5 Signs Your Website Isn't AI-Friendly (And How to Fix It)

I've analyzed hundreds of sites. These are the patterns I keep seeing.

This happens more often than you'd think.

Someone messages me saying "I asked ChatGPT about [their industry] and my competitor got mentioned, but I didn't. What gives?"

First thing I tell them: it's not personal. AI isn't playing favorites. There's usually a pretty clear reason why some sites get cited and others don't.

After looking at a lot of websites, I've noticed the same issues come up again and again. Here are the five biggest ones I see.

1. You've Got Nothing for AI to Quote

This is the most common one. The website has product pages, maybe a services page, a nice About Us section. But no actual *questions and answers*.

Here's the thing: when someone asks ChatGPT "What is [product category]?" or "How do I [solve problem]?", the AI needs content that directly answers questions. If your site doesn't have that, there's literally nothing for it to cite.

What I'd do: Add an FAQ section to your main pages. Not the fake corporate FAQ that nobody reads—actual questions your customers ask you. The stuff you hear on sales calls.

Things like:

• "What's the difference between X and Y?"
• "How long does it take to see results?"
• "How much does this cost?"

Simple, but it makes a huge difference.

2. You're Missing the Technical Stuff (Schema)

Okay, this one's a bit more technical, but stay with me.

There's this thing called "schema markup" that helps AI understand what your content is about. It's basically metadata that says "hey, this is an FAQ" or "hey, this is a how-to guide."

Without it, AI has to guess what your page is. And sometimes it guesses wrong, or just skips you entirely.

What I'd do: Add FAQPage schema to your FAQ sections. If you've got tutorials, add HowTo schema. It sounds intimidating but it's really just some JSON you add to your page.

If you're curious what it looks like, here's the basic structure:

{
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "Your question here?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "Your answer here."
    }
  }]
}

Most CMSs have plugins that do this automatically now.

3. Nobody Knows Who Wrote This

I see this constantly. Great content, no author.

AI systems have gotten pretty good at evaluating whether content is trustworthy. And anonymous content is a red flag. If the page doesn't say who wrote it, why should anyone (or any AI) trust it?

What I'd do: Put a real person on your content. Name, photo, short bio. Link to their LinkedIn if it makes sense. It doesn't have to be elaborate—just enough to show there's a real human behind it.

This is also just good practice for E-E-A-T in general.

4. Your Content is Too Thin

A 300-word page about a complex topic isn't going to cut it. AI systems tend to prefer comprehensive content that actually covers the subject properly.

Think about it from their perspective: if they're going to cite something, they want to cite something that thoroughly answers the question. Not a surface-level overview.

What I'd do: Look at your most important pages. Are they genuinely comprehensive? Do they answer the follow-up questions someone might have?

I'm not saying every page needs to be 5,000 words. But your key pages should probably be 1,000-2,000 words minimum, covering the topic properly.

5. It Sounds Like It Was Written for SEO, Not Humans

This one's a bit ironic given that we're talking about optimization, but hear me out.

AI systems are trained on natural human writing. They can tell when something sounds robotic or keyword-stuffed. And they don't like it any more than human readers do.

If your content has phrases like "our cutting-edge solutions leverage synergies to maximize value" or repeats the same keyword twelve times per paragraph... AI picks up on that.

What I'd do: Read your content out loud. Does it sound like something a real person would say? If it sounds like corporate speak or keyword soup, rewrite it.

Write how you'd explain something to a friend who knows nothing about your industry. That's usually the right register.

A Quick Way to Test All This

You've got two options:

Manual test: Just ask ChatGPT or Perplexity questions about your industry. See if you get mentioned. If not, you've got work to do.

Tool test: Run your site through something like Findabl. It checks for all the stuff I mentioned above and gives you a GEO score. Takes about 30 seconds.

The Checklist Version

If you just want to run through this quickly:

• ✅ FAQ sections with real questions people ask
• ✅ Schema markup on FAQs and how-to content
• ✅ Author name and bio on all content
• ✅ Key pages are 1,000+ words
• ✅ Writing sounds natural, not robotic

Nail all five and you'll be ahead of most sites out there.

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