Clear answers
Write so a machine can lift a clean answer straight off the page.
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- State the answer before the backstory. The opening passage is the one most often lifted into AI answers.
- Mirror how people prompt. "How much does a DUI lawyer cost in Chicago?" beats a header that just says "Pricing".
- Engines cite chunks. A section should still make sense if it is lifted out alone, with no "as mentioned above".
- Three to five bullets that summarize the page. You hand the engine a ready-made summary to quote.
- Include one clean "X is…" sentence early. Definitions are among the most-quoted passages on the web.
- Close each section and the page with a conclusion. A page that hedges everything gives the model nothing to quote.
- Name the reader in the intro, e.g. "for solo and small-firm criminal defense attorneys".
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- Aim for roughly 20 words or fewer. Long compound sentences get paraphrased instead of cited.
- Dense walls of text are hard to chunk cleanly. White space helps people and parsers.
- Subject → verb → object. "Schema markup tells search engines what a page is about" beats "There are many benefits to schema."
- Name brands, products, people, places and concepts. "Costa AI Labs' visibility checker queries ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity" beats "our tool checks AI."
- "$2,500–$5,000 flat fee" and "within 30 days" are quotable. "Affordable" and "fast" are not.
- "Best in the industry" reads as bias and gets skipped. Back each claim with a fact or drop it.LAWMany state bars restrict unverifiable comparative claims and words like "expert" or "specialist". Check your jurisdiction's advertising rules.
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- The most useful block for "vs" and "best" prompts. Use a real HTML table, never an image of one.
- Lists map directly to how AI answers are formatted, so they are easy to reuse.
- Pull questions from People Also Ask, Reddit threads, sales calls and intake forms.
- Step-by-step sections match "how do I…" prompts almost one to one.
- Balanced pros and cons signal objectivity and answer comparison prompts.
- Even a range helps. Cost is one of the most common follow-up questions behind any buying query.
- Unique visuals add information gain. Alt text makes them readable to machines.
- Google AI Overviews and AI Mode cite YouTube heavily. A video on the page helps both channels.
- AI referrals bring fewer but warmer visitors. Give them one obvious next step.
- Links with clear anchor text help engines map your topic cluster and your authority on it.
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Information gain
Generic pages don't get cited. Give the engine something it can't find anywhere else.
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- Numbers only you have: client results, usage data, pricing benchmarks. Original stats also get cited by other sites.
- Even a 50-person survey of your niche can become the source everyone links to.
- Show you did the thing: "We tested 12 intake tools over 60 days."
- Screenshots prove experience and add detail stock images never can.
- Real numbers, timelines and before/after results beat generic success stories.LAWCase results usually need a disclaimer that past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
- A named source with a title is more citable than "experts say".
- Real words from real clients add trust and unique language.LAWTestimonials are restricted or require disclaimers in some states. Confirm your bar's rules before quoting clients.
- Coin it and put your brand on it (for example, "the CITED Framework"). Models repeat named frameworks along with who created them.
- A well-supported different take stands out from the consensus pages that all say the same thing.
- Standalone resources earn links and citations for years after you publish them.
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- Cover the context a first-time buyer needs before they can decide.
- Price ranges, what drives cost up or down, hidden fees.
- How long it takes, what setup or onboarding looks like, what the reader has to do.
- Engines favor pages that admit downsides. It reads as unbiased.
- Saying who should skip it builds trust and answers "is this worth it?" prompts.
- Name competitors, substitutes and approaches: DIY vs agency vs software vs in-house.
- Explain how the answer changes by budget, size, location, urgency or goal. Avoid one-size-fits-all.
- A short decision framework answers the follow-up question before it is asked.
- Walk through the next steps after signing, booking or buying.
- Point readers to the next page they need so they don't have to run another search.
- City and region details match how people prompt for local services.LAWCity + practice area pages ("Cook County DUI process") mirror how people ask AI for lawyers.
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Trust signals
Show who wrote it, why they're qualified, and where the facts came from.
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- "Editorial team" bylines are weak. A real, verifiable person is stronger.
- Link to LinkedIn, speaking, publications and any professional profiles.LAWLink the attorney's state bar profile and directory profiles (Avvo, Justia, Martindale).
- "Reviewed by [Name], [credential]" for legal, medical and financial content.LAWHave a licensed attorney review legal content and say so on the page.
- Link statutes, government data and studies. Outbound citations show you did the homework.
