Checklist · 7 min read
AI search audit checklist for local businesses.
A copy-pasteable checklist covering the five areas that decide whether ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity recommend you. Work through it in order - the earlier items matter more than the later ones. New to this? Read what an AI visibility report is first, or go deeper with the full optimisation playbook.
1. Crawler access
- Confirm robots.txt allows GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User, Google-Extended, ClaudeBot, and Applebot-Extended.
- Add a Sitemap: line to robots.txt pointing at /sitemap.xml.
- View-source the homepage: real HTML on first load, not an empty <div id="root"></div>.
- Check view-source on your key service pages too, not just the homepage - AI crawlers mostly don't run JavaScript.
2. Content structure
- Every service page opens with a one-sentence answer to the obvious customer question. Not a slogan, the answer.
- Headings are the questions themselves: 'How much does it cost?', 'Do you serve my area?'
- Business name, location, and service stated together, clearly and often. AI extracts entities from repetition, ambiguity gets you dropped.
- A real FAQ block with FAQPage JSON-LD covering your top five customer questions.
3. Third-party citations
- Google Business Profile claimed, complete, and matching every other listing exactly. This is the single most important item on this page.
- Listed on the two or three vertical directories customers in your category actually use (quality beats coverage here).
- Reviews on the platforms AI actually pulls social proof from: Google, Trustpilot, Yell, TripAdvisor, Checkatrade, or your category equivalent.
- At least one 'best of' round-up or local press mention in the last 12 months.
4. Entity and business data
- Name, address, and phone byte-identical across GBP, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, and top directories. Byte-identical, not roughly similar.
- Categories on GBP match how customers describe you, not your internal jargon.
- Opening hours and service area current everywhere they appear.
5. Golden Query testing
- Write 5-10 customer questions in plain language: 'best [service] in [town]', '[service] open on Sundays near me'.
- Run each in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. At least three times each, single runs are noise.
- Record for every run: named yes/no, position, description accurate yes/no, competitors named, sources cited.
- Re-run monthly. The citations that keep recurring are your next campaign target.
Prefer we run the checklist for you?
A Findy AI report runs every item on this list against your actual site and your actual market, tests live Golden Queries, and hands you a ranked fix list.