What is an AI visibility audit?

It measures whether AI assistants name your business when a customer asks them who to hire. We ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews thirty buying questions for your category and city, three times each, then report how often you are named, how that compares with up to five competitors, and which sources the engines cite.

How much does the AI Visibility Audit cost?

$500 for a one-time audit when you book by December 31, 2026, and $1,000 after that. Quarterly re-checks take 15% off the audit ($425, then $300 every three months). Monthly re-checks take 25% off ($375, then $150 a month).

How long does it take?

The first audit is back within two business days, reviewed by the Surf Rider Media team, with a 30 minute call to go through it. Every re-check is reviewed too.

Which AI engines does it check?

ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews. Perplexity is being added to every audit. Each report states the number of answers each engine returned.

How is this different from an SEO audit?

An SEO audit looks at where your pages rank in Google's results. This audit reads the AI answers themselves: whether you are named, how often compared with your competitors, and which sites the engines rely on in your category. It also checks whether AI crawlers can read your site at all, since two lines in robots.txt can shut them out.

Why doesn't ChatGPT recommend my business?

Common causes: AI crawlers are blocked from your site, few of the sources the engines trust mention you, or your site never says plainly what you do and where. The audit shows which ones apply to you. Our guide on how to get ChatGPT to recommend your business covers the fixes.

What is the difference between the free check and the audit?

The free AI Readiness Check reads your site and scores whether AI engines can find and understand it. The audit asks the engines your customers' questions and shows who they actually name, you or a competitor.

Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend me?

No, and be wary of anyone who does. The engines change their answers from one run to the next. The audit gives you a measured baseline, the sources worth earning a mention from, and fixes reviewed by our team, so you can see whether your work moves the number.

How to Improve Your Visibility in Google AI Overviews

Oct 19

Written By Stew Hang

If you want to improve your visibility in Google AI Overviews, start with the fact most advice skips: Google builds AI Overviews from its own search index, using pages that already qualify to appear in ordinary results. So the work is mostly good SEO, plus pages that answer the question so cleanly that Google can link to them as a source. Here is what Google has actually said, how to check where you stand, and what to change first.

The short answer

To be linked from an AI Overview, a page must be indexed and eligible to show in Google Search with a snippet. Google says there are no extra technical requirements.
You do not need special schema, an AI text file or any new markup. Google says so directly.
What moves you: ranking well for the question, answering it plainly near the top of a section, and giving facts specific enough to be worth citing.

What AI Overviews pull from

An AI Overview is the AI written summary at the top of some Google results, with links to the pages that support it. AI Mode is the conversational version. You can now ask a follow-up straight from an AI Overview and carry on in AI Mode, and Google says AI Mode passed one billion monthly users a year after launch.

Both draw on Google Search itself. Google says they may use a "query fan-out" technique, "issuing multiple related searches across subtopics and data sources", and then pick supporting pages to link from the response.

The questionA buyer asks a question, often longer and more specific than a classic search.
The fan-outGoogle runs several related searches behind the scenes, across subtopics.
The indexIt draws on indexed pages that are eligible to show with a snippet.
The OverviewIt writes a summary and links the pages that support it.

Google adds two caveats. AI Overviews only appear when its systems decide they add something beyond the regular results, so they "often don't trigger". And the two features may use different models, so their links for the same question will vary.

What Google says it takes to appear

If you want to show up in AI Overviews, Google's guide for site owners, AI features and your website, is short and unusually direct. The core rule: to be eligible as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, "a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet". Then: "There are no additional technical requirements." It also says meeting every requirement does not guarantee Google will crawl, index or show a page.

What Google says you do not need

No special optimization. "There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary."
No AI file. You do not need new machine readable files or AI text files, so an llms.txt file is not a ticket in.
No special schema. There is "no special schema.org structured data" to add.
No separate crawler setting. Googlebot's robots.txt rules are the control for Search, AI features included. Google-Extended, the token for some of Google's other AI products, does not affect inclusion in Search.

One setting can quietly take you out. Because eligibility requires a snippet, Google says a page with nosnippet cannot be used as a direct input for AI Overviews or AI Mode, and a low max-snippet limits how much of it Google can use. Use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console to view the HTML Google received and confirm neither is set by accident.

Check who gets cited for your buyers' questions

Before you change a page, find out what Google shows today. Write down ten questions buyers ask before they hire you, in their words. Search each one and record whether an AI Overview appears, which sites it links, and where you rank below it. Repeat on another day, on mobile and desktop, before drawing conclusions.

Then read the pattern. It usually falls into one of four cases.

What you find	What it usually means	What to do
No AI Overview shows	Google decided an Overview does not add much for that question	Win the regular results. Check again in a month or two; it may change.
You rank on page one but are not cited	Your page covers the topic but does not answer this exact question plainly	Add a section that answers it in the first two sentences, under a heading that asks it
Competitors and directories are cited; you are nowhere	Google does not yet see your page as a strong result for this question	Fix indexing, content depth and links (see the fundamentals below)
You are cited	The page qualifies and is useful to Google for that question	Keep it current, and check that the page turns visitors into inquiries

Our working read of the four patterns, not a Google rule.

If the same few sites are cited again and again, open them. They show what Google treats as a good answer in your category. The same habit works for ChatGPT, which we cover in our guide to getting ChatGPT to recommend your business.

How to improve visibility in Google AI Overviews

Google's advice for AI features is the same as for Search overall: helpful, reliable content written for people. In our view the difference is scale: an Overview links a page because one passage supports one point, so every section has to stand on its own. These are the five changes we make first.

Answer first, then explain

Put the direct answer in the first sentence or two under each heading, then the detail. A first sentence that states your real timeline, price range or recommendation is quotable. Three paragraphs of preamble are not.

