AI visibility checklist for small business websites

To be recommended by AI assistants, your business needs three things: a website their crawlers are allowed to read, clear facts in plain text, and a consistent, well-reviewed presence on the listings and sites they search. This checklist puts every step in order: what to do today, what to finish this month, and what to keep doing. None of it needs paid tools, and most of it also improves your ordinary Google and Bing results.

Key takeaways

• Check robots.txt first: one wrong line can keep you out of ChatGPT, Perplexity or Claude answers entirely.
• Put your services, prices, areas, hours and contact details in plain text on your own site, not only in images or scripts.
• Make your name, address and phone number identical on your website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Maps and directories.
• Reviews and mentions on other trusted websites are the ongoing work that moves the needle.
• llms.txt and "AI schema" are optional extras, not requirements.

Do this today (about an hour)

1. Check your robots.txt allows AI search crawlers

Your robots.txt file (at yourdomain.co.uk/robots.txt) tells crawlers what they may read. Open it in a browser and look for Disallow: / under any of the names below.

These are the documented user-agent tokens, checked against each platform's own documentation on 31 October 2026:

Two rules that trip people up, both from Google's robots.txt documentation (Google Search Central, 2026):

• User-agent names are not case-sensitive, so bingbot and Bingbot are the same.
• A crawler follows only the most specific group that names it. "User agent specific groups and global groups (*) are not combined." If you add a group for OAI-SearchBot, it will ignore your User-agent: * rules, so copy any Disallow lines you need (such as /admin/) into that group too.

Copy-paste example. This allows the search crawlers, optionally opts out of AI training, and keeps a private folder blocked for everyone. Replace the domain and folder names with your own:

# AI search and answer crawlers: allowed
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
User-agent: PerplexityBot
User-agent: Perplexity-User
User-agent: Claude-SearchBot
User-agent: Claude-User
User-agent: Googlebot
User-agent: bingbot
Disallow: /admin/

# AI model training: optional opt-out. Delete this group to allow training.
User-agent: GPTBot
User-agent: ClaudeBot
Disallow: /

# Everyone else
User-agent: *
Disallow: /admin/

Sitemap: https://www.example.co.uk/sitemap.xml

Notes on this example:

• Listing several User-agent lines above one set of rules is valid; they form one group.
• We have deliberately not blocked Google-Extended. Google says it controls grounding in Gemini Apps as well as training (Google Search Central, 2026), so blocking it may reduce how Gemini uses your content. Add it to the training group only if you accept that.
• Blocking training crawlers is a business choice. OpenAI says its settings are "independent of the others" (OpenAI, 2026), and Anthropic documents ClaudeBot separately from its search and user crawlers, so blocking GPTBot or ClaudeBot should not remove you from their search answers.
• If you have no robots.txt, or it only contains User-agent: * with no Disallow: /, all of these crawlers are already allowed. You may not need to change anything.

2. Check your host or firewall isn't blocking AI crawlers

Some hosting, CDN and "bot protection" settings block AI crawlers regardless of robots.txt. OpenAI asks site owners to confirm "that the website host or content delivery network allows traffic from OpenAI's" published search bot IP addresses (OpenAI Help Center, 2026). Look for settings called "AI bots", "AI crawlers" or "bot fight mode" in your hosting or CDN dashboard, and ask your web person if unsure.

3. Check your key pages work without JavaScript

Open your home page and a service page, right-click and choose View page source. If you cannot find your business name, services and phone number in that text, they are probably being drawn in by JavaScript. Google notes that "not all bots can run JavaScript" and that "server-side or pre-rendering is still a great idea" (Google Search Central, 2026). Server-rendered simply means the page arrives from the server with the text already in it. Most WordPress, Squarespace and Wix pages are fine; custom-built "app-style" sites are the ones to check.

4. Write down your official name, address and phone number

Decide the exact version of your business name, address and phone number (NAP) you will use everywhere, including spacing, "Ltd" or not, and which phone number. Save it in a note. You'll use it for every step below.

Do this month

5. Complete and verify your Google Business Profile

Google lists keeping "Business Profile information" up to date among its best practices for AI features (Google Search Central, 2025) and says "businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results" (Google Business Profile Help, 2026).

• Verified profile
• Real-world business name only, with no extra keywords (Google Business Profile Help, 2026)
• Primary category, plus as few extra categories as needed
• Address, or service area with address hidden if customers don't visit you
• Local phone number and website
• Regular and holiday hours
• Services or products with descriptions and prices where possible
• Recent photos

Our Google Business Profile and reviews guide covers this in detail.

