Key takeaways
- More buyers now ask AI assistants who to hire, not just search engines.
- AI assistants recommend businesses they can find clear, consistent information about.
- Answering real customer questions on your own site is the most reliable lever.
- You can't improve what you don't measure, so check what AI says about you regularly.
Search is changing
When someone needs a plumber, a dentist or a lawyer, they used to search Google and click a few links. Now many ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Perplexity directly: who's the best HVAC company near me, or which law firm handles car accidents in Norfolk. The assistant gives an answer, often naming two or three businesses. If you're not one of them, you may never get the call.
How AI assistants decide who to mention
No one outside these companies knows the exact formula, and it changes. But the pattern is consistent: assistants favor businesses they can find clear, consistent and credible information about. That information comes from your website, review sites, directories, local news and other pages that mention you.
Step 1: Answer your customers' questions on your own site
Write down the 20 questions customers ask before they hire you: pricing ranges, how long a job takes, what's included, how you compare with alternatives. Then answer each one clearly on your website, one topic per page or section. Plain language beats clever copy. AI assistants quote clear answers.
Step 2: Make your basics consistent everywhere
Your business name, address, phone, hours and service area should match across your website, Google Business Profile, Yelp, industry directories and social profiles. Inconsistent details make it harder for any system, AI or otherwise, to trust which information is right.
Step 3: Earn mentions beyond your own site
Reviews, local press, community sponsorships, partner pages and industry associations all create independent references to your business. Ask happy customers for reviews that mention the specific service you provided. Specific reviews give assistants more to work with than "great job."
Step 4: Structure your pages
Use clear headings, short paragraphs and FAQ sections. Add structured data (schema markup) for your business, services and FAQs so machines can read your pages easily. This website uses it on every page.
Step 5: Measure what AI says about you
Ask the major assistants the questions your customers ask, and record who gets mentioned. Do it regularly, because answers shift. When a competitor starts showing up instead of you, look at what they've published that you haven't, and close the gap.
SartorialAI's AI search visibility monitoring runs this check every week across five assistants and alerts you only when something changes. See how it works.
Try it on your own business
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