- Explain how you chose, tested or ranked. It is a strong signal on comparison and "best" pages.
- State what you didn't test or what may not apply. It reads as honest and makes the page more quotable.
- Founding year, location, team, services, notable clients. Facts, not slogans.
- Reviews, awards and client logos with dates and sources attached.
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- Show it on the page and match it with dateModified in your schema.
- Change the data, examples and screenshots. Bumping only the date can backfire.
- "2026 pricing" or "as of October 2026" tells the engine the information is current.
- A short change log shows the update is real.
- Outdated facts are the fastest way to lose a citation.LAWTrack statute changes and new case law in your practice area, and update affected pages.
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Engine-readable
If crawlers can't fetch it, read it and identify you, nothing else on this list matters.
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- Allow OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User (ChatGPT), PerplexityBot, Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User, and Googlebot. Google-Extended only controls Gemini training, not AI Overviews.
- Most AI crawlers don't run JavaScript. If text appears only after scripts load, they may see a blank page. Use SSR or static generation.
- Bing's index feeds Copilot and has long been one of ChatGPT search's sources. Many sites never submit to it.
- AI Overviews only cite pages that are indexed and eligible to show a snippet.
- Google uses snippet controls to decide what its AI features can show.
- Slow pages time out for crawlers and lose readers who do click through.
- Helps engines find fresh content quickly.
- One H1, logical H2/H3s, real <table>, <ol> and <ul> elements.
- Low effort but unproven. No major engine has confirmed using it, so do it last.
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- Connect your site to your LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, directories and social profiles.LAWUse LegalService or Attorney types for firms and lawyers.
- Name, job title, credentials and sameAs links.
- Freshness made machine-readable.
- Google limits FAQ rich results, but the markup still makes Q&A machine-readable.
- One sentence that describes the business, used word for word on your site, LinkedIn, directories and profiles.
- Mismatched details across listings confuse entity matching.
- Categories, services, photos, posts and steady reviews.LAWPick precise practice-area categories and list each practice area as a service.
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Distribution
AI trusts what other trusted sources say about you. Get mentioned where the engines look.
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- Search your top prompts and note which directories get cited. Claim and complete those profiles first.LAWAvvo, Justia, Martindale-Hubbell, Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, FindLaw and your state bar directory.
- Listicles are the most-cited page type across AI engines. Pitch to be included in them.
- Publish fair roundups that include competitors, with clear selection criteria.
- Useful answers, not promotion. Reddit's citation share swung hard in 2026, so treat it as one channel, not the plan.
- Google's AI features pull from YouTube often. Put the transcript and chapters in the description.
- LinkedIn content is cited often by ChatGPT. Keep founder and attorney profiles factual and specific.
- Coverage in trade publications builds the third-party trust that AI engines lean on.
- Recent reviews feed local AI answers directly.
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- The real questions customers would ask an AI before hiring someone like you.
- ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Claude and Copilot.
- Being linked as a source and being named in the answer are different wins. Track both.
- Filter for chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com and claude.ai.
- Updating a page that already ranked is faster than writing a new one.
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AI search checklist FAQ
What is an AI search checklist?
An AI search checklist is a list of page-level and site-level checks that make content easier for AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini and Google AI Overviews to find, understand and cite. The Costa AI Labs checklist has 86 checks grouped into five pillars: Clear answers, Information gain, Trust signals, Engine-readable and Distribution (the CITED Framework).
How do I get my website cited by ChatGPT?
To get cited by ChatGPT, put a direct answer in the first 150 words, write question-based headers, add original data and named experts, keep pages updated, allow OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt, get indexed in Bing, and earn mentions on the third-party lists and directories ChatGPT already cites.
What is the difference between SEO and GEO?
SEO (search engine optimization) improves how pages rank in traditional search results. GEO (generative engine optimization) improves how often AI engines quote or recommend a brand inside generated answers. GEO builds on SEO, because most AI engines retrieve pages from search indexes before choosing what to cite.
How long does it take to get cited by AI search engines?
Technical fixes like unblocking crawlers can show results within weeks, once pages are recrawled. Content and reputation work, such as original data, directory profiles and third-party mentions, usually takes one to three months. AI answers change often, so track a fixed list of prompts monthly.
Does llms.txt help AI visibility?
llms.txt is a low-effort optional file, but no major AI engine has confirmed using it as of October 2026. Server-rendered content, crawler access, schema markup and third-party mentions have a much clearer impact.