When a homeowner asks ChatGPT for a good deck builder in Irvine, it does not pull a name out of thin air. With search switched on, it looks things up on the live web, reads what it finds, and writes its answer from that. Perplexity works the same way, and Google's AI Overviews are written from Google's own index.
So the job is not to trick an AI. The job is to make sure the web says, clearly and in more than one place, what you do, where you do it, and that real customers were happy with it. These are the seven things that move that, in the order to do them.
1. Let the AI crawlers in
Every AI company sends its own crawler to read websites. OpenAI's are called OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot, Anthropic's is ClaudeBot, and Perplexity's is PerplexityBot. If your site turns them away, you cannot be read, and what cannot be read cannot be recommended.
This happens more often than you would think. Cloudflare, which sits in front of a large share of the web, started blocking AI crawlers by default for new sites in 2025. We found that setting switched on for our own site. Before you do anything else, check yours, or ask whoever runs it to check.
2. Say exactly what you do, and where
"Quality craftsmanship you can trust" tells an AI nothing. "Composite and hardwood decks, patio covers and pergolas in Mission Viejo, Lake Forest and Rancho Santa Margarita" tells it everything it needs.
Give each service its own page, and each area you want work in its own page, with the town names written out in plain text. A city name that only appears inside a photo or a map is a city name nobody can read.
3. Answer the questions people actually ask
AI answers are built from text that answers a question directly. Write down the questions you hear on every estimate, then answer each one on your site in two or three sentences, in your own words. How long does a job like this take? Do I need a permit? What does it cost, roughly? What happens if it rains?
A sentence like "a composite deck this size usually takes us two to three weeks, plus permit time" is exactly the kind of thing that gets repeated in an answer. Vague reassurance never is.
4. Keep your business details identical everywhere
Your business name, phone number, address or service area, and hours should match exactly on your website, your Google Business Profile, Yelp, Houzz, Nextdoor, the BBB, and anywhere else you are listed. When the details disagree, it is harder for any system to be sure all those listings are the same business, and easier for it to pick someone else.
5. Get talked about where AI can read it
AI answers lean on what other people say about you, not just what you say about yourself: Google reviews, Yelp, Houzz, a supplier's "find an installer" page, a local news story. Ask happy customers for a review on the platform that matters most in your trade, and make sure every profile links back to your website.
6. Add structured data
Structured data, also called schema markup, is a block of code on your site that states your business name, services, service area, hours and FAQ in a format machines read without guessing. Visitors never see it. It does not replace any of the steps above; it makes them easier to read.
7. Check what it says now, then check again
Open ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google, and ask the question your customer would ask: the best of your trade in your city. Write down who comes up and what is said about them. Ask again next month. Our ten minute test walks through it.
That is the only honest way to measure any of this. Nobody controls what an AI says, and anyone who guarantees you a spot in the answer is guessing.
Where Kairo fits
Every Kairo build does steps one, two, three and six for you, and asks AI search your customers' questions before launch, so on delivery day you see where you start. The Care Plan asks again every month as AI search catches up. Steps four and five stay yours, because they live on other people's sites. The free site check shows where your current site stands today.