The AI SEO Checklist: 15 Steps to Get Recommended by AI

Getting recommended by AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini requires a systematic approach. This checklist covers the 15 most impactful steps you can take to improve your AI search visibility, organized from foundational to advanced.

Use this as a working checklist — go through each step, assess where you stand, and prioritize the areas with the biggest gaps.

Foundation: Get Your House in Order

Step 1: Check your current AI ranking. Before optimizing anything, establish a baseline. Use HowDoIRankOnAI to see how you currently rank across all five major AI models. Document your scores so you can track improvement.

Step 2: Audit your brand consistency. Search for your brand across Google, social media, directories, and review sites. Ensure your brand name, description, and key facts are consistent everywhere. Inconsistency confuses AI models.

Step 3: Optimize your website's About page. Your About page should clearly state what your business does, who it serves, and what makes it notable. Use specific, factual language rather than vague marketing copy. This is often the first page AI retrieval systems pull from.

Content: Create AI-Friendly Content

Step 4: Structure content with clear headings. Use semantic HTML with proper H1, H2, and H3 hierarchy. AI models parse structured content more effectively than unstructured text.

Step 5: Include statistics and citations. Research shows that content with specific data points and citations to authoritative sources is more likely to be surfaced by AI models. Replace vague claims with specific numbers wherever possible.

Step 6: Create comprehensive FAQ content. AI models love FAQ-structured content because it directly maps to the question-answer format of AI conversations. Create thorough FAQ pages that address common questions about your product, category, and industry.

Step 7: Publish comparison and category content. Create content that positions your brand within your category — comparison pages, category guides, and use-case content all help AI models associate your brand with relevant queries.

Authority: Build External Signals

Step 8: Earn mentions in industry publications. Guest posts, expert quotes, and feature articles in respected industry publications are among the strongest signals for AI models. Prioritize quality over quantity.

Step 9: Get listed on major review platforms. Ensure your business has complete, accurate profiles on relevant review platforms like G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, or industry-specific directories. These are high-authority sources that AI models heavily reference.

Step 10: Build a Wikipedia presence. If your business is notable enough, a Wikipedia article is one of the strongest signals of authority for AI models. Even if you do not qualify for your own article, being mentioned in relevant Wikipedia articles helps.

Step 11: Participate in community discussions. Active, helpful participation in Reddit, Hacker News, Stack Overflow, and industry forums builds organic brand mentions that AI models value. Focus on being genuinely helpful rather than promotional.

Technical: Optimize for AI Retrieval

Step 12: Implement schema.org structured data. Add Organization, Product, FAQ, and Review schemas to your website. This helps both traditional search engines and AI retrieval systems understand your content.

Step 13: Ensure your site is crawlable. AI retrieval systems use web crawlers similar to search engine bots. Ensure your robots.txt allows crawling, your sitemap is up to date, and your important content is not behind JavaScript that crawlers cannot execute.

Step 14: Optimize page load speed. Faster pages are more likely to be successfully crawled and indexed by both search engines and AI retrieval systems. Aim for Core Web Vitals passing scores.

Monitoring: Track and Iterate

Step 15: Monitor your AI ranking monthly. AI models are updated regularly, and your ranking can change. Use HowDoIRankOnAI to check your scores monthly, track trends, and adjust your strategy based on results. Set a recurring calendar reminder so you never miss a check.

Remember, AI search optimization is a marathon, not a sprint. Consistent effort across all 15 steps will compound over time, building the kind of broad, authoritative online presence that AI models trust and recommend.