Start with the questions customers actually ask
List the questions people type or speak when they need you: “Who’s the best family dentist in Garner?” “How much does a water heater replacement cost?” “Is it worth repairing a 15-year-old AC?” These become the targets for your content and your tracking.
Write answer-first content
For each question, put a clear one- or two-sentence answer at the top of a page, then support it with detail. AI tools favor content they can lift cleanly. Use plain headings phrased as questions, short paragraphs, and specific facts like service areas, prices or price ranges where appropriate, and credentials.
Add structured data
Use schema markup to describe your business type, address or service area, phone, hours, services, and FAQs. Validate it so there are no errors. Structured data removes guesswork about who you are.
Make your facts consistent everywhere
Your website, Google Business Profile, Apple Maps, Bing, Yelp, industry directories, and social profiles should agree on your name, address, phone number, and core services. Inconsistent details make an AI tool less confident.
Earn mentions beyond your own site
AI assistants look for confirmation from other sources. Reviews, local press, partner sites, and community discussions all help. Reddit threads and Quora answers are especially common in AI-generated recommendations because they reflect real people’s opinions and expertise.
Keep your site accessible to AI crawlers
Make sure your important pages load quickly, aren’t hidden behind scripts or logins, and aren’t blocked unintentionally in your robots.txt.
Track your citations
Ask your target questions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google’s AI features every month. Save screenshots, note who is cited and which sources are linked, and adjust your content based on what you learn.