Maybe the timing isn’t right. Maybe the budget isn’t there yet. Maybe you’re still deciding whether AI visibility is worth investing in.
That’s completely fine. I’d rather you make the right decision for your business than a rushed one.
So here’s what I’ll do instead: I’m going to give you the first part of my audit checklist for free. These are the eight things I check on every single website I review. They’re all free to do. None of them require technical knowledge. And if you do them now, you’ll already be ahead of 80% of local businesses — whether you ever hire me or not.
When you are ready to go further, these will already be done. That means your results come faster and cost less. That’s good for both of us.
This list won’t fully optimize your site for AI — that requires schema markup, content restructuring, technical fixes, and more. But it removes the most common gaps and gives you a real foundation. Think of this as clearing the runway before takeoff.
The free list — do these now
Start with a free AI visibility audit
Before you do anything else, find out where you actually stand. We offer a free 20-point AI visibility audit that checks your website across six categories and gives you a plain-English report showing exactly what AI can and can’t find about your business.
No obligation, no credit card, no pitch. If your site is already in good shape, we’ll tell you that. If it needs work, you’ll know exactly what to prioritize.
Get My Free AuditClaim and complete your Google Business Profile
Go to business.google.com and claim your listing if you haven’t already. Then fill in every single field — business category, description, services, hours, photos, and your website URL. Don’t leave anything blank.
An incomplete GBP is one of the most common reasons AI systems skip a local business when making recommendations. Google uses it as a primary trust signal — and so does ChatGPT.
Make your business name, address, and phone identical everywhere
Check your website, your Google Business Profile, Yelp, and any other directory you’re listed in. Your business name, address, and phone number need to be exactly the same on every platform — same abbreviations, same formatting, same everything.
Even small differences like “St.” vs “Street” or “LLC” vs no LLC create inconsistency signals that AI systems treat as a red flag.
Run PageSpeed Insights and screenshot your score
Go to pagespeed.web.dev, enter your website URL, and run the test. Write down or screenshot your mobile score and your desktop score. Anything below 70 on mobile is worth flagging.
This gives you a baseline. Even if you can’t fix the issues right now, knowing the number means you can track improvement later. AI crawlers treat slow sites as lower priority.
Test whether ChatGPT knows you exist
Open ChatGPT and type exactly this: “Who is the best [your trade] in [your city]?”
See what comes up. Is your business mentioned? If not, that’s your before snapshot. Screenshot it. When you’re optimized and AI starts recommending you, that screenshot becomes your proof of how far you’ve come.
Confirm your site loads over HTTPS
Open your website in a browser and look at the address bar. It should start with https:// and show a padlock icon. If it shows http:// without the padlock, your site has an SSL certificate issue.
This is a hard stop for AI trust. Sites without SSL are flagged as insecure, and AI systems will deprioritize or skip them entirely when making recommendations.
Add your city and state to your homepage content
Not just in the footer. In the actual body text of your homepage — ideally in the first paragraph or headline area. Something as simple as “serving homeowners in Apopka, FL” or “Central Florida’s trusted HVAC company.”
AI systems need to see your location stated clearly in the content to confidently recommend you for local searches. Burying it in the footer isn’t enough.
Write a plain-English description of what you do
One paragraph. No jargon. Answer these three questions clearly: What do you do? Where do you do it? Who do you do it for?
If you can answer those questions in 3–4 clear sentences, AI can understand and recommend you. If your website beats around the bush, uses industry jargon, or buries the answer, AI moves on. Put this description on your homepage if it isn’t already there.
Ask your last 3 happy clients for a Google review
Right now. Not later. Text your last three satisfied clients and ask them to leave a Google review. Keep it simple — send them the direct link to your Google Business Profile review page so there’s no friction.
Reviews are one of the strongest authority signals AI systems look for when deciding whether to recommend a business. Three genuine reviews from real customers is worth more than a perfectly written website with zero social proof.
Run the ChatGPT test again in 30 days. You may start seeing movement — especially if you completed the GBP and got some reviews. When you’re ready to go further — schema markup, content restructuring, technical fixes, llms.txt — that’s where we come in. And because you did this list, we’ll be starting from a much stronger foundation.
See exactly where
you stand right now.
A free 20-minute AI visibility audit shows you your score across all six categories — and what it would take to get AI recommending your business by name. No obligation.
Get My Free Audit