An assistant can miss your business because it cannot retrieve the relevant page, because that page does not answer the question, or because other sources are more useful for that particular search. Start by finding which of those applies. A missing mention in one answer does not tell you by itself.
Check whether the answer used search
Ask a question that calls for current information about your exact business and location. Save the question, date, model or product, whether search was enabled, answer, and cited URLs. An answer produced without browsing is a different test from an answer that searched the web.
Then try a customer question about the service you provide. Keep a branded query and an unbranded discovery query separate: finding your contact details and recommending a supplier are different tasks.
Repeat the check on another occasion. Recommendations vary, so record how many times your business was cited or recommended out of the number of runs. Keep a quotation of the relevant answer rather than relying on memory.
Separate search access from training permission
OpenAI documents different agents for different jobs:
| Agent | Purpose | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| OAI-SearchBot | Search discovery | Whether public pages permit this crawler |
| GPTBot | Potential model training | Your training preference, separately from search access |
| ChatGPT-User | Visits initiated by a user | Whether a requested page can be retrieved; this is separate from automatic search crawling |
Allowing a training crawler is not a substitute for allowing search. Other providers also publish their own crawler policies; use those policies when deciding which agents to admit.
Check both robots.txt and the hosting layer. A public page can permit crawling in robots.txt while a firewall returns a challenge or rate limit. Ask whoever manages the site to inspect actual responses and verified bot traffic. A request with a copied user-agent name does not prove that the real crawler can get through.
Give each page a question it can answer
Open the page about your main service. Can a customer find the actual service, where you provide it, who it suits, examples of the work, and a contact route?
For an illustrative deck-building business, a page explaining composite deck installation in Bellevue gives a reader more to assess than a page offering “outdoor solutions throughout the region.” If you claim a certification or show a finished project, provide the issuing body or the actual project details.
Important information should appear as readable text. Check the initial HTML and the rendered page; Google can render JavaScript, but rendering has limitations and other retrieval systems may work differently. A page whose main content is already in HTML reduces that dependency.
Compare your own facts with other sources
A supplier recommendation may draw on industry directories, reviews, publications, and business websites. Note which sources appear for your particular question. Check your genuine profiles for the correct business name, service, location, and website address.
Correct information you control and earn relevant coverage through real work. A list of directory submissions or a new schema block does not establish that someone independently recommends you.
Fix the first verified gap
If the crawler is blocked, resolve access while retaining appropriate protection. If the page is reachable but vague, improve that page. If the facts are clear and consistent, investigate the sources used for the customer query before commissioning more content.
Google says its AI search features use the foundations of ordinary SEO and do not require special AI markup. A useful llms.txt directory can complement your pages, but it does not replace them.
Our website service brings content, search structure, proof, and the inquiry path into the same project. Send your current site and the customers you want to reach so we can identify a practical starting point.
Sources
- OpenAI crawler documentation, checked October 21, 2026: search, training, and user-initiated access are separate.
- Google: AI features and your website, checked October 21, 2026.
- Google: JavaScript SEO basics, checked October 21, 2026.