Do this: On your five key pages, rewrite the first two sentences under each heading so they answer something.

Write headings as the questions buyers ask

Google says people ask AI features longer and more specific questions, and follow-ups. A heading such as "How much does a commercial roof inspection cost?" tells Google and the reader exactly what the section answers. A heading such as "Our approach" tells them nothing.

Do this: List the ten questions you hear on sales calls. Each one should match a heading somewhere on your site.

Be specific in ways nobody else can be

Google's advice is to make "unique, non-commodity content". For a business, that means your price ranges, service area, process, timelines, and the cases where you are the wrong fit. Advice that matches every other page gives Google no reason to link to yours.

Do this: Add one fact to each key page that only you could write: a range, a timeline, a step, a common mistake you fix.

Keep the facts fresh and consistent

Old hours, retired services and stale prices make a page unsafe to cite. Google asks you to keep your Business Profile and Merchant Center information current, and any structured data matching the visible page.

Do this: Set a quarterly reminder to check prices, hours and services on the site and your Business Profile.

Keep the answer in text

Google asks for important content to be available as text. Answers locked inside images, PDFs or sliders are harder to use. Support the text with real photos and video where they help, as Google also recommends.

Do this: Open a key page with images turned off. If the answer disappears, move it into the page copy.

The SEO fundamentals that still decide it

A page Google will not show in its regular results will not be linked from an Overview either. Google's list of practices that "continue to be worthwhile" for AI features is a list of SEO basics:

Crawling allowed in robots.txt and by any CDN or host, with pages that return a working (HTTP 200) response.
Internal links that make each important page easy to find from the rest of your site.
A good page experience: works on every device, loads fast, and the main content is easy to find.
Important content in text, supported by good images and video where they help.
Structured data that matches the visible text on the page.
An up-to-date Business Profile for local businesses, and Merchant Center for anyone selling products.

If your pages are not indexed at all, start with our guide to why a website does not show up on Google. If they are indexed but stuck on page two, that takes sustained work on content, links and local signals, which is what our Google Ads, SEO and AEO service does. The same work carries over to other AI engines (see our guide to visibility in AI search).

Measuring AI Overview traffic

Search Console counts AI Overview traffic inside your regular Search data. Google says AI Overview and AI Mode traffic is included in the Performance report under the "Web" search type, with the rest of your Search traffic. Google's counting rules:

A click on a link inside an AI Overview counts as a click.
An AI Overview takes one position in the results, and every link in it gets that same position.
A follow-up question in AI Mode counts as a new query.

Google's documentation describes no separate AI Overview report or filter, so there is no single number to watch. Instead, re-check the questions you recorded earlier and watch the Search Console queries and pages they map to. Google also says clicks from results pages with AI Overviews are "higher quality", with visitors more likely to spend more time on the site. Test that against your own conversions in Google Analytics.

Where to start this week

Today: run your three most important pages through URL Inspection. Confirm each is indexed and has no nosnippet or max-snippet setting you did not intend.
This week: search ten buyer questions. Record whether an Overview shows, who it cites, and where you rank.
This month: rewrite the top of each section on your key pages so it answers one question first, with a fact only you could give.

Want a second pair of eyes?

Tell us what you are working on

Send us your site and the questions you want Google to cite you for. We review every request, and the ones that are a fit get a link to book a call.

Tell us what you are working on

Prefer answers without a conversation? The AI Visibility Audit is $500 when booked by December 31 (regularly $1,000, checked October 16, 2026) and shows who ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews name for thirty of your buyers' questions.

Common questions

How do I improve my visibility in Google AI Overviews?

Start with the same work that wins ordinary Google results: make sure your pages are crawlable, indexed and eligible to show a snippet, and that they answer your buyers' questions better than the pages that rank today. Then make each answer easy to cite: the answer first under a clear heading, specific facts, and details kept current. Google says there are no extra technical requirements for AI Overviews beyond those for Search.

Do I need special schema or an AI file to optimize for AI Overviews?

No. Google says you do not need new machine readable files, AI text files or special markup, and that there is no special schema.org structured data to add. Structured data is still useful for describing your business, but Google asks that it match the visible text on the page.

How do I rank in Google AI Overviews if my competitors are always cited?

Look at the pages Google cites and compare them with yours on the same question. Usually they answer it more directly, with more specific facts, or they already rank on page one and yours does not. Close that gap first. There is no setting that moves you into an Overview, and Google says meeting every requirement does not guarantee a page will be shown.

Is AI Mode SEO different from AI Overviews SEO?

Google gives the same guidance for both: the same eligibility rule and the same SEO best practices. It also says the two features may use different models and techniques, so the links they show will vary. Check both for your key questions rather than assuming one matches the other.

Can I stop Google from using my content in AI Overviews?

Yes, with the same preview controls you use for regular results. Google says nosnippet keeps a page from being used as a direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode, max-snippet limits how much can be used, and data-nosnippet excludes parts of a page. noindex removes the page from Search entirely. Blocking Google-Extended does not do this: Google says that token does not affect inclusion in Search.

Does Search Console show traffic from AI Overviews?

It counts it inside your regular Search data. Google says AI Overview and AI Mode traffic is included in the Performance report under the Web search type, together with the rest of your Search traffic. A click on a link in an AI Overview counts as a click, and every link in the Overview is given the same position.

Sources

Google Search Central, AI features and your website and Top ways to ensure your content performs well in Google's AI experiences on Search
Google Search Central, Robots meta tag specifications and Google's common crawlers (Google-Extended)
Search Console Help, How clicks, impressions and position are counted and Performance report
Google, A new era for AI Search (May 19, 2026)

Stew Hang