6. Claim your Bing Places and Apple Maps listings

• Bing Places for Business feeds Bing, which feeds Copilot. Bing lets you import listings from your Google Business Profile (Bing Places for Business, 2026); check categories afterwards.
• Apple Business lets you "claim your location on Maps" and set hours, images and key details (Apple, 2026).

7. Fix your listings on the directories that matter in your industry

Search your business name and look at the first two pages of results. Correct every listing you control to match your NAP note. Then add yourself to the reputable directories for your trade. UK examples include Yell, your trade body's member directory (for example the Gas Safe Register for gas engineers or the Law Society's Find a Solicitor), and review platforms such as Trustpilot or Checkatrade where relevant. US equivalents include Yelp, the Better Business Bureau and Angi. Quality beats quantity; skip paid "submit to 500 directories" services.

8. Make a clear services and pricing page

Create one page per main service, or one clear page listing them all, with:

• what the service includes, in plain sentences
• who it is for and the areas you cover (name the towns)
• a price, a "from" price or a typical range, and what affects it
• how long it takes and how to book

Bing says "URLs focused on a primary topic are more likely to be selected for grounding results" and advises placing "essential information near the top" (Microsoft Bing, 2026). When a customer asks an assistant "how much does X cost in [town]?", a page with a real number is easy to cite.

9. Make an about page that proves you're real and qualified

Include who runs the business, how long you've traded, qualifications, accreditations and trade memberships (with registration numbers where they exist), insurance, awards and press coverage, with links to the issuing bodies so they can be checked. Google's AI guide stresses content with "unique expert or experienced takes" (Google Search Central, 2026); an about page is where you show the experience behind it.

10. Add LocalBusiness or Organization structured data

Structured data is a block of code that states your business details in a format machines read reliably. It isn't required for AI features, and Google says "there's no special schema.org markup you need to add" (Google Search Central, 2026), but it helps search engines read your details accurately. It must match what's visible on the page (Google Search Central, 2025).

• LocalBusiness suits businesses with a location or service area. Google says to "use the most specific LocalBusiness sub-type possible" (Google Search Central, 2026), for example Plumber, Dentist, Restaurant or HairSalon.
• Organization suits businesses without a public location. Google recommends placing it "on your home page, or a single page that describes your organization" (Google Search Central, 2026).

Example for a fictional plumber; paste into your home or contact page and replace every value:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Plumber",
  "name": "Example Plumbing Ltd",
  "url": "https://www.example.co.uk/",
  "logo": "https://www.example.co.uk/images/logo.png",
  "image": "https://www.example.co.uk/images/van.jpg",
  "telephone": "+44 113 496 0000",
  "email": "hello@example.co.uk",
  "priceRange": "££",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "1 Example Street",
    "addressLocality": "Leeds",
    "postalCode": "LS1 1AA",
    "addressCountry": "GB"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": 53.79648,
    "longitude": -1.54785
  },
  "areaServed": ["Leeds", "Bradford", "Wakefield"],
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"],
      "opens": "08:00:00",
      "closes": "18:00:00"
    }
  ],
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.facebook.com/exampleplumbing",
    "https://www.example-directory.co.uk/example-plumbing"
  ]
}
</script>

Notes: Google asks for geo coordinates to at least five decimal places and a priceRange under 100 characters (Google Search Central, 2026). The phone number above is from Ofcom's range reserved for TV and radio drama (Ofcom, 2026); use your own. Don't add aggregateRating for your own reviews: Google says rating and review properties here are for sites that capture reviews about other local businesses. Test your page with Google's Rich Results Test afterwards.

What about FAQ schema? Google stopped showing FAQ rich results from 7 May 2026 and removed the documentation in June 2026 (Google Search Central, 2026). Clear questions and answers on your pages are still worth writing for readers and for AI tools reading your text; the markup no longer earns a special Google feature.

11. Verify your site in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools

Both are free. Google recommends Search Console to diagnose technical issues, and reports AI Overview and AI Mode traffic within the "Web" search type (Google Search Central, 2025). Bing Webmaster Tools covers the index Copilot uses, and Bing recommends IndexNow to notify it "when content is added, updated, or deleted" (Microsoft Bing, 2026).

12. Optional: add an llms.txt file

llms.txt is a proposal by Jeremy Howard, first published in September 2024, for "a /llms.txt markdown file to websites to provide LLM-friendly content": a title, a short summary and links to key pages (llmstxt.org, 2026).

Be clear about its status as of October 2026:

• Google says "Google Search ignores them" and that creating one "will neither harm nor help your site's visibility or rankings in Google Search" (Google Search Central, 2026).
• OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity and Microsoft document their crawlers and robots.txt handling, but none of the crawler pages we checked mentions llms.txt, and we found no public commitment from any of them to use it in search answers. Bing's guidelines do not mention it (Microsoft Bing, 2026).

