Notes · 19 pieces
Notes on AI search
Short, practical pieces. Each one ends with something you can check or change today.
- 01 · 6 min
How to check if ChatGPT mentions your business (a 20-minute test)
One search tells you almost nothing, because AI answers change between runs. Here's a simple, repeatable way to test ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews for your business.
21 October 2026 - 02 · 6 min
ChatGPT says the wrong thing about my business. How do I fix it?
There's no form to edit what an AI assistant says about you. But wrong hours, old addresses and missing services usually come from a source you can fix. Here's how to find it.
21 October 2026 - 03 · 7 min
What is generative engine optimization (GEO)? A plain-English guide for small businesses
GEO means making your business easy for AI assistants to find, read and quote. Where the term comes from, what the research found, how it differs from SEO, and what's hype.
21 October 2026 - 04 · 8 min
How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT
What actually happens when someone asks ChatGPT for a plumber or a dentist near them, and the six things a small business can do about it.
20 October 2026 - 05 · 7 min
Does llms.txt actually help? What the data says in 2026
Google says it ignores llms.txt, two large studies found no effect on AI citations, and a third of the files we found on small-business sites were broken. Here's when it's still worth having.
20 October 2026 - 06 · 7 min
How Google's AI Overviews pick local businesses
AI Overviews show up on most local 'how much' and 'how long' searches but rarely on 'plumber near me'. What Google says about how they choose, and what the 2026 studies show.
20 October 2026 - 07 · 6 min
Perplexity SEO for small businesses: a practical guide
Perplexity runs its own crawler and pulls local data from Yelp, Tripadvisor and OpenTable. Which of those matter for your business, and what to check first.
20 October 2026 - 08 · 6 min
How to appear in Google AI Overviews (and why there's no secret trick)
Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode have no extra requirements beyond normal Search. Here's what that means in practice and the checklist that matters.
19 October 2026 - 09 · 6 min
How to get your site cited in ChatGPT search
ChatGPT search only quotes sites OAI-SearchBot can read. What OpenAI's documentation says, the robots.txt line that matters, and what you can't control.
19 October 2026 - 10 · 5 min
How to show up in Perplexity and Claude answers: the technical checklist
Perplexity and Anthropic each run separate search, user and training bots. Here's which ones to allow, how firewalls get in the way, and what to fix first.
19 October 2026 - 11 · 6 min
Schema markup for AI search: what helps, what's hype
Google says no special schema is needed for AI features, and FAQ rich results are mostly gone. Here's the structured data still worth adding, and why.
19 October 2026 - 12 · 5 min
IndexNow explained: tell Bing (and Copilot) the moment you publish
IndexNow lets you ping participating search engines when a page changes. How it works, what it won't do, and how to set it up in ten minutes.
19 October 2026 - 13 · 5 min
Can AI crawlers see your website? The JavaScript problem
A 2024 Vercel study found the major AI crawlers, apart from Google's and Apple's, didn't run JavaScript. If your content loads client-side, AI may see a blank page.
19 October 2026 - 14 · 5 min
How to see traffic from ChatGPT and other AI assistants in Google Analytics
ChatGPT tags its links with utm_source=chatgpt.com. Here's how to build a simple GA4 view of AI referrals, and why the numbers undercount.
19 October 2026 - 15 · 5 min
Title tags and meta descriptions: why Google rewrites them, and how to stop it
Google builds title links and snippets automatically and often ignores what you wrote. What its documentation says triggers a rewrite, with fixes and examples.
19 October 2026 - 16 · 6 min
GPTBot vs OAI-SearchBot: which AI crawlers to block, and which you can't afford to
Blocking GPTBot doesn't remove you from ChatGPT search. Here's what each AI crawler does and a robots.txt you can copy.
19 October 2026 - 17 · 5 min
How to write an llms.txt for a small business (with a template)
llms.txt is a short Markdown file that tells AI tools who you are. Here's what to put in it, what to leave out, and a template.
19 October 2026 - 18 · 7 min
Why ChatGPT recommends your competitor: 7 fixable reasons
If AI assistants name other businesses instead of yours, it's usually one of seven things. Most take an afternoon to fix.
19 October 2026 - 19 · 5 min
The 15-minute technical SEO check to do before you worry about AI
AI search still sits on top of ordinary search. Fifteen minutes on these basics will do more than any GEO trick.
19 October 2026