A practical first look
AI & local visibility
checklist.
Start with one service and one town you genuinely cover. Check the facts, save the evidence and choose your next three fixes.
Download the free PDFMake your business details clear
Check your real business name, working phone number, website, services, hours and service area across your site, Google Business Profile and key directories. Keep your Profile name factual and its category appropriate. Service-area businesses should hide the base address when customers do not visit it.
Give customers a useful service page
Explain what the service includes, where you work, the questions customers ask and how to request a quote. Use genuine local job examples, current qualifications and accurate reviews with source links. Put important information in readable text and link to the page from your menu.
Check the enquiry route on mobile
Tap the phone link and check it opens the correct number. Make sure the contact or quote route is easy to find and use, and any response-time claim is realistic.
Check what search can access
Open your homepage and service page without a login. Use Search Console URL Inspection to record indexing status; a live test does not guarantee indexing. Ask your web provider to check accidental crawler blocks, noindex instructions, incorrect canonicals and your sitemap.
Keep AI search permissions separate
OAI-SearchBot is for ChatGPT search. GPTBot is for potential model-training use and has a separate setting. Google does not require special AI schema or new AI text files for its AI search features. Access and eligibility do not guarantee inclusion.
Save a repeatable AI snapshot
Use an AI product with search enabled. Try:
Find [service] providers serving [town or postcode]. List each business, its relevant service and source links. State when you cannot verify a detail.
Do not name your business in the discovery prompt. Save the exact prompt, product/mode, model if shown, date/time, location and account settings, screenshot and source URLs. Verify the claims at their sources. Mark appeared, absent, no AI response or inaccurate.
Results vary. One answer is a snapshot, not a visibility score or a ranking guarantee.
Your next three fixes
Choose three concrete fixes. For each, write the evidence, the person responsible and the date you will recheck it. Start with anything that stops customers reaching you or gives them the wrong facts.
The PDF includes a worksheet to record them.