An AI search readiness checklist

Nearly every “AI readiness” audit we run on a small business site turns up the same short list: a security setting blocking crawlers nobody knew about, a Google Business Profile half filled in, and service pages that don’t say where the business works. None of it needs new technology. It needs someone to go through it methodically.

This is the list we work through, in the order we’d do it. The early sections are quick and fix the problems that stop AI tools seeing you at all. The later ones take longer and decide whether you get named.

Print it, tick it off, and come back to the unticked ones.

1. Can the tools reach you? (30 minutes)

If this section fails, nothing else matters.

• Your site loads over HTTPS with no security warnings.
• In Search Console, your pages are indexed. Check the Pages report for anything important marked “Excluded” or “Not indexed”.
• In Search Console under Settings > Search generative AI, your site isn’t excluded. Google says inclusion is the default, but it’s worth confirming, especially if someone has been tinkering. Google’s help page on this control explains what it does.
• Your robots.txt (yourdomain.com.au/robots.txt) doesn’t block OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI’s crawler documentation says sites that block it won’t appear in ChatGPT search answers. Blocking GPTBot (training) is a separate choice and doesn’t affect this.
• Your security plugin, Cloudflare or hosting firewall isn’t blocking AI crawlers. Some do this by default now. Check the bot settings, not just robots.txt.
• Your site is verified in Bing Webmaster Tools, with a sitemap submitted. Microsoft Copilot relies on Bing.
• Important information is in actual text, not only inside images, PDFs or sliders. Your phone number, hours and service list should be readable as text.

If you’re not sure how to read the Search Console reports, our monthly Search Console guide covers the ones that matter.

2. Your website: the basics (an afternoon)

• Business name, phone, address (or service area) are identical across the header, footer and contact page.
• There’s one page for each main service, not one page listing everything.
• Each service page says what the service is, who it’s for, the areas you cover, and what affects the price.
• Your service area is spelled out by town, not just “Northern Rivers” or “and surrounds”.
• Opening hours, after-hours or emergency availability are stated in text.
• Your licence number, registration or accreditation is visible where it’s relevant.
• Your About page names the real people behind the business and how long you’ve been operating.
• Prices or price guides are published where you’re comfortable doing so. AI answers often get asked “how much does X cost in [town]”.
• There are no outdated pages describing services, staff or prices you’ve dropped. Delete or update them.
• Local business schema is in place with your correct name, address, phone and hours. It’s not required for AI features, but it removes ambiguity.

3. Google Business Profile (an hour, then 15 minutes a month)

• The profile is verified and you know which Google account owns it.
• Primary category is the most specific one that fits. Secondary categories cover your other main services.
• The Services section lists each service, ideally with a short description.
• Service areas list the towns you actually cover.
• Hours are correct, including public holiday hours.
• The description reads like a human wrote it and mentions your main services and area.
• There are recent photos of real work, real premises or real people. Not stock.
• There are no duplicate or old profiles for a previous address or business name.

Our Google Business Profile setup guide goes through each field.

4. Reviews (ongoing)

• You have a steady flow of new Google reviews, not a burst from 2022 and nothing since.
• You ask at the right moment, with a direct link, and suggest customers mention what you did and where.
• You reply to reviews, good and bad, briefly and in your own voice.
• You’re not buying, swapping or incentivising reviews in a way that breaches Google’s policies. If you’re a health practitioner, you also know the AHPRA testimonial rules.
• Reviews on other relevant platforms (Facebook, hipages, industry sites) aren’t abandoned or full of unanswered complaints.

5. Directories and mentions (a couple of hours, once)

AI tools cross-check. When your name, phone and address match across several sources, they’re more confident about you.

• Your listings on the main directories in your industry are claimed and correct.
• Your ABN details on the ABN Lookup are current (business name and location).
• Industry association member directories have your current details.
• Old listings with an old phone number or address have been updated or removed.
• Local mentions exist where they’re genuine: the chamber of commerce, sponsorships, local news, supplier “find an installer” pages.

Don’t pay for dozens of low-quality directory submissions. A handful of accurate, relevant listings beats a hundred junk ones.

6. Content that answers real questions (ongoing)

This is where you go from being visible to being named.

• You’ve written down the 10 questions customers ask most on the phone, and each one is answered somewhere on your site.
• Answers are specific to your business and area. “We service Ballina, Lennox Head and Alstonville, usually same day for blocked drains” beats “We offer prompt service”.
• At least some content shows first-hand experience: a project write-up, a before and after, a “what we found when we opened this switchboard” story.
• Each page has a clear next step: call, book or enquire.
• Pages are dated or obviously current, so tools don’t treat them as stale.

Our article on what customers ask AI about local trades has worked examples of the long, specific questions people now type.

7. Measure it (15 minutes, then monthly)

• GA4 has a channel or segment for AI referrals (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and so on).
• Search Console’s Generative AI performance report is on your monthly check, if it’s showing for your site.
• Every few months, you ask the main AI tools the questions your customers would ask, and note who they name.
• You ask new customers how they found you, and record it.

What to skip

You don’t need an llms.txt file for Google (Google says it doesn’t use them), “AI-optimised” rewrites of your whole site, or anyone promising guaranteed placement in ChatGPT. If someone’s selling those, ask them what’s on sections 1 to 3 of this list first.

If you only get through part of it

Do section 1 and section 3 this week. Those two fix the most common reasons a business is missing from AI answers, and neither needs a developer for most sites.

If sections 2 and 6 show that the website itself is the gap, that’s where our web design service comes in. If it’s the ongoing reviews, profile and measurement work you don’t have time for, we handle the profile and reviews under local SEO and the tracking and AI checks under AI search.