Field Notes
Why AI Names Your Competitor Instead of You (I Found It on My Own Site First)
Short answer: a lot of the time, AI can't properly read your site. The ads, keywords and backlinks are there, but the setup works against you. Often it's one setting that quietly tells Google not to read your pages.
"How can that be me? I spend on ads and nothing."
I hear that from owners I talk with around Philadelphia, in person or remote. They run the ads. They have the keywords. Maybe some good backlinks. And AI still names someone else.
Here's the thing. For AI, a lot of sites aren't optimized at all. Some are set up counterintuitive.
The first thing I look at is the obvious one. The settings that decide whether search and AI tools can even read your site.
To be honest, the first site I caught this on was mine. It was a simple overlook, the kind the I-do-things-myself crowd makes. A noindex tag. lol.
My site showed up when I searched for it. But when Google went looking, nothing was found. After the fix, Google could crawl and index everything it needed, so I could show up in AI search.
If you do it yourself, check these first:
- Look for a noindex tag on your pages. That's what got me.
- Check your security settings with your web host provider.
- Stuck? Any AI chatbot can help walk you through it correctly.
Why am I telling you all this? Because it's public knowledge. With AI, that door has opened up. Now it's about the relationship, even more so. I want my clients to become self-supporting. I know that sounds counterintuitive for a guy running a business. But how can I be a trusted advisor if I hide where I find my info?
If you'd rather I look, that's what the 15-minute call is for. In person or remote, your call. You leave with a short written plan of attack.