Why don't AI assistants mention my business?

Six problems keep businesses out of AI answers, and each one can be checked and fixed. AI search crawlers are blocked from your site, Google can't index or quote your pages, your key facts are locked in images or PDFs, your details disagree from one place to the next, your pages don't answer the questions buyers ask, or nothing else on the web confirms who you are. Work through them in that order, because the first two can keep you out of ChatGPT search answers and Google's AI Overviews, and the other four decide whether you get chosen once you're in.

None of these fixes forces ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot or Google's AI Overviews to name you. Each tool decides its own answers. What you control is whether those tools can read you, understand you and find a reason to trust you.

Are AI search crawlers blocked from your website?

Rule this out first, because a blocked search crawler keeps your pages out of that tool's search results however good they are. ChatGPT and Claude each send their own bots to read websites for search. OpenAI's crawler documentation, which we checked in October 2026, says plainly: "Sites that are opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers." OpenAI adds that those sites can still appear as navigational links, but that's no substitute for being in the answer. Anthropic's help article on its bots, updated in April 2026, explains that blocking Claude-SearchBot stops Claude indexing your content for search, and blocking Claude-User stops Claude fetching your pages when someone asks it a question.

Training crawlers are a separate decision. GPTBot and ClaudeBot gather content for training AI models, not for answering a customer's search. Blocking GPTBot tells OpenAI not to use your content to train its foundation models, and blocking ClaudeBot tells Anthropic to leave your future content out of its training data. You can block those two and still let the search bots in, so make that choice deliberately rather than through one blanket rule.

To check, open yourdomain.co.uk/robots.txt and look for any rule naming OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot or Claude-User, and for a "User-agent: *" rule that disallows the whole site. Then ask your developer or host whether a firewall or bot-protection setting turns crawlers away. Anthropic warns that blocking its IP addresses may not work correctly and can stop its bots reading your robots.txt rules, so manage access through robots.txt instead.

Can Google index your pages and show a snippet?

Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode work from Google's own search index. Google's guidance on AI features, last updated in December 2025, says a page can only be a supporting link if it's indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet, and it adds no special requirements on top. A service page Google hasn't indexed doesn't exist as far as those answers are concerned, and a nosnippet tag removes the snippet that eligibility depends on.

Check this in Google Search Console. Its Page indexing report shows which of your URLs Google has indexed and gives the reason for each page it left out, including pages with a noindex directive and pages blocked by robots.txt. Go through that excluded list with your main service pages, area pages and contact page in mind. Any of those missing from the index is your first fix.

Are your key facts written in text, or hidden in images and PDFs?

AI tools repeat words they can read. Prices in a graphic, service areas shown only on a map image and a services list inside a downloadable brochure all hide the facts a buyer's question needs. To check, try selecting each key fact on your pages as text; anything you can't select is invisible as words. Write those facts into the body of the page, and keep the graphics as well if they help people.

Do your business details match everywhere they appear?

An AI assistant builds its picture of you from every source it reads. When your website gives one phone number, your Google Business Profile another and an old directory listing a third, you're handing it conflicting facts and no way to tell which is current. The same goes for trading names, addresses, service areas, opening hours and prices.

Write down your correct details once, then compare them against your website footer, contact page, Google Business Profile, social profiles and every directory you're listed on. Correct or close anything out of date. Google's AI features guidance tells you to keep your Business Profile information up to date, so start there.

Do your pages answer the questions buyers ask?

The questions your buyers ask are specific: who does a particular job in their area, what it costs, how long it takes, whether a business handles their kind of problem. Vague copy about quality and service matches none of them, so if no page on your site answers the question, the assistant has nothing of yours to use.

Collect the questions from your own enquiries, calls and quote requests, then look for a clear answer to each on your site. Every gap is a page or a section to write, and our guide on how to write website content AI assistants recommend covers how to write it.

Does anything on other websites say who you are?

Your own site is one source. AI tools also read what other sites say about you, and when they find nothing, you're an unknown business next to a competitor with reviews, directory listings, trade body membership and mentions in the local press. Your website can claim anything. Independent sources back it up.

To check, ask an AI assistant with web search switched on about your business by name and note which websites it cites, if any. Then ask the questions your buyers ask and note which sites come up when competitors are named. Those are the places you need to be: the review platforms, directories, trade associations and industry sites your market relies on. Earn reviews that describe the actual work, and keep every listing in line with the details on your website.

Where should you start if you're missing everywhere?

Start with crawler access, then indexing, because those two decide whether you're in the running at all. The other four take longer, and they're the work that decides whether you're named ahead of a competitor. To see which of the six applies to you, our guide on how to check if AI assistants recommend your business sets out a monthly testing routine.

This is the work we call GEO, generative engine optimisation: how your business gets found and recommended in AI search tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. Our work on getting named by ChatGPT and Claude starts with the crawler checks above. GEO runs every day alongside SEO inside the DLR Growth Engine at £1,499 a month + VAT on a 12-month term. If you'd rather know where you stand first, a standalone GEO audit is scoped and priced before we start, with no ongoing contract. Call us on +44 1382 699595.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get AI to recommend my business?

Let AI search crawlers and Google read your site, write your key facts in plain text, keep your details consistent, answer the questions buyers ask and get listed on the sites AI tools cite. No one can promise a recommendation, because each AI tool decides its own answers.

Do I need to be indexed by Google for AI assistants to mention me?

For Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, yes: Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet to be a supporting link. ChatGPT and Claude run their own search crawlers, so allow OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User as well.

Should I block GPTBot and ClaudeBot?

That's your choice, and it's separate from search. GPTBot and ClaudeBot are training crawlers, while OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User are the ones that affect whether ChatGPT and Claude can find and fetch your pages.

Can DLR Media guarantee AI assistants will mention my business?

No. No one can promise it, because each AI tool decides its own answers. We fix the reasons you're being left out and report every month on whether AI tools name you, how they describe you and who appears instead.