Recommended by AI: what demonstrably works
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and the AI answers in Google now decide which companies a buyer hears about first. This guide separates what is shown to work from what is still a guess, and what you can change on any Webflow plan. Written by the two people who build these sites and measure them.
AI assistants recommend companies that give a clear answer, are mentioned by others and are easy for machines to read. None of that needs a special plan or a trick; most of it is good content and clean structure.
- Be the clearest answer to the question your buyer actually asks, on a page of its own.
- Get named on sites the assistants already trust: reviews, directories, partners and press.
- Measure it with a fixed set of questions every month, not with a single screenshot.
How AI assistants pick what to recommend
An AI assistant does not rank pages the way a search engine lists results. It writes one answer, and it names the sources and companies that fit that answer best. For a B2B buyer that answer is often the shortlist. Four things decide whether you are on it.
A clear answer
One page that answers one question directly, near the top, in plain words. Assistants quote answers, not introductions.
Named by others
Reviews, directories, partner pages and articles that mention you. What others say about you weighs more than what you say.
Readable for machines
Text in the page itself, not hidden in images or scripts, with clear headings and structured data where it fits.
The same story everywhere
Your name, what you do and for whom, said the same way on your site, LinkedIn and every listing. Mixed signals get you left out.
What is proven, and what is hype
Advice about AI visibility is moving faster than the evidence. This is how we sort it today. We update this chapter when our own measurements change the picture.
Holds up
- ✓A direct answer at the top of the page
- ✓Being mentioned on trusted sites in your field
- ✓Pages that load fast and render without scripts
- ✓Structured data that matches the visible page
Not shown yet
- –An llms.txt file as a ranking factor
- –Writing pages only for AI, not for people
- –Tools that promise a place in ChatGPT
- –Judging it on one answer on one day
%201.svg){kind=icon}
What to change on your own site
Most of what helps AI assistants also helps the people who read your site. On a Webflow site these five changes do the most work:
- One question, one page.
Write down what buyers ask before they call you, and give each question its own page with its own heading.
- The answer first.
Put a two-line answer directly under the heading, then the detail. That is the part assistants quote.
- Text in the page.
Keep important text out of images, sliders that load late and embeds. Webflow renders text as plain HTML when you let it.
- Structured data.
Add organisation, article and FAQ markup that matches what is on the page, in the page settings or the CMS template.
- Outside mentions.
Keep your listings, partner pages and reviews current and consistent with your own site.
Measuring whether it works
Answers change from day to day, so one screenshot proves nothing. A fixed set of questions, asked on a schedule, turns it into a trend you can act on.
Questions
What people ask about AI search.
01
What is AI search?
01
What is AI search?
Search where tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot and Google's AI Overviews answer a question directly and cite a few sources, instead of showing a list of links.
01
How do I get my website cited by ChatGPT?
01
How do I get my website cited by ChatGPT?
Make sure AI crawlers can reach your pages, answer the question in the first lines of each page, use clear question-based headings and FAQs, and keep facts such as prices and dates current.
01
Is AEO different from SEO?
01
Is AEO different from SEO?
It builds on SEO. Crawlable pages, good titles and authority still matter; AEO adds direct answers, question-based headings, structured data and content that is easy to quote.
01
Does an llms.txt file help AI assistants find us?
01
Does an llms.txt file help AI assistants find us?
Not yet, as far as anyone can show. None of the large assistants has said it reads the file, and tests do not show it changes who gets named. It costs little to add, but put the time into clear pages and outside mentions first.
01
How long before assistants start naming us?
01
How long before assistants start naming us?
Assistants that search the web while they answer, such as Perplexity, ChatGPT search and Google's AI Overviews, can pick up a better page within weeks of it being indexed. What a model knows from training changes more slowly, over months. That is why we measure every month, not once.
01
Do we need a new website for AI search?
01
Do we need a new website for AI search?
Usually not. Most of the gain comes from what is on the pages and how they are structured, and that can change on the site you have. A rebuild only pays off when the site blocks crawlers, hides its content behind scripts, or cannot be edited without a developer.
01
Can you check what AI assistants say about us now?
01
Can you check what AI assistants say about us now?
Yes. In a 30-minute call we ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google the questions your buyers ask, show you who gets named and what is said about you, and tell you which change would make the biggest difference first.
Let's talk AI search
Want to know what AI assistants say about you?
Tell us in three short steps where you stand. Within one working day we let you know if and how we can help, no strings attached.
New site from
€7,500
Live in
4 to 8 weeks
Proposal within
2 working days
Your brief did not go through. Please try again in a moment, or book a call with Nick below.