How to Rank for AI Search and Chatbots: The Ultimate Checklist
Boost visibility, drive traffic, and stay ahead ixn the AI-powered web
When I shared my previous article on “How to Track SEO for AI”, the most common message I received was, “This is great for tracking, but how do I increase the odds that my brand gets mentioned by AI?”
At that time, I did not feel like I had a great answer to that question. While I found some fantastic resources on the subject, I struggled to find a comprehensive checklist that covered all of the key areas. In this article, I share my own checklist, with step-by-step instructions to maximize the chances that your brand gets mentioned by AI. I would also suggest that you read this first for context.
In this article, I chose to keep my checklist short and to the point to enhance readability. For context on any of the items, you can check out this spreadsheet here. Feel free to make a copy of it and use it for your own purposes.
AI Site Indexing
Ensure that you have a robots.txt file and that it allows for AI crawling.
Ensure that you have a llms.txt file.
Ensure you don’t have aggressive bot protection setup on your content delivery network (CDN).
On YouTube, enable “Third Party AI Scraping”.
Enabling AI scrapers for YouTube
AI Site Formatting
Check your URL with andisearch.com to make sure it is accessible and useful for AI.
Use Firecrawl to see how AI agents perceive and access your content.
AI Research
Run your desired queries in the LLMs you want to rank for and make a list of all the sources that are referenced.
Setup a ChatGPT Deep Research report for each of your target user personas that aligns closely with what they are likely to search. Make a list of all the sources that are referenced.
Do comparative search queries in Google and make a list of all of the relevant links that come up.
AI Reporting
Setup the Google Sheets WorkGPT Integration and create tracking for your desired queries.
Use Hubspot’s free AI Search Grader to see what is being said about your brand and how it compares to the competition.
Setup a Google Analytics report to track the traffic you are getting from AI chatbots and search engines.
Hubspot’s free AI Search Grader
Site Structure and Schema
Create a well-structured FAQ page.
Remove Javascript within your written content.
Ensure your site loads quickly and that your most important content loads first.
Add “on-site knowledge blocks” to each page on your site.
Online knowledge block example (Credit: Christopher Penn)
Content Creation
Make frequent use of bullet points and lists.
Use short, digestible paragraphs. 2-4 sentences is a good general guideline.
Use visible dates and meta tags to help AI understand when content was published or updated.
Include author bios with relevant credentials in each piece of content.
Go beyond text and add multimedia formats such as infographics and videos.
Reference relevant thought leaders in your space that you want your brand to be associated with.
Content Distribution
Expand your brand footprint on Reddit and Quora.
Ensure consistency for facts such as name, address, phone, product details, etc. across social media, directories, affiliate sites, etc.
Leverage a PR strategy with wide scale distribution.
Ensure you are listed on as many business directories and review sites as possible.
Encourage customers to leave more detailed reviews by guiding them with specific questions.
Make sure you have an active presence on all social media platforms that your target audience regularly uses.
Reddit traffic is sky rocketing!
Conclusion
Getting your brand mentioned by AI isn’t magic - it’s about making your content discoverable, structured, and authoritative in the eyes of AI models. The brands that win will be the ones that take AI visibility as seriously as they take traditional SEO. Take action today and future-proof your brand.
Great step by step instructions! I always look forward to your articles!!