Traditional SEO gets you ranked in Google's blue links. Getting cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews is a related but different challenge — these systems don't just rank pages, they read and synthesize an answer, then decide which sources to credit. Here's what actually moves the needle.
Write Direct, Quotable Answers
AI systems tend to lift a clean, self-contained answer rather than crawl an entire page for context. A page that buries its actual answer under three paragraphs of introduction is much harder to cite than one with a clear, direct statement near the top.
- Answer the core question in the first 1-2 sentences of a section, then elaborate
- Use clear headings that match how people actually phrase questions
- Tables and bullet lists get extracted more easily than dense paragraphs
- FAQ sections (with matching FAQPage schema) are extremely well-suited to how AI systems pull answers
Make Sure AI Crawlers Can Actually Reach Your Content
This sounds obvious, but it's the most commonly missed step.
- Check your robots.txt explicitly allows GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, and Google-Extended — many sites block these by default without realizing it
- Content that only renders after JavaScript executes is invisible to crawlers that don't run JS — many AI crawlers fall into this category
- An llms.txt file (an emerging standard) gives AI crawlers a clean summary of your site and services
Structured Data Matters More Than You'd Think
Schema markup (Organization, LocalBusiness, FAQPage, Service) doesn't just help Google — it gives AI systems an unambiguous, machine-readable version of facts about your business that's far more reliable than trying to parse them out of marketing copy.
Accuracy and Consistency Build Trust
AI systems increasingly cross-check claims across multiple sources before citing one. A business with wildly inflated or unverifiable claims (fake reviews, invented awards) that don't match anything findable elsewhere is a weaker source than one with modest, consistent, verifiable facts repeated across its own site, its Google Business Profile, and other listings.
Where to Start
If you're not sure where your site currently stands, an SEO audit covering both traditional search and AI-search readiness is the fastest way to find out what's actually blocking you. Get in touch if you'd like one done for your site.