Answers
Plain answers about showing up in AI search.
The questions business owners actually ask about AI visibility, answered straight — written the way we build client pages: the answer first, the evidence below, and nothing you'd have to take on faith.
How can I make my business show up in AI?
The complete, leverage-ranked playbook for getting named by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Google's AI — plus the one page most businesses skip.
Read →ExplainerDoes AI search matter for a small business?
It matters most for considered purchases — law, medical, financial, home services. For emergency needs, the map pack still wins. How to tell which you are.
Read →DiagnosticWhy isn't my business showing up in AI search?
Five fixable causes an AI engine won't recommend you — thin profiles, unquotable pages, weak reviews — and how to tell which is yours.
Read →How-toHow to check what AI says about your business
The exact DIY method: which engines, which questions, and why one check lies to you. A test you can run this afternoon.
Read →MeasurementWhy ChatGPT's API doesn't give you the same answer as the ChatGPT app
The API and the app share a name, not a behavior. The app browses, remembers, and follows a hidden system prompt; the API does none of it — so an API-based check measures a surface no customer uses.
Read →ExplainerAEO vs GEO vs SEO: what's the difference?
Three acronyms, one real shift from ranking links to earning citations. What each means and why the old playbook only gets you halfway.
Read →MeasurementCitations aren't recommendations: what to actually measure in AI search
Cited, mentioned, recommended — three different things, and only one sends you a client. The metric most tools miss, and why one check is worthless.
Read →PlaybookWhy does AI recommend my competitor and not me?
The same business can be named on 'best' and invisible on 'affordable.' Framing decides the shortlist, so you win the phrasings your real customers use — not the vanity query.
Read →PlaybookHow your Google Business Profile affects whether AI recommends you
Google's AI surfaces pull from Google's own profile data. A complete, accurate, well-maintained Business Profile is one of the strongest levers for AI Overviews, AI Mode, and Gemini — and it barely touches the other engines.
Read →PlaybookWhen AI gets your business details wrong (and how to fix it)
AI says you're closed, lists the wrong hours, or invents services you don't offer. You can't edit the answer — you fix the sources it reads, then re-check until it propagates.
Read →PlaybookHow to get your business recommended by ChatGPT
The levers we've watched move ChatGPT's shortlist, ranked by leverage — and the single page most businesses are missing.
Read →PlaybookHow to get your business recommended by Perplexity
Perplexity reads your site and still may not name you. The fix is extractability — a quotable answer plus the vertical directories it cites.
Read →PlaybookHow to show up in Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode
Google's AI reads your Business Profile, reviews, trusted directories, and your own concrete-fact pages. AI Mode reads your content deeply. How to be a source.
Read →PlaybookHow to get your business recommended by Gemini
Gemini answers from memory as much as the live web — so it's an entity problem. Your Google Business Profile and consistency across the web are the levers.
Read →PlaybookHow to get your business recommended by Google AI Mode
AI Mode is maps-first: GBP category correctness gates eligibility, best-of lists ground the picks, and a map-card appearance isn't a recommendation. The levers, from our panels.
Read →PlaybookHow to get your business recommended by Claude
Claude is the reviews-and-credentials engine. It ranks by your Google reviews in one mode and verifiable qualifications in another — and distrusts paid directories.
Read →PlaybookChatGPT visibility for law firms: how the engine actually picks attorneys
In our legal panels, ChatGPT stated its selection criteria in-answer: bar eligibility, board certification, case focus, peer directories — 'not advertising alone.' What that means for your firm.
Read →ExplainerHow much does GEO / AI visibility cost?
The real price bands in 2026, from $19/mo tools to $30k/mo agencies — and how to read them without overpaying for the wrong tier.
Read →ExplainerDo you need an AI visibility consultant? (AEO agency vs tools, for small business)
Consultant, agency, or $29 tool? What each tier actually does, what it costs in 2026, and the five questions that expose a bad one.
Read →PlaybookAI search ads vs. earning the recommendation
AI answers now show ads. Can you buy your way in? You can buy a slot next to the answer — not being the answer. The difference, and when each pays.
Read →PlaybookDoes schema markup help you show up in AI?
Structured data helps engines understand your entity, not rank you directly. It's one lever among several — and it won't fix weak reviews, thin directories, or unquotable pages.
Read →PlaybookDoes your business need an llms.txt file?
A text file that lists your pages for AI crawlers — cheap, harmless hygiene worth ten minutes. But there's no evidence the engines use it to rank you, so don't pay for a strategy around it.
Read →PlaybookShould you allow, block, or charge AI crawlers?
Allow, block, or charge? For a business that wants to be recommended, crawlable is usually the point — and the real risk is an overzealous robots.txt cutting you off by accident.
Read →Buyer's guideBest AI visibility tools for small business, honestly
Real tools grouped by the job you're hiring for, with honest caveats — including where our own service is the wrong call.
Read →ExplainerIs AI visibility worth it for a law firm? (the three numbers that decide)
Engines answer with 2–4 names, a #1 spot lasts ~1–2 days unmanaged, and blogging alone doesn't earn it. The honest worth-it math for law firms.
Read →More answers publish as the questions come in. If your customers are asking it, it belongs here.