How Does AI Access & Rank Your Website?

Whether we like it or not, AI is become increasingly a larger part of our work life. And as this happens, we are getting asked how our client websites can get ranked using AI.

There are two areas that we need to consider:

• Business Content - that's down to you, with our help
• Technical Stuff - that's down to us, technical stuff at the end of this

We are going to go through this here so you can understand how we increase the chances of AI choosing my website over others.

How People Search Online Nowadays?

In the last 12 months or so more and more of us are asking questions directly of AI tools (ChatGPT, Google AI, Copilot, etc.) instead of using Google. And even when you do use Google 50% of questions offer AI as the first response.

To start with, the good news is that all of the things that we at Broadbiz have been preaching for 20 years are still true. The fundamentals of good website content for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) still apply when trying to rank for AI results.

• Have good content
• Have plenty of content
• Keep your content fresh

However, there are some additions that can help make your website easier for AI to discover, understand and trust.

Business Content - How Can We Boost Boost AI Visibility?

In almost all cases, AI can already see your website. AI uses automated bots to visit and read website content in much the same way that Google does. If a website blocks that bot, its content may not be available to use when answering a customer's question.

However, simply allowing AI to crawl your website does not guarantee that it will recommend your business. AI needs to be able to understand what your business does, where you operate and whether your website appears trustworthy.

This is why good technical SEO and high-quality website content remain so important.

How Does AI Choose What Website to Recommend?

When somebody asks an AI system a question such as "Who are the best electricians near me?" the AI isn't simply looking for a website that contains those exact words. It is trying to understand which businesses are relevant and trustworthy enough to provide a useful answer. It may consider information such as:

• What services the business provides
• Where the business is located and which areas it serves
• The quality and depth of the information on the website
• Whether the business appears to be established and legitimate
• Customer reviews and reputation
• Industry memberships, accreditations, certifications, industry awards and other trust signals
• Information about the business found on reputable third-party websites (Trust Pilot, Checkatrade etc)
• Whether different sources consistently describe the business in the same way
• How well the website answers the specific question being asked

AI needs to be able to build a picture of the business and understand why it is a good answer to a particular customer's question.

How Can I Help AI Choose My Website?

Unfortunately, nobody can guarantee that an AI system will recommend a particular business. AI recommendations depend on the question being asked, the information available and the other businesses competing for that visibility.

What you can do is make your website the strongest possible source of information about your business. Content is still king! Start by making sure your website clearly answers some fundamental questions:

• What does your business do?
• Where are you based?
• Which areas do you serve?
• What services do you offer?
• Who are your services suitable for?
• What makes your business different?
• Why should a customer trust you?
• Can you demonstrate your experience and expertise?

Then with our help, you need to create useful pages that answer the questions your customers are actually asking.

Keeping Your Website Fresh - Broadbiz Dashboard

If you are not using the Broadbiz Dashboard - lots of you send stuff to us to upload and that is just as good! - then you really should get in touch.

The dashboard allows you to maintain all kinds of content on your website. There are 20 all in but here are the top 10:

• Events - https://www.legendslivelounge.com/events
• FAQs - https://www.letshostforyou.co.uk/faqs
• Galleries - https://www.jwconstructionproperty.co.uk/galleries
• News - https://www.ageconcernsandwich.com/news
• Pop-ups - https://www.revolutionskatepark.co.uk/
• Projects - https://www.jwconstructionproperty.co.uk/galleries
• Team Members - https://www.crosskeyslearning.com/meet-the-staff
• Testimonials - https://www.conferenceshop.com/testimonials
• Vacancies - https://www.gaiaglobal.co.uk/vacancies
• Videos - https://www.tallbuildingfiresafety.com/videos

If you want to use the Dashboard for any of these, drop us an email

 

Technical Stuff - How Can We Boost Boost AI Visibility?

This is all the stuff that we can do for you. There isn't a single piece of code that suddenly makes a website "AI optimised". Instead, there are a number of technical improvements that can make your website easier for search engines and AI systems to understand.

• Making sure AI and search engine crawlers can access the website.
• Checking the website's robots.txt file and XML sitemap.
• Making sure important pages aren't accidentally blocked or marked as "noindex".
• Using clear page titles and headings that accurately describe the content.
• Improving internal links so that related services and information are connected.
• Using structured XML schema , to clearly identify the business, services, location and other important information.
• Ensuring the website works well on mobile devices and loads efficiently.
• Making sure important information is available as normal HTML content rather than being hidden exclusively inside images or PDFs.

These improvements aren't only useful for AI. They are also fundamental parts of a strong traditional SEO strategy.

If you us to do a technical upgrade on your website, drop us an email

 

Keeping Your Website Fresh - Broadbiz SEO Packages

We have been running SEO packages (alongside a mini SEO package) for a number of years now and they include all of the above activities as standard.

Typically we have found we can increase traffic by 500% over a year or so. Packages start at £30 + VAT per month so get in touch to discuss these.

If you are interested in using an SEO package to support your website, drop us an email