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Google can find you.
But can AI?
Most owners have never bothered to look. A year ago, there wasn’t much reason to.
That changed fast. BrightLocal surveyed 1,002 U.S. consumers this year. 45% had used AI tools to find a local business. A year earlier, it was 6%.
AI is now the third most used tool for local recommendations, behind only Google and Facebook.
In the last article, every website lead heard back in minutes. This one makes sure the website gets found in the first place.
You spent years making sure Google could find you. That’s still super valuable but now we need to add AI on top of it.
Here’s exactly what I check
Most owners assume that if Google finds them, ChatGPT does too. Not always.
Every AI company sends its own robots to read websites. Your site can turn them away, or hand them a page with your phone number missing. Here’s how to tell.
We’ll use Mike, who runs Mike’s Heating and Air.
1. Is the door open?
Type your web address into the browser, then add /robots.txt to the end.
That small file tells robots what they’re allowed to read. Look for these names: OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot, Claude-SearchBot, and Googlebot.
If any of them sits above a line that says Disallow: /, that engine can’t read your site. Googlebot also runs Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode. Block it and you’re gone from both.
Here’s mine. Every AI search robot is let in by name.
My robots.txt. Every AI search bot is let in by name.
2. Are your details in plain text?
AI robots read the raw page, before any scripts run. If your phone number loads in later, or sits inside a picture, they never see it.
Your business hours are a common example. If they’re posted as a picture, AI can’t read them. It can’t tell a customer when you’re open.
Open your homepage in Chrome. Press Ctrl+U to see the raw page (Cmd+Option+U on a Mac). Then press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on a Mac) and type your phone number.
Do the same for your hours, your city, and your main service. If it isn’t in there, AI doesn’t know it.
3. Is your phone number the same everywhere?
Mike’s website says (555) 210-4400. His Google Business Profile has an old cell number. Yelp still lists his first address.
To a person, that’s obviously one business. To AI, it’s three versions that don’t agree. When it isn’t sure, it names a competitor it is sure about.
Name, address, and phone should match character for character. Website, Google Business Profile, Facebook, Yelp, and your invoices.
Do all three and AI gets one clear version of your business, not three that argue.
4. Ask it
Open a private browser window so your own history doesn’t skew the answer. Ask ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity the question a customer would type.
Who’s the best furnace repair company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin?
Ask each one three times. The answers change from run to run, so one try tells you almost nothing.
Write down who gets named instead of you. Those are your real competitors in AI search. They’re often not the ones on page one of Google.
Then ask each engine one more question.
What does Mike’s Heating and Air do?
Wrong city, old services, or “I don’t have information about that” means AI doesn’t know you yet.
The first three checks take about five minutes. The prompt test takes about 20.
Do it by hand tonight
You don’t need any software for this. A browser and a notepad cover it.
Check the door. Open yoursite.com/robots.txt. Look for “Disallow: /” under any of the five robot names above.
Search the raw page. Press Ctrl+U on your homepage (Cmd+Option+U on a Mac). Ctrl+F for your phone number, hours, city, and main service.
Line up your listings. Put your name, address, and phone side by side from every listing. Fix any that don’t match.
Ask three engines. Private window, the question your customer would type, three times each. Write down who gets named.
Save the questions. Ask the same ones on the same day next month. That’s how you’ll know if anything moved.
Your Quick Win tonight
Ask ChatGPT for the best company in your trade in your town. Ask it three times in separate incognito windows.
If you want the easy button, just send me your company’s information and I’ll give you a free audit, no strings attached: Free AI Audit
Now go get this quick win!
-Bryan
Did you miss the earlier Quick Wins?
Catch up here:
#1: Review Catch-Up Go back through your old customers and turn past work into new reviews.
#2: The Automatic Review System Make asking for reviews part of your normal customer process.
#3: The Missed Call Text-Back Every missed call gets a text back in under two minutes.
#4: AI Answers the Call Answer your customers, no matter the time of day.
#5: The Review Router Good reviews get answered fast. Bad reviews get your personal attention.
#6: The $11 Website Build it tonight with AI. Own it for $11.08 a year.
#7: The Referral Loop Turn one referral into the next one.
#8: Speed to Lead Every website lead hears back in about a minute.