If your website platform makes it a five-minute job, a minimal file does no harm:

# Example Plumbing Ltd

> Gas Safe registered plumbing and heating engineers covering Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield since 2009.

## Key pages

- [Services and prices](https://www.example.co.uk/services): boiler servicing, repairs and installs, with prices
- [About us](https://www.example.co.uk/about): team, qualifications and accreditations
- [Contact](https://www.example.co.uk/contact): phone, hours and service area

Don't pay anyone to build one, and don't let it delay steps 1 to 11.

Keep doing (ongoing)

13. Ask every customer for a review

Send your Google review link after each job, to every customer. Never offer anything in return and never ask only the happy ones: Google prohibits incentives, and in the UK the CMA's guidance treats "encouraging just those who are satisfied to leave reviews" as a form of cherry-picking that may break the law (Competition and Markets Authority, 2025). Our reviews guide has scripts.

14. Reply to reviews

Reply helpfully, especially to negative reviews. Google says helpful replies "can help your business stand out" (Google Business Profile Help, 2026).

15. Earn mentions on other trusted sites

Local news, trade associations, supplier "find an installer" pages, community sponsorships and genuine "best of" articles. Google says its AI features "can show what's being said about products and services across the web" but warns that "seeking inauthentic 'mentions' across the web isn't as helpful as it might seem" (Google Search Central, 2026).

16. Keep facts current everywhere

When hours, prices, services or your phone number change, update your website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Maps and key directories the same day.

17. Check what AI assistants say about you, monthly

Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and Google AI Mode the questions your customers ask, such as "best [service] in [town]" or "is [your business] any good?" (illustrative examples). Note whether you appear, whether the details are right, and which websites are cited. Those cited websites are where to focus steps 7 and 15.

How SearchCrow helps

Step 17 is the one people drop, because it means asking six assistants dozens of questions every month. SearchCrow does that for you, tracks which assistants mention you and your competitors, and lists the cited sources you're missing from. Everything else on this checklist is yours to do, with or without it.

FAQ

Which AI crawlers should a small business allow in robots.txt? Allow the crawlers that power AI search answers: OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT search), PerplexityBot (Perplexity), Claude-SearchBot (Claude), Googlebot (Google Search, AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini grounding) and Bingbot (Bing and Copilot). Training crawlers such as GPTBot and ClaudeBot are a separate choice; blocking them does not remove you from OpenAI's or Anthropic's search answers.

Do I need an llms.txt file? It's optional. llms.txt is a proposed format, first published in 2024, for giving AI tools a Markdown summary of a site. Google says Google Search ignores llms.txt files and they neither help nor harm visibility. We found no public commitment from OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity or Microsoft to use it in their search features. Do the rest of this checklist first.

What structured data should a local business add? Use LocalBusiness markup, choosing the most specific subtype available (for example Plumber, Dentist or Restaurant), in JSON-LD on your home or contact page. Include your name, address, phone, URL, opening hours and geo coordinates. Google says structured data is not required for its AI features and no special AI schema exists, but it helps search engines read your details accurately.

Is FAQ schema still worth adding? Not for Google rich results. Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in Google Search from 7 May 2026 and removed the documentation in June 2026. Clear question-and-answer content on your pages is still useful to readers and to AI systems that read your text, but don't expect FAQ markup to produce a special search feature.

How long does it take for AI assistants to notice changes? It varies. OpenAI and Perplexity say robots.txt changes can take about 24 hours to apply to their crawlers. Google says recrawling can take from days to months. Business listing changes and new reviews appear on their platforms first, and assistants pick them up as they next search. Check monthly rather than daily.

Sources

• OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers
• OpenAI Help Center, ChatGPT search
• Perplexity, Perplexity crawlers
• Anthropic, Does Anthropic crawl data from the web, and how can site owners block the crawler?
• Google Search Central, Google's common crawlers (Google-Extended)
• Google Search Central, How Google interprets the robots.txt specification
• Google Search Central, AI features and your website
• Google Search Central, Optimizing for generative AI features on Google Search
• Google Search Central, Understand the JavaScript SEO basics
• Google Search Central, Local business structured data
• Google Search Central, Organization structured data
• Google Search Central, Latest Google Search documentation updates
• Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google
• Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
• Microsoft Bing, Which crawlers does Bing use?
• Microsoft Bing, Bing Webmaster Guidelines
• Bing Places for Business, Sync with Google Business Profile
• Apple, Apple Business
• llmstxt.org, The /llms.txt file
• Competition and Markets Authority, Fake reviews (CMA208)
• Ofcom, Numbers for drama