers to discover and index content, just like Google does. The main ones are GPTBot (used by ChatGPT), ClaudeBot (Claude), and PerplexityBot (Perplexity).
If your website robots.txt file blocks these crawlers, AI tools simply cannot ‘see’ your content.
To check, visit yourdomain.co.uk/robots.txt in your browser.
Look for lines mentioning these bot names. If you see “Disallow: /” next to any of them, you’re blocking access. Remove those lines or change them to “Allow: /” to permit AI crawling.
Some website owners deliberately block AI crawlers over concerns about training data usage. That’s a valid choice, but understand the trade-off: blocking also means your
Action 2: Verify Your Website Loads Quickly
Slow websites signal poor user experience, and AI platforms factor this into their source selection. If your pages take too long to load, AI tools may skip your content in favour of faster alternatives.
Test your site with Google PageSpeed Insights.
Pay attention to Core Web Vitals: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) should be under 2.5 seconds, and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) should stay below 0.1. If your scores fall short, the most common fixes are compressing images, installing a caching plugin, and upgrading to faster hosting.
How to Speed Up Your WordPress Site
Action 3: Ensure Mobile-Friendly Design
Google uses something called mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily evaluates the mobile version of your site.
AI tools follow similar logic. If your website doesn’t work properly on phones and tablets, you’re at an immediate disadvantage.
Run your site through Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Most modern WordPress themes handle responsiveness automatically, but older themes or heavy customisation can create problems. Address whatever issues the test identifies before moving on.
Content Structure Actions
With technical foundations in place, the next four actions focus on organising your content so AI can easily understand and extract useful information.
Action 4: Add Schema Markup to Key Pages
Schema markup is structured code that tells AI exactly what your content means. Think of it as labels that help machines understand context a human reader would grasp automatically.
Three types of Schema matter most for small businesses.
- FAQ schema marks up question-and-answer pairs on your pages
- Article schema identifies blog posts and includes author credentials
- LocalBusiness schema provides details about your location, opening hours, and services.
If you use WordPress, plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math add schema without requiring you to write code. After implementation, verify everything works using Google’s Rich Results Test.
Action 5: Structure Content with Clear Headings
AI tools break content into chunks based on your heading structure.
Each section under an H2 or H3 heading should address a distinct topic that makes sense independently, because AI might extract just that section to answer a query.
Where possible, format headings as questions.
“What Services Do We Offer?” works better than “Our Services” because it matches how people phrase questions to AI tools. This increases your chances of appearing when someone asks that exact question.
Maintain proper heading hierarchy throughout. One H1 per page, H2s for main sections, H3s for subsections within those. Never skip levels or use headings purely for visual styling.
Action 6: Create Answer-First Content
AI extracts answers from content that states conclusions upfront. The inverted pyramid approach works best: put your main point in the first sentence or two of any section, then expand with supporting detail.
Keep sections focused.
Each should address one specific question or topic that AI can extract independently. Avoid burying key information in the middle of long passages where it’s harder to find.
Write shorter sentences where you can. Sentences under 20 words are easier for AI to parse accurately and quote without losing meaning.
Action 7: Add FAQ Sections to Important Pages
FAQ sections perform exceptionally well in AI search because they provide clear question-and-answer pairs that AI can extract and cite directly.
Add 5-10 relevant questions to your key service pages and blog posts. Use the actual questions your customers ask, gathered from sales enquiries, support emails, or keyword research. Answer each one directly in 50-150 words.
Combine visible FAQ sections with FAQ schema markup for maximum impact. The visible content gets quoted; the schema helps AI find it.
Authority and Trust Actions
These next four actions determine whether AI actually trusts your content enough to cite it.
Action 8: Strengthen Your E-E-A-T Signals
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google uses this framework to evaluate content quality, and AI systems apply similar logic when choosing sources to cite.
Add author bios to blog posts showing relevant qualifications. Display professional credentials, memberships, and years of experience prominently. Include clear “Last updated” dates, since AI prioritises current information.
On service pages, demonstrate your track record through case studies, testimonials, and specific results.
“We’ve helped 200 businesses reduce their energy costs by an average of 23%” carries more weight than “We help businesses save money.”
Action 9: Build Topical Authority
AI systems favour websites that cover subjects thoroughly rather than superficially. One article about a topic suggests passing interest. Ten interconnected articles suggest genuine expertise.
Map out the questions your potential customers ask about your services. Create content addressing each question, then link these pieces together into a coherent cluster. This signals to AI that you’re an authority worth citing on the topic.
Review your existing content before creating new pieces. You likely cover more ground than you realise. Identify gaps and fill them systematically.
Action 10: Earn More Brand Mentions
AI tools give more weight to sources that other websites reference. Brand mentions across the web, whether linked or unlinked, contribute to your perceived authority.
Encourage customers to leave reviews on Google Business Profile and relevant industry directories. Contribute expert insights to industry publications when opportunities arise. Participate meaningfully in professional forums and communities.
Digital PR activities can accelerate this.
Publishing original research, providing expert commentary on industry trends, or creating genuinely useful resources can earn mentions from news sites, blogs, and publications that AI platforms reference heavily.
