· 4 min read · by Thorge Dammann
Is Your Website Invisible to ChatGPT? A 7-Point Checklist
People ask ChatGPT and Perplexity instead of Google. Here's what makes a website readable and citable for AI, from a developer, not an SEO guru.
TL;DR
- ✦AI answer engines read websites before they answer. Make yours easy to read.
- ✦Real HTML and speed matter more than ever.
- ✦Tell machines clearly who you are with structured data.
- ✦Decide which AI crawlers may visit, and add an llms.txt.
- ✦Write answers first, details second.
Quick test. 🧪
Open ChatGPT or Perplexity. Ask: “Who offers [what you do] in [your city]?”
Are you in the answer?
If not, this checklist is for you.
Disclaimer: I’m a developer, not an SEO guru. But a lot of this is decided in code. And that part I know.
1. Real HTML, please
AI tools fetch your page and read the text.
If your content only appears after a big JavaScript app loads, many crawlers see… nothing.
👉 Use static or server-rendered pages for everything that should be found.
2. Be fast
Slow pages get skipped. By people and crawlers.
👉 Modern frameworks like Astro ship almost no JavaScript by default. Easy win.
3. Say who you are, clearly
AI thinks in “entities”: people, companies, services.
👉 Add structured data (schema.org) that describes you, your services and your FAQs. Link your LinkedIn and other profiles.
4. Let the right bots in
Your robots.txt is now a business decision.
👉 Allow the AI crawlers behind the tools you want to appear in (like GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot).
👉 Add an llms.txt: a short summary of your site for AI tools.
5. Answer first
AI quotes passages that directly answer a question.
👉 Start with a short answer. Then the details. Use FAQs, lists and tables.
6. Look good when shared
A lot of B2B discovery still happens on LinkedIn.
👉 Proper preview images (1200×627) make every shared link look intentional.
7. Be consistent everywhere
Your website, LinkedIn and other profiles should describe you the same way.
Mixed signals = confused AI.
The bottom line
No mystical “AI SEO package” needed.
Just a fast, clear website that tells machines who you are.
This site does all 7. View the source if you’re curious. 😉 Want the same for yours? Let’s talk.
FAQ
Do AI tools like ChatGPT read my website?
+
Many AI search products fetch and read public web pages before answering, using their own crawlers, search partners or both. A fast, well-structured site makes that easier.
What is llms.txt?
+
A plain-text summary of your website for AI tools, proposed by the community. It's not an official standard, but it takes ten minutes to add.
Should I block AI crawlers?
+
If you sell services and want AI tools to recommend you, blocking them works against you. Publishers with paid content often decide differently.