The short answer
Check five things in order: your pages are indexed, the key text is readable as plain text, one page answers the question directly, your facts match everywhere, and trusted third-party sites mention you. The first layer that fails is where to work. The exact selection rules are not public, so test and measure rather than assume.
The short version of the theory
Assistants answer from what a model learned in training and, often, from pages fetched live. The live part is the one you can influence, because it uses pages that exist today. The full explanation, including what the providers document and what is still unknown, is in how AI assistants choose sources.
This support page assumes you have read none of that and just need a practical order of checks. If an assistant shows source links, it probably used live pages, and the checks below apply directly. If it names you with no sources, it may be repeating older learned material, and page changes will show up more slowly, if at all.
Layer 1: can it reach you at all?
An assistant cannot use a page that its search system has never indexed or has been turned away from. Test the basics yourself in two minutes.
- 1On Google, search your company name plus the town or service. Is your own site in the first results?
- 2Search a distinctive sentence from the page you hoped it would use, in quotation marks. If Google does not return your page, the page probably is not indexed.
- 3Ask whether anything was changed recently: a redesign, a new domain, a security plugin, a switch from one host to another.
Layer 2: can it read what is on the page?
A page can load beautifully for a person and look nearly empty to a machine. This happens when the important text is only inside an image, a PDF, a slider or an app-style widget that needs scripts to run.
The test: open the page, press Ctrl+U (Cmd+Option+U on a Mac) to view the source, and search for a sentence you can see on screen. If it is missing from the source, many automated readers will not see it either. Another test is to copy the page text into a plain document. If the price, the process or the service list does not come with it, that is the problem to raise with us.
Layer 3: is there a page that answers the question?
This is the most common gap we see. The business does the work well, but no single page says, in plain words, who it is for, what is included, roughly what it costs and how it works. Phrases like "tailored solutions" and "end-to-end service" cannot be quoted, because they say nothing a customer could check.
Take the question you wanted to be named for and ask: could a stranger copy two sentences from one of my pages and have a correct, useful answer? If not, the fix is a better page, built from real details only you have. What to send for AEO lists those details.
Layer 4: do your facts agree with each other?
An assistant that finds three versions of your story has to pick one or hedge. Put your name, address, phone number, founding year, services and key people side by side across your website, your Google profile, your social profiles and the two or three directories that matter in your field.
| Fact | Website | Google profile | Directory | Match? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business name | Harbor Dental Group | Harbor Dental Group | Harbor Dental | Close, make exact |
| Address | 12 Elm St, Suite 4 | 12 Elm St, Suite 4 | 12 Elm Street | Different format, align |
| Opening hours | Mon to Fri 8 to 5 | Mon to Fri 8 to 5 | Mon to Fri 9 to 6 | Wrong, fix at source |
| Services | Implants, braces, whitening | Implants, braces | General dentistry | Incomplete, update |
Do this as a one-off sheet. Anything that does not match is a task for you or for us.
Layer 5: does anyone else mention you?
Assistants often cite directories, review sites and publications, not only company websites. If every source an assistant shows is somewhere you are absent, that is information. Look at the list of sites it cited for your topic and ask: are we on this one, and is our entry complete? Can we reasonably be on that one?
Be careful here. Paying for placement or posting fake reviews can harm you and goes against the rules of most platforms. Real, accurate presence on the sites your customers already use is the aim.
Match your finding to a fix
| The first layer that failed | What it looks like | Who acts | Typical next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Reach | Your page does not show in Google | Usually us | Index check, then a fix request |
| 2. Read | Key text missing from the page source | Us | Rebuild that section as plain text |
| 3. Answer | Page is vague | You with us | Send details, we draft an answer page |
| 4. Agree | Sheet shows mismatches | You, then us | Correct profiles and listings |
| 5. Mention | You are absent from cited sites | You | Claim and complete real listings |
Example: Why a rival keeps getting named
A regional accounting firm asks an assistant "who does tax filing for freelancers near Denver?" and a competitor of the same size is named. Layers 1 and 2 pass for both. The competitor's services page states who it serves, what is included, a starting price range and a four-step process. The firm's page says "tailored tax solutions." Layer 3 is the gap. The firm sends us its real client types, fee ranges and process, and the page is rewritten. We do not promise a mention, but the page now gives an assistant something to quote.
What to leave alone
- Do not rewrite your whole site because of one missing answer.
- Do not chase a single tactic you read about online. Nobody has published a formula that works everywhere.
- Do not change several things at once if you can avoid it. You will not know what helped.
- Do not ask for guarantees from anyone. If a provider promises a specific mention or position, ask for the evidence and the method.
Google says that, for its AI features, a page needs to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, and that no special optimization is required. If a vendor tells you a special file or markup is mandatory for Google AI Overviews, ask where Google says so.
When to ask us
If you are unsure which layer is failing, send a request through the support form. Include your site address, the question you wanted to be named for, the assistant's answer and any source links it showed, and the sheet from Layer 4 if you completed it. We will tell you which layer looks weakest and what we would change, and nothing goes live without your approval on a preview link. Never send passwords. For how this differs from ordinary SEO work, see AEO vs SEO.
