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The SMB AI Optimization Checklist

Making Your Website AI-Friendly Without Breaking the Bank

Your customers aren’t starting with Google anymore. They’re asking ChatGPT “who’s the best plumber near me” or telling Claude “I need a restaurant that’s actually good with kids.” And if your website isn’t optimized for AI systems, you don’t exist in those conversations. Some call this “answer engine optimization,” but these aren’t answer-engines, they are flawed and biased AI assistants. Instead, you should provide them the information they need, and filter all of it through the eyes of your customer.

We tested 1,000 businesses through the eyes of 100 different personas, and found 73% small businesses were invisible to AI despite ranking well on Google. Big businesses do better. We’re here to help change that.

The fix? Basic technical issues that take days to fix, not months. This checklist shows you exactly what to fix, in order of importance, without hiring a $10,000/month agency. Red items are critical—without them, you’re invisible. Yellow items separate you from competitors. Green items are for overachievers.

Not sure if AI can even see you? Get your baseline visibility report at surmado.com/signal — we’ll show you exactly what ChatGPT, Claude, and others say about your business.

🔴 RED LIGHT: MUST DO

Without these, AI can’t see or understand your site. Period.

1. Make Your Content Actually Readable by Machines

  • Use Server-Side Rendering (SSR) or Static Site Generation (SSG)
    • What this means: Your website content needs to exist in the HTML that gets sent to browsers, not be created by JavaScript after the page loads
    • How to check: Right-click your page → “View Page Source” → Can you see your actual content? If not, AI can’t either
    • Quick fix: Use website builders like WordPress, Webflow, or Framer that create “real” HTML pages. Avoid React/Vue single-page apps unless they use Next.js or similar SSR frameworks

2. Create a robots.txt File That Welcomes AI

  • Put this at yoursite.com/robots.txt:
User-agent: *
Allow: /

User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /

User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /

User-agent: ClaudeBot
Allow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
  • Why: This is like putting up a “Welcome AI” sign. Without it, you might be invisible to ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity

3. Use Proper HTML Tags (Semantic HTML)

  • Instead of: Everything in <div> tags
  • Do this:
    • Main heading: <h1>Your Page Title</h1> (only one per page!)
    • Subheadings: <h2>, then <h3> (in order, like an outline)
    • Navigation: <nav>
    • Main content: <main>
    • Articles/posts: <article>
  • Why: This is like using proper grammar - it helps AI understand what’s important

4. Add Basic Schema Markup

  • Minimum viable schema (add to your homepage):
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "LocalBusiness",
  "name": "Your Business Name",
  "url": "https://yoursite.com",
  "description": "What you do in one sentence"
}
</script>
  • Use Google’s Rich Results Test to check it works
  • Why: This is like giving AI a business card with your key info

5. Create and Submit a Sitemap

  • What: A file listing all your pages (yoursite.com/sitemap.xml)
  • How: Most CMS platforms auto-generate this. If not, use xml-sitemaps.com
  • Submit to: Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
  • Why: This is your site’s table of contents for AI

Overwhelmed by technical details? Let 4 AI advisors fight over your optimization strategy. Get specific recommendations, not generic frameworks, at surmado.com/solutions.

🟡 YELLOW LIGHT: SHOULD DO

These make you stand out from competitors and get better AI visibility

6. Speed Up Your Site

  • Target: Pages load in under 3 seconds
  • Quick wins:
    • Compress images (use TinyPNG or similar)
    • Use a CDN (Cloudflare has a free tier)
    • Enable caching in your hosting
  • Test with: Google PageSpeed Insights
  • Why: Slow sites get crawled less frequently

7. Add FAQ Schema for Common Questions

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "Your question here?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "Your answer here."
    }
  }]
}
</script>
  • Why: This gets you into AI-generated answers and featured snippets

8. Create an llms.txt File

  • Put at yoursite.com/llms.txt:
# About Our Site
We are [your business] specializing in [what you do]

# Key Pages
/about - Learn about our company
/services - Our main offerings
/contact - How to reach us

# Expertise
We are experts in: [list your key topics]
  • Why: This is like leaving a note for AI about what’s important on your site

9. Write Descriptive Alt Text for Images

  • Bad: alt="image1"
  • Good: alt="Blue ceramic coffee mug with company logo"
  • Why: AI can’t “see” images, but it can read these descriptions

10. Structure Your Content with Clear Sections

  • Use descriptive headings that explain what’s below
  • Keep paragraphs short (3-4 sentences)
  • Use bullet points for lists
  • Why: Makes it easier for AI to extract specific information

11. Add Breadcrumbs

  • Show the path: Home > Services > Web Design
  • Most CMS platforms have plugins for this
  • Why: Helps AI understand your site structure and page relationships

Want to know if these changes are actually working? Track your AI visibility week by week and see which optimizations move the needle at surmado.com/signal.

🟢 GREEN LIGHT: COULD DO

Advanced moves that give you an edge if you have the resources

12. Implement Article/BlogPost Schema

  • Add publication dates, authors, and summaries to all content
  • Tool: Schema markup generators or WordPress SEO plugins
  • Payoff: Better representation in AI-generated summaries

13. Create a Simple API

  • Even a basic JSON feed of your products/services at /api/data
  • Tools: Can be as simple as a WordPress REST API plugin
  • Payoff: Direct data access for advanced AI systems

14. Provide Markdown Versions

  • Offer .md versions of your key pages
  • Add <link rel="alternate" type="text/markdown" href="/page.md">
  • Payoff: Easier for AI to process your content

15. Monitor AI Traffic

  • Track visits from AI user agents in your analytics
  • Set up alerts for crawl errors
  • Payoff: Know which AI systems are using your content

16. Add Semantic HTML5 Landmarks

  • Use <header>, <footer>, <aside>, <section>
  • Payoff: Better content understanding and accessibility

17. Implement Review Schema

  • If you have customer reviews, mark them up properly
  • Payoff: Reviews might appear in AI-generated recommendations

18. Create Topic Clusters

  • Group related content together with internal links
  • Build “pillar pages” that overview main topics
  • Payoff: AI better understands your expertise areas

📋 Quick Implementation Priority

Week 1: Red items 1-3 (Rendering, robots.txt, HTML tags) Week 2: Red items 4-5 (Basic schema, sitemap) Month 2: Yellow items 6-8 (Speed, FAQ schema, llms.txt) Month 3: Yellow items 9-11 (Alt text, content structure, breadcrumbs) Ongoing: Green items as resources allow

🎯 Success Metrics

  • Check monthly:
    • Can you find your content in ChatGPT/Claude/Perplexity answers?
    • Google Search Console showing AI bot visits?
    • Your content appearing in AI-generated summaries?

💡 Pro Tips for SMBs

  1. Use AI to help: ChatGPT/Claude can write your schema markup and robots.txt
  2. Start with your most important pages: Don’t try to optimize everything at once
  3. Test everything: Use Google’s tools to validate your work
  4. Focus on being helpful: Good content that answers questions naturally works for both humans and AI

Remember: You don’t need to be perfect. Even implementing just the red items puts you ahead of 90% of SMB websites for AI optimization.

Need help deciding what to prioritize? Skip the analysis paralysis. Get a clear verdict on your optimization strategy from our AI board of directors at surmado.com/solutions — they’ll fight it out and tell you exactly what to do first.

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