Why AI assistants need your business information

More and more people are no longer searching only via Google, but are asking a question to ChatGPT, Perplexity, or another AI assistant. For example, someone might ask which plumber in the area handles emergency jobs, or which company supplies certain machine parts. The assistant then searches for answers and tries to find them on websites like yours. The problem is that these assistants cannot sense atmosphere, do not view photos, and do not recognize logos. They read text. If your website nowhere explicitly states in words what you do, for whom, and where you are located, then the assistant has little to work with. A beautiful homepage with only a slogan and a button to the contact form tells an AI system almost nothing. What AI assistants can use Think of a page that states in plain sentences what your business does, in which locations or regions you operate, which services or products you provide, and for whom that is interesting. Not as a list of keywords, but as running text that a human would also write. For example: we repair washing machines and dryers at people's homes in the Utrecht region, also on Saturdays. That kind of sentence an AI assistant can directly quote or summarize as an answer to a question. The same applies to your opening hours, contact details, and any specializations. If that is hidden in a PDF or only on a contact page that is not clearly linked, then there is little chance that an assistant will include it in an answer. If it is simply readable on a page that is easy to find, then the chance is greater. What you can do today Go to your own website and read the text the way a stranger would, without prior knowledge of your business. Is it clearly stated somewhere in words what you do and for whom? Or does someone have to guess based on photos and a logo? If it is the latter, that is something you can adjust yourself, even without technical knowledge. You don't need to rewrite your entire website. One page with a few clear paragraphs about who you are, what you do, and where, is enough to give AI assistants something to work with. Write it the way you would explain it to a new customer on the phone, not the way a brochure would phrase it. This is not a matter of tricks or technical optimization. It is about the text on your site actually telling what there is to tell. The more explicitly that is stated, the easier it is for both a search engine and an AI assistant to properly understand your business and pass it on to someone looking for it.