AI search and your local business
More people now ask AI assistants for recommendations, such as “where can I stay in Potchefstroom?”. Whether your business is mentioned depends partly on whether AI systems can read and trust your website.
Let the right crawlers in
Your robots.txt controls which crawlers may access your pages. Some businesses block AI crawlers by accident through a security plugin or a blanket rule. Decide deliberately which crawlers you want to allow, and test the result with the AI crawler access checker from Miraks.
Make your facts easy to read
- Put your name, address, phone number, hours and services in plain text, not only in images.
- Use clear headings and short answers to common questions.
- Add structured data such as LocalBusiness and FAQ markup.
Be listed in trusted places
Directories, local news and your Google Business Profile all help confirm that your business is real. Add your business to this directory and keep your details consistent everywhere.
Keep content fresh
Update opening hours, prices and holiday trading times. Out-of-date information is a common reason for wrong answers.
Read more in our local SEO guide.