If your brand does not appear when AI assistants answer questions in your product category, one or more of these issues is likely the cause. This guide walks through the most common problems in order of impact.
1. AI Bots Are Blocked in robots.txt
This is the most common and most severe issue. If your robots.txt blocks AI crawlers, your content literally does not exist to those platforms.
Check your robots.txt for rules targeting:
- GPTBot or OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI / ChatGPT)
- Google-Extended (Gemini)
- PerplexityBot (Perplexity)
- ClaudeBot or Claude-SearchBot (Anthropic / Claude)
- CCBot (Common Crawl)
If any of these are blocked with Disallow: /, remove the rules for the bots you want to be visible to. You may choose to block training bots (like GPTBot) while allowing search/retrieval bots (like OAI-SearchBot), but be aware that blocking training bots means your content will not be in the model's baseline knowledge.
2. Critical Content Is JavaScript-Rendered
OpenAI's crawlers cannot render JavaScript. They only see what is present in the initial HTML response. If your product data, pricing, reviews, or key content is loaded via client-side JavaScript (React SPA without SSR, lazy-loaded content, dynamically injected sections), it is invisible to ChatGPT.
The fix: implement server-side rendering (SSR) or static site generation (SSG) for all content that matters for AI discoverability. Next.js, Nuxt, and similar frameworks make this straightforward.
3. No Structured Data
Without schema markup, AI systems must guess what your content means. They do not guess well. Implement at minimum:
- Organization on the homepage
- Product or Service on product/service pages
- FAQPage on FAQ content
- Article on blog posts and thought leadership
- BreadcrumbList on all pages
Validate with the Google Rich Results Test and Schema.org Validator.
4. Stale Content
76.4% of ChatGPT citations come from content updated in the last 30 days. Content under 3 months old is 3x more likely to be cited. If your key pages have not been updated in months, they are losing visibility.
Set up a content freshness calendar. Update high-priority pages at least monthly with new statistics, insights, or information.
5. Thin or Generic Content
Articles over 2,900 words average 5.1 citations from AI systems, while those under 800 words get 3.2. More importantly, the Princeton GEO study found that content with statistics, expert quotes, and inline citations is 30-40% more visible than content without.
If your product pages are thin marketing copy without substance, they will not be cited. Add concrete data, expert perspectives, and authoritative citations.
6. No Third-Party Validation
AI platforms cross-reference multiple sources to verify information. If your brand only exists on your own domain, it lacks the corroboration that AI systems look for.
Build presence on:
- Review platforms (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot)
- Reddit and community discussions
- LinkedIn thought leadership
- YouTube (Perplexity in particular favors video sources)
- Industry publications and guest posts
7. Poor Technical SEO
While AI search differs from traditional search, clean technical fundamentals remain a prerequisite:
- Fast page load times (Core Web Vitals passing)
- Clean URL structure
- Proper canonical tags
- Valid XML sitemap submitted to search engines
- No duplicate content issues
- Mobile-friendly design
AI crawlers now account for roughly 33% of organic search activity. A technically sound site is easier for all crawlers to process.
Diagnostic Checklist
Run through this checklist when diagnosing discoverability issues:
- robots.txt allows AI crawlers
- Key content is in initial HTML (not JS-dependent)
- Schema markup implemented and validated
- Content updated within the last 90 days
- Content includes statistics, citations, and expert quotes
- Brand appears on third-party platforms
- Core Web Vitals passing
- XML sitemap current and submitted
Sources
- OpenAI GPTBot Documentation: https://platform.openai.com/docs/gptbot
- Google — Succeeding in AI Search: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2025/05/succeeding-in-ai-search
- GEO: Generative Engine Optimization: https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735
- Google Rich Results Test: https://search.google.com/test/rich-results