You want AI to recommend your business. Not sometimes. Every time someone asks for what you do, in the area you serve. That is the goal.
The path to getting there is not mysterious. It is a finite set of specific actions. We have compiled them into a checklist based on what actually moves the needle across hundreds of PACO GEO scans. Do all 15, and you will be ahead of 95% of local businesses in AI visibility.
They are listed roughly in order of impact. Start at the top and work down.
Foundation: Schema Markup First
01
Add LocalBusiness Schema markup to your website
This is number one for a reason. Sites with Schema.org structured data are 3.2x more likely to be cited by AI models. LocalBusiness schema tells AI exactly what your business is in machine-readable format. Include your name, address, phone, hours, geo coordinates, price range, and business type. This is JSON-LD code that goes in the head of your homepage. If you do not know how to add it, PACO GEO generates it for you automatically, ready to paste in.
02
Add Service schema for each service you offer
Do not just list your services in paragraph text. Mark each one up with Schema.org's Service type, including the service name, description, price range, and area served. This is what gets you cited when someone asks an AI for a specific service, not just your business category. "Emergency plumber in Austin" versus just "plumber" is the difference between a lead and nothing.
03
Claim and complete your Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile is the single largest directory data source AI models reference for local businesses. Every field matters: business name, category, address, phone, hours, services, description, photos, and attributes. Fill in everything. Do not leave a single optional field empty. Mark your service area. Add all your service categories. Post at least once a month.
04
Fix your NAP consistency across all directories
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone. These three pieces of information must be identical everywhere your business appears online. Not similar. Identical. "123 Main St" on one site and "123 Main Street" on another is an inconsistency that makes AI models less confident. Check Google, Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Facebook, the BBB, and every industry directory. Make them all match exactly.
Content: Give AI Something to Quote
05
Build a dedicated FAQ page with FAQPage schema
Write 10 to 20 questions that your customers actually ask. What do you charge? What areas do you serve? Are you licensed and insured? Do you offer emergency service? What are your hours? Answer each one clearly and directly. Mark the page up with Schema.org's FAQPage type. AI models pull from structured FAQ pages more than any other content type when answering customer questions.
06
Create an llms.txt file
Place a plain text file at yoursite.com/llms.txt. In it, write a concise summary of your business: what you do, where you operate, your key differentiators, your contact information, and links to your main pages. This is a new convention, but AI crawlers are starting to check for it. Think of it as a cover letter for AI models. It takes five minutes to write and gives AI a clean, authoritative source of business facts.
07
Write service area pages for each location you serve
If you serve multiple cities or neighborhoods, create a dedicated page for each one. Not thin doorway pages. Real content about serving that area, with LocalBusiness schema specifying the area served. When someone asks "who is the best plumber in Scottsdale," the AI needs a page that specifically mentions Scottsdale with structured data confirming you serve that area.
08
Add pricing information to your website
Customers ask AI about pricing constantly. "How much does a dental cleaning cost in Denver?" If you have pricing on your website with proper markup, you become the source the AI quotes. You do not need exact prices. Ranges work. "Starting at $150" or "$200 to $400 depending on complexity" gives the AI something specific to cite. Vague non-answers like "call for a quote" do not help.
Authority: Prove You Are Real and Trusted
09
Submit to 15+ local and industry directories
Only 3 platforms actually feed AI recommendations: Foursquare (powers ChatGPT), Google Business Profile (powers Gemini), and Bing Places (powers ChatGPT search). Optimizing these with consistent NAP data and complete profiles is what moves your AI visibility. PACO GEO optimizes all three automatically.
10
Get fresh reviews every month
AI models weigh recent reviews more heavily than old ones. A business with 50 reviews from 2024 looks less active than one with 30 reviews from the last three months. Set up a system to request reviews after every job. Text or email the customer with a direct link to your Google review page. Even two to three new reviews per month makes a significant difference.
11
Respond to every review
Responding to reviews is a signal that your business is active and engaged. AI models can see review responses. A business that responds thoughtfully to both positive and negative reviews appears more legitimate and customer-focused than one that never responds. Keep responses genuine and specific. Do not copy-paste the same template.
12
Add sameAs links connecting all your profiles
Schema.org's sameAs property explicitly tells AI models that your Google listing, Yelp page, Facebook page, and website all represent the same business. Add sameAs links to your website's LocalBusiness markup pointing to every verified profile. This removes ambiguity and helps AI models merge all your data into one confident business entity.
Technical: Make It Easy for AI to Find You
13
Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console
If Google has not indexed your pages, AI models that use Google's index cannot find you. Verify your site in Google Search Console, submit your XML sitemap, and check for indexing errors. Pages stuck in "Discovered but not indexed" are invisible to both Google and the AI models that rely on Google's crawl data.
14
Make sure your website loads fast and works on mobile
Slow websites get crawled less frequently by search engines, which means AI models have stale data about you. Pages that break on mobile may not render properly for AI crawlers. Use Google PageSpeed Insights. Aim for a score above 80 on mobile. Compress images. Remove unused JavaScript. Fast sites get crawled more often and indexed more reliably.
15
Monitor your AI visibility score monthly
GEO is not a one-time fix. AI models update their data, competitors optimize, and new models launch. Check your AI visibility score at least once a month. Look for drops that indicate new hallucinations or competitors overtaking you. Weekly monitoring is even better, and PACO GEO Growth plans include automated weekly scans with alerts.
The 80/20 of this list: If you can only do five things, do numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, and 9. LocalBusiness schema markup (3.2x citation lift), Google Business Profile, NAP consistency, FAQ page with FAQPage schema, and Foursquare + Bing Places optimization. Those five actions alone will put you ahead of the vast majority of your competitors in AI visibility.
Do It Yourself or Let PACO Handle It
Everything on this checklist is something you can do yourself. It takes time, technical knowledge for the Schema markup parts, and discipline for the ongoing monitoring. Budget about 8 to 12 hours to work through the full list if you are doing it manually.
PACO GEO does all 15 automatically. The service builds your AI-optimized profile, deploys all the Schema markup, submits to directories, creates your FAQ content and llms.txt file, and monitors your visibility weekly. It is the difference between knowing what to do and actually having it done.
Either way, the checklist is the same. These 15 things are what make AI models recommend businesses. The businesses that complete the list first in each market own the AI search results for their category.
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