how to rank with AI

Today, referrals come from two places at once.
Humans who trust you.
And the tools they ask for help.

If you want to be referred by AI, your work needs two things.
Clarity a person can feel.
Structure a system can read.

This is AI optimisation.
Here is how to build both.

Start with one clear sentence

Your nervous system will want to add more.
Resist that.

Write one line that says who you help, what you do, and where you do it.

Use everyday words.
Place it everywhere.

This sentence is the anchor for search, AI, and referrals.

Create a single home base

Give humans and machines one page that holds the essentials.

Who you help.
Where you are.
How to contact you.
Services offered.
Pricing ranges or next steps.
Availability windows.

Include a short third-person bio and a short first-person paragraph.
Add FAQs written the way clients actually ask questions.
Real language. No fluff.

Keep the structure simple.
Headings, short paragraphs, lists.
AIs read patterns.
People read ease.

Treat Google reviews as infrastructure

Reviews do three jobