Frequently Asked Questions

The key to getting discovered by AI assistants is to optimize your website for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), which means making your business information easy for AI to find, understand, and cite.

• Allow AI crawlers such as GPTBot and ClaudeBot in your robots.txt file.
• Clearly state your business details-what you do, where you are located, and pricing-near the top of your pages.
• Publish content that answers real customer questions in the exact form they ask them.

By doing this, AI assistants can lift your facts directly and include your business in their answers, increasing your lead potential. EZY.ai automates these steps to help you get found by AI Learn more.

Citation: https://ezy.ai/blog/ezy-faq-getting-found-chatgpt-claude-ai-search

Allowing AI crawlers like GPTBot and ClaudeBot access to your website is fundamental to being cited by AI assistants, which can directly increase your leads.

• If your robots.txt blocks these crawlers, AI cannot read or cite your content, no matter how good it is.
• EZY.ai automatically generates and uploads a robots.txt file that admits all major AI crawlers.
• This ensures your business information is discoverable and can be included in AI-generated answers.

Without this access, your competitors who allow crawlers will dominate AI recommendations, costing you potential customers.

Learn more about crawler access and AI visibility here.

Citation: https://ezy.ai/faq

Structured data, or schema markup, is crucial because it tells AI exactly what your business offers in a machine-readable format.

• It helps AI assistants understand your business type, services, products, and operating hours precisely.
• For example, a plumbing company using EZY.ai includes detailed Service entities for each service, making it easier for AI to match queries like "emergency boiler repair near me".
• Clean, validated schema increases the chance AI will cite your business in answers, driving more qualified leads.

Incorrect or vague schema can cause AI to ignore your business or misclassify your services, losing potential customers. See our detailed comparison with other SEO tools here.

Citation: https://ezy.ai/blog/ezy-vs-squirrly

Answering real customer questions in the exact language they use is essential because AI assistants look for pages that already contain the answer.

• AI browsing modes prioritize content that directly responds to user queries.
• Publishing question-led content grounded in your actual business helps AI lift answers and cite your site.
• This increases your chances of appearing in AI recommendations, driving more qualified traffic and leads.

EZY.ai helps create and publish this type of content, improving your visibility on platforms like ChatGPT and Claude.

For a deeper dive, see our guide on getting more customers from ChatGPT here.

Citation: https://ezy.ai/blog/ezy-faq-getting-found-chatgpt-claude-ai-search

AI systems verify your website by evaluating source authority, content structure, and corroborating evidence.

• Domain authority, backlink profiles, and consistent topical focus increase trust.
• Clear heading hierarchies, concise paragraphs, and well-defined entity relationships make your content easier to parse.
• AI also checks for corroboration from other trusted sources and values freshness of content.
• Schema markup like FAQ and Organisation schemas explicitly help AI understand your business.

By meeting these criteria, your website is more likely to be cited by AI assistants, generating more leads.

Learn about how AI chooses sources in detail here.

Citation: https://ezy.ai/blog/how-ai-chooses-sources

Traditional SEO focuses on ranking webpages in search engine results, while optimizing for AI assistants (AEO) aims to be directly included in AI-generated answers.

• SEO targets being number one on Google’s ranked list.
• AEO makes your business a trusted source that AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude cite in their answers.
• This involves making your content discoverable, understandable, verifiable, and directly useful for AI queries.
• The commercial goal is to convert AI-driven interest into enquiries or sales.

Understanding this shift helps small businesses capture leads from the growing AI search ecosystem.

Read more about AEO vs SEO here.

Citation: https://ezy.ai/blog/complete-guide-answer-engine-optimization-aeo

Conversion depends on more than just being cited by AI; your website must turn AI-driven visitors into enquiries or sales.

• Ensure your website clearly presents your services, pricing, and contact options.
• Use structured data to highlight offers and calls to action.
• Provide easy navigation and quick access to enquiry forms or booking systems.
• AI assistants often include links to your site, so a well-optimized landing page can maximize lead capture.

This conversion step is the final phase in the AEO process: Discover → Understand → Verify → Cite → Convert.

Explore the full AEO model and conversion strategies here.

Citation: https://ezy.ai/blog/complete-guide-answer-engine-optimization-aeo

To be cited by AI assistants, your website must meet several technical requirements:

• Admit AI crawlers like GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot in your robots.txt file.
• Use clean, validated schema markup to describe your business, services, and FAQs.
• Maintain a comprehensive sitemap that includes all service and product pages.
• Publish content with clear structure and factual density to facilitate AI parsing.

EZY.ai automates these technical steps to maximize your AI visibility and lead generation.

For a detailed technical breakdown, see our audit comparing EZY.ai with other SEO tools here.

Citation: https://ezy.ai/blog/ezy-vs-squirrly

Yes, AI website assistants level the playing field by selecting sources based on factual density, clarity, and relevance rather than just domain reputation.

• For example, Claude favors pages with high factual density and clear, self-contained answers.
• Small businesses that structure their content well and provide explicit answers can be cited alongside larger brands.
• This creates new opportunities to generate leads from AI-driven search even in competitive markets.

EZY.ai helps small businesses optimize their content structure and schema to maximize AI citations.

See how AI weighs page content over domain reputation here.

Citation: https://ezy.ai/faq

Content freshness significantly impacts AI assistants’ trust and citation likelihood, especially for time-sensitive queries.

• AI systems weigh recently published or updated content more heavily.
• A page updated in 2026 will outrank a similar page last modified in 2022.
• Keeping your website content current signals relevance and authority to AI.

Regularly updating your service pages, FAQs, and pricing helps maintain visibility and attract leads.

Learn more about how AI evaluates content freshness in source selection here.

Citation: https://ezy.ai/blog/how-ai-chooses-sources