"Which building inspector would you recommend in Sherbrooke?" More and more people ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Claude this kind of question instead of Google. How do you become part of the answers?
How AI finds information
Assistants that search the web rely on web pages that are accessible, clear and credible. They're more likely to cite sources that directly answer a specific question.
What you can do
Answer your clients' questions clearly. An FAQ page, articles that open with a direct answer in one or two sentences.
Be specific. Your services, the cities you serve, your prices or price ranges, your timelines. AI favours concrete information.
Structure your pages. Clear headings, lists, tables. Add structured data (schema.org) that describes your business, your services and your FAQ.
Be present elsewhere. Google listing, professional directories, associations, local press articles. The more your business is mentioned by reliable sources, the more credible it appears.
Let bots read your website. Make sure your robots.txt file doesn't block search engine and AI assistant crawlers.
What not to expect
There's no guarantee of being cited. AI tools change constantly. The fundamentals are the same as for good SEO: useful, accurate, up-to-date and easy-to-read content.
