If you want to optimise your website for AI search, the good news is that most of the work is ordinary good practice done with more discipline. AI assistants and AI-powered search features read your pages, summarise them and sometimes cite them. To be summarised accurately, your site needs to be reachable, clear, consistent and trustworthy. This checklist walks through each step in order, with a way to check it, and ends with what not to waste money on.
One caution first. No company publishes how its assistant chooses sources, so nobody can promise you a mention. What follows is what is within your control, and each item is checkable.
How do you optimise your website for AI search, step by step?
Work through the six steps below in order. A site blocked at step one gains nothing from step four.
Step 1: Let the right crawlers in
Open your robots.txt file at yourdomain.co.za/robots.txt. Check that it does not block the crawlers you want, such as those used by the major AI assistants and search engines. Many sites block them by accident through a security plugin or a blanket rule. Decide deliberately which you allow and write that decision down. Also check that your key pages return a normal response over HTTPS and are not hidden behind a login, a pop-up wall or heavy scripts that stop the text appearing in the page source.
How to check: read your robots.txt, then run our free Search & AI Visibility Check, which reports whether major AI crawlers are blocked.
Step 2: Put the answer first
Assistants favour pages that answer a question directly. For each important page, state in the first paragraph who you are, what you offer, where you operate and how to start. Under each question-shaped heading, give the answer in the first sentence or two, then the detail. Avoid slogans and vague claims. “We help South African mid-sized firms automate invoicing, from R8,500 a month” is quotable. “We unlock potential” is not.
How to check: read your first paragraph aloud. If a stranger could repeat what you offer, it works.
Step 3: Structure each page for reading
- One H1 that names the topic, and clear H2 headings, preferably phrased as the questions people ask.
- Short paragraphs, lists where items are parallel, and tables where you compare.
- A title tag and meta description that match what the page delivers.
- Internal links in body text to related pages, so the relationship between your pages is clear.
These are the same on-page basics that help ordinary search. If your site has not had a technical review recently, see our guide to the technical SEO audit.
Step 4: Add honest structured data
Structured data (schema markup) labels the content of a page in a form machines read easily. The useful types for most businesses are organisation, service, article, FAQ and breadcrumb. Two rules matter. The markup must match what is visible on the page, and it must be valid. Markup that claims something the page does not show can lead search engines to distrust it. Markup also does not guarantee that a system will cite you. It reduces ambiguity, and that is all.
How to check: use a free structured-data testing tool, and compare the output with the visible text.
Step 5: Make your facts consistent everywhere
Assistants build a picture of your business from several sources. If they disagree, the picture blurs or turns wrong. Use the same business name, description, address, phone number, service names and prices across your site, your Google Business Profile, your social profiles and the directories you appear in. Keep a one-page “facts sheet” and check each place against it every quarter. Update dates and prices when they change, because outdated pages are quoted wrongly.
Step 6: Earn credible mentions
Independent mentions help establish that you are who you say you are. Seek coverage in trade press, listings with industry bodies, partner pages and customers willing to be named. Quality and relevance beat volume. Paid link packages and mass directories do not help and can harm.
What should you add to your site specifically for AI assistants?
Three additions are inexpensive and sensible. First, a plain-language “about” or “key facts” block on your main pages: what you do, who for, where, and what it costs. Second, an FAQ section on service pages that mirrors the questions customers really ask, with the markup matching the visible text. Third, an llms.txt file, a short text file that lists your key pages with one-line descriptions. It is a proposed convention rather than a standard that every system reads, so treat it as a low-cost courtesy, not a ranking lever.
What should you not spend money on?
- AI visibility scores. A single number claiming to measure how visible you are in assistants cannot be reproduced reliably, because answers vary between runs, users and products. Ask how it is calculated before paying.
- Guaranteed mentions. No vendor can guarantee that an assistant will name you.
- Mass-produced AI content. Hundreds of thin pages dilute quality and can hurt the pages that matter. Fewer, better pages win.
- Hidden text or tricks aimed at assistants. Text visible only to machines is a manipulation tactic that search engines penalise.
How do you know whether it is working?
Track what can be tracked. In your analytics, look for visits that come from known AI assistants where a referrer is passed. Add a “how did you hear about us?” field to enquiry forms and record the answer. Ask new customers directly. Watch Search Console for impressions and clicks on the pages you improved. The numbers will be modest and incomplete, but over several months they show whether the work is paying off. For the background on how these systems choose sources, read our article on how AI search chooses which businesses to recommend.
If you would rather have this done for you, AI search visibility is part of our SEO services and the wider Digital Growth programme, with prices on the pricing page.
How often should you review your AI search setup?
Review it quarterly. Each review takes an hour or two: re-read your robots.txt, confirm your key pages still load and show their text in the page source, compare your facts sheet against your site and profiles, and check that structured data still validates after any redesign or plugin update. Most problems we see come from changes made for other reasons, such as a new security plugin that blocks crawlers or a rebuilt page that drops its headings. Keep a short log of what you changed and when, so that any shift in visits or enquiries can be traced back to a cause rather than guessed at. Small, regular checks protect the work you have already done and cost far less than a rescue project after visibility has quietly fallen away.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a separate website for AI search?
No. The same site serves search engines and assistants. The work is making it reachable, clear and consistent.
Should I allow AI crawlers in my robots.txt?
That is your decision. Blocking them prevents those systems reading your site. If you want to be described accurately, allowing them is usually sensible.
Is llms.txt required?
No. It is a proposed convention that not every system reads. It is cheap to add, but it is not a substitute for good pages.
How long does it take to see a difference?
There is no reliable timeline. Retrieval-based systems may pick up changes within weeks, but training-based knowledge changes only when models are updated.
Want a checklist run on your own site?
Start with the free Search & AI Visibility Check, then book a call. We will tell you what to fix first and what to leave alone.