Action 11: Work Towards Knowledge Graph Inclusion
Google’s Knowledge Graph is a database of factual information about entities, including businesses. Appearing in the Knowledge Graph increases your visibility across Google’s AI features, including AI Overviews.
The most accessible path for small businesses is a fully optimised Google Business Profile. Claim yours if you haven’t already, then complete every field: accurate business information, appropriate categories, comprehensive service descriptions, and quality photos.
Ensure your business name, address, and phone number match exactly across all online directories.
Consistent information across the web helps Google understand your business as a defined entity rather than scattered, unconnected mentions.
WordPress SEO Guide: How to Optimise Your Small Business Website
Content Quality Actions
These three actions improve the substance of your content, making it more valuable to both AI systems and human readers.
Action 12: Add Statistics and Data Points
AI systems like to show content with specific, verifiable information over vague generalisations. Numbers, facts and statistics give AI something concrete to cite.
Replace weak claims with data. Instead of “many businesses struggle with this issue,” write “67% of small businesses report challenges in this area, according to Federation of Small Businesses research.” Always include your source.
Look for UK-specific statistics from the ONS, industry associations, government reports, and reputable research organisations. These carry more weight than generic international figures for a UK audience.
Action 13: Include Expert Quotations
Academic research on GEO found that content with quotations from recognised authorities sees approximately 40% higher visibility in AI responses. Quotes give AI something specific and attributable to cite.
Include quotes from industry experts, professional bodies, or qualified members of your own team. Format them clearly with full attribution: name, title, and organisation.
Beyond including others’ quotes, make your own content quotable. Write clear, standalone statements that capture key points without requiring surrounding context to make sense.
Action 14: Cite Authoritative Sources
Reference credible external sources throughout your content. Link to government websites, academic research, professional body guidelines, and established publications.
This builds trust on two levels. AI systems recognise citation patterns and associate well-referenced content with expertise. Human readers trust content that shows its sources rather than making unsupported claims.
For longer articles or in-depth guides, consider including a references section at the end.
Monitoring Action
After implementing these actions, you’ll need to monitor whether they’re working.
Action 15: Track Your AI Search Visibility
The simplest approach is manual testing: ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI questions your potential customers might ask, and check whether your website appears in the responses.
Search for your brand name directly on these platforms. If you don’t appear at all, revisit Actions 1-3 for potential accessibility issues. If competitors appear but you don’t, review which content and authority actions you haven’t yet addressed.
For more systematic tracking, tools like Writesonic GEO, SE Ranking AI Visibility Tracker, and Profound AI monitor brand mentions across AI platforms automatically.
Putting Your Checklist Into Practice
You don’t need to complete all 15 actions before seeing results. Work through them in order: technical foundations first (Actions 1-3), then content structure (Actions 4-7), then authority building (Actions 8-14).
Each layer builds on the previous one.
This checklist complements your existing SEO rather than replacing it. Good content, technical health, and genuine authority benefit both traditional and AI search. You’re not starting over; you’re adding a new dimension to what you already do.
Pick three to five actions and implement them this week. Return for the next batch once those are done. Consistent progress beats waiting for the perfect moment.
If your website has significant technical problems or you lack time for implementation, professional help can accelerate things. An AI search audit identifies your biggest opportunities and prioritises actions for maximum impact.
Many of your potential customers are already using AI tools to find businesses like yours. The question is whether they’ll find you.
Frequently Asked Questions
AI search optimisation is the process of structuring your website so AI tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity can find, understand, and cite your content. It’s sometimes called GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) or AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation). Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on ranking positions, AI optimisation focuses on being included and referenced in AI-generated answers.
No. AI search optimisation builds on traditional SEO foundations rather than replacing them. Technical health, quality content, and genuine authority benefit both. Most actions in this checklist, such as improving page speed and adding schema markup, help your traditional search rankings as well.
Visit yourdomain.co.uk/robots.txt and look for entries mentioning GPTBot, ClaudeBot, or PerplexityBot. If any show “Disallow: /”, you’re blocking those crawlers. You can also test directly: search for your brand name in ChatGPT or Perplexity. If your content never appears despite being relevant, accessibility issues may be the cause.
For businesses wanting visibility in AI search, you need to give crawlers access. Blocking prevents your content from appearing in AI answers entirely. However, if you’re concerned about your content being used for AI model training, you can selectively allow search-focused crawlers (like OAI-SearchBot) while blocking training crawlers (like GPTBot).
Schema markup is code that helps search engines and AI systems understand your content’s meaning and context. It provides structured information in a format machines can easily process. FAQ schema, Article schema, and LocalBusiness schema are most useful for small businesses. WordPress plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math can add schema without requiring technical knowledge.
AI visibility improvements often appear faster than traditional SEO changes. You may notice differences within a few weeks for technical and structural changes. However, building genuine authority takes longer. Expect meaningful improvement over three to six months with consistent effort.
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google uses this framework to evaluate content quality, and AI systems apply similar principles when deciding which sources to cite. Demonstrating genuine expertise through credentials, case studies, and authoritative references increases your chances of being selected.
Topical authority means demonstrating comprehensive expertise on a subject across multiple pieces of content. Instead of one article about a topic, create a cluster of interconnected content addressing related questions. Link these pieces together to show AI systems you have genuine depth in your area.