Answer
How do I get AI to recommend my business?
Last updated
Short answer
To get AI to recommend your business, make your website readable for AI, publish honest comparison content, and get cited on outside sites that AI already trusts, such as local listings with customer reviews. That is what brought our own position back after a competitor caught up. It works right now, it may not work in a couple of years as AI models get harder to influence, and it is not a silver bullet.
How did I find out AI was not recommending us?
At my cousin's wedding last week, someone asked me how to get recommended by AI assistants. I explained how it works, and then they opened their phone and searched for what we sell: voice AI assistants in Lithuania. We did not even come up as one of the five options.
To be fair, AI search does the search a bit differently every time, so you sometimes come up and sometimes do not. But we had a really strong market position. The next day I checked the numbers: our positions had dropped a lot, and our competition had caught up. Since then we have regained the position and made it stronger.
Why does it matter if AI recommends you?
One of the sources of leads for us is people coming through AI search tools. These people are very high-intent. Like when you search for something yourself, you are already educated and ready to buy.
The goal is to come up for as many questions and keywords as possible, and in as high a position as possible. You want to be first, or second, or whatever option you can get.
What should a small business do first?
For a small business it is all about the basics. For a bigger one it is about becoming number one. Start with the basics:
| Step | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Have a website | Everything else points back to it |
| Make it readable for AI | Files that let AI understand your content easily, and no blocking of AI crawlers, which some sites do without noticing |
| Standard search optimization | Indexed pages with keywords, queries and answers to questions |
| Honest comparison content | AI treats you as a source, so compare yourself to the local competition and say what each of you offers |
| Get cited on outside sites | AI trusts what reputable outside sites say about you |
The comparison point is the one people skip. When you compare yourself to the competition, AI treats you as a source. Be a source for AI.
Is this a silver bullet?
No. A very big company reached out to us wanting to be the first result. What I told them is that a quick trick is maybe a short-term silver bullet, not a long-term one.
Long term you need a proper website, proper content and real value, plus the standard search optimization and AI search optimization. What works today might not work in a couple of years, because AI models are getting more sophisticated and harder to manipulate. Right now it works, so there is a tactical advantage for anyone who acts on it.
Why do outside reviews move you up?
The next step is getting cited on external sources. An encyclopedia site is one, but so are the sources local people use, such as local listings.
We paid a small fee to be listed on a local listings platform. It is not the best fit for us, and the leads coming from there are very poor. But AI sees the reviews there. We asked our customers to leave reviews, and AI sees a reputable local website endorsing us.
So it finds our optimized website, then finds the outside site, and starts showing us for more queries and in higher positions. Next, get cited in as many of these as possible, a net of listings pointing back to you. If you provide true value, you are successful long term, because you do the basics and do them well.
How do you see where AI looks?
Ask the AI assistants you use the same question several times, and look at the sources it goes through. Look at your competitors' sites too, and at what comparisons they have. The goal is to work backwards: what works, why, and who is being cited for what reason.
Then decide: maybe a listing platform, maybe more blog posts, maybe comparison posts. We do this in a programmatic, heavily automated way, and the free audit that shows your current positions, who is winning and what is working is linked in the video's description.
A small company only needs to worry about having a website, optimizing it, and maybe getting cited on a few listing platforms. For bigger companies it is about expanding: broader markets, more websites, more languages, and becoming more reputable on the internet.
Frequently asked questions
Is it the same as ranking on Google?
Partly. The standard search optimization still matters, and AI search adds readable files, comparison content and citations on outside sites.
Do I need to be first?
Small businesses should not worry about that. Be named for as many questions as possible, and have the basics right. Bigger companies aim for number one.
Will this keep working?
Nobody knows. It works right now, and it may not in a couple of years as AI models get harder to manipulate. Real value and a proper website last longer than any trick.
Why list on a platform whose leads are poor?
Because the value is not the leads from that platform. AI sees the reviews there and treats it as a reputable outside source that endorses you.
How do I check where AI looks for my business?
Ask the same question several times in a few assistants and read the sources they go through.
Justas Butkus is a fractional AI officer based in Vilnius, Lithuania, working with mid-market companies and scale-ups across the UK, EU and US at two to four days a month. He builds and operates the production AI systems he advises on, and takes no commission, referral fee or revenue share from any vendor.
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