_A free checklist from Clear Cited, tuned for AI observability tools. Work through it to make your product easier for AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Grok) to find, understand, and recommend. It's the same rubric behind our measured AI-Visibility Index for this category — want yours measured? Grab a free teardown._
> Every item below is a control you own. None of it asks you to game a model — it makes you the clearest, most citable answer in AI observability tools.
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1. Can the AI crawlers even reach you?
- [ ] `robots.txt` allows GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, CCBot (or you've consciously chosen which to allow).
- [ ] Key pages render useful content without JavaScript (many crawlers don't execute JS).
- [ ] You have an `llms.txt` at your root pointing to your important pages. (Generate one free: github.com/Clear-Cited/llms-txt-generator)
- [ ] Your sitemap.xml is current and submitted to Search Console.
2. Is your entity unambiguous?
- [ ] Organization JSON-LD on the homepage (name, url, logo, description, sameAs).
- [ ] Product / SoftwareApplication JSON-LD on product pages (category, description, offers).
- [ ] Your name + one-line description are identical across your site, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, and G2 (consistency is an entity signal).
- [ ] A Crunchbase profile exists (free) and, if eligible, Wikidata.
- [ ] Templates: github.com/Clear-Cited/schema-for-ai
3. Is your content extractable?
- [ ] Answer-first pages: the answer is in the first sentence, not buried.
- [ ] Comparison pages ("X vs Y", "best X for Y") that name competitors honestly.
- [ ] FAQ blocks with real buyer questions + 1–3 sentence answers (FAQPage schema).
- [ ] Stats/data with clear numbers (AI loves quotable figures).
- [ ] No keyword stuffing or "AI meta tags" — they measurably backfire.
4. Are you present where AI actually looks?
- [ ] Listed/reviewed on G2, Capterra/TrustRadius, Clutch as relevant.
- [ ] Mentioned in the "best [category]" listicles that rank for your terms.
- [ ] Authentic presence in the communities your buyers (and the models) read — relevant subreddits, Hacker News, Stack Overflow.
- [ ] A few comparison/alternative pages exist (yours or third-party) for your top competitors.
5. Are you measuring it — properly?
- [ ] You've run your real buyer prompts 10+ times per engine (one screenshot is noise).
- [ ] You track share of model vs named competitors, not vanity counts.
- [ ] You measure per engine (ChatGPT ≠ Perplexity ≠ Gemini ≠ Grok).
- [ ] You re-measure on a cadence (answers drift ~40–60% month over month).
- [ ] Free self-check tool: github.com/Clear-Cited/aeo-audit-lite
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Score yourself
- 0–6 checked: you're likely invisible in AI answers. Start with sections 1 and 2.
- 7–14: decent foundation; the gap is usually section 4 (third-party citations).
- 15+: strong — now it's about measurement and maintenance.
Want this done for you, measured? A free AI-visibility teardown shows exactly where you stand vs your competitors. — Clear Cited, AEO/GEO for B2B SaaS & developer tools.