Not showing up in AI search? Start with one useful check

1. Give your assistant the website and the customer’s task

Connect Findable in Claude or Codex, then ask for an audit. Your URL is enough to start. If you know the customer and the result you want, add one sentence.

“Audit my website, [your website URL]. We help independent restaurants manage supplier orders. I want more restaurant owners to request a demo. Tell me the first useful change, what it could help and how to measure it.”

For a local service, name the real service area and desired inquiry or booking. For a product, name the buying decision. Findable should use your business’s context rather than assign every company the same publishing plan.

2. Separate the possible causes

A page can be readable but not indexed. An indexed page can miss the customer’s question. An AI answer can omit a suitable business on one check. These observations call for different next steps.

Can the page be reached and read?

Check the actual URL, response, visible answer, canonical URL and relevant robots controls. Fix a demonstrated access problem before rewriting the answer.

Does Google report the page as indexed?

Use URL Inspection in the correct Search Console property when you have access. A successful page load or sitemap entry does not prove indexing. Without that report, the index state remains unknown.

Does the page answer the task?

Look for a direct answer, relevant details, evidence and a clear next action. A visitor should understand whom you help and what to do next without guessing.

What did an AI answer actually show?

Keep the exact question, date, engine and cited URLs. Record mentions, recommendations and citations separately. Findable’s API web-search samples do not represent every ChatGPT or Claude conversation.

3. Add real search data when you have it

Google Search Console can show indexing and Google search impressions, clicks and queries. Ask your assistant to use its authorized connection, select your website’s property and share relevant dated results with Findable. Include the report’s dates, filters and any incomplete coverage. A relevant export works too. You can continue the public audit without it.

If you already use Semrush, Profound or another provider, share the report that answers the current question. Findable does not need every account. Sharing a report does not transfer your credentials or create ongoing access. Keep personal customer information out of the shared data.

4. Choose one change you can explain

Findable can compare up to five relevant competitors using the same public checks. Use the comparison to identify a useful missing answer or proof point. A competitor’s presence does not reveal why an engine selected it.

Ask your assistant: “Show the evidence for the first recommendation. Draft the exact change for the existing page if possible. Explain what would show progress.” For example, an unclear service page might need an answer about who the service fits and how to request a quote. That change can help visitors decide; it cannot guarantee an AI citation.

Google says its AI search features use the same foundational SEO practices. You do not need special AI markup to become eligible. Focus on a helpful, accessible answer rather than publishing many near-identical pages.

5. Review the draft, then use your website tool

Review factual claims, prices, availability and the next action before publishing. Your assistant can use its separate authorized Framer, WordPress, Vercel or other website tool. Confirm the project, domain and draft before the assistant applies the change. If your assistant has no website connection, you or your developer can apply the draft manually.

Findable does not edit your website directly. After publication, open the real page and check the answer and next action. Ask for a fresh audit if you want Findable to check the update rather than reuse recent public research.

6. Check delivery first, then customer outcomes

Record the changed URL, publication date, the problem you addressed and the customer action you want. Keep your earlier evidence so you have something meaningful to compare.

• Immediately: confirm the published page works and contains the approved change.
• Within seven days: review discovery and indexing evidence when available. This checkpoint is not a crawl or ranking deadline.
• After a complete 28-day period: inspect relevant page and site search data, and attributable customer actions such as qualified inquiries or completed trials.
• At 56 days if needed: revisit sparse evidence or a longer buying cycle. A small sample can remain inconclusive.

For a new site, establish an observation period before claiming improvement. For an existing page, use comparable complete periods and note other changes or seasonality. More impressions, a citation and a paying customer are different results. Google’s Web performance totals also include its AI features; those totals do not isolate AI traffic or leads.

When you have access, share Search Console’s dedicated Search Generative AI performance report separately. Keep its dates and definitions with the data. An AI impression still does not establish a qualified inquiry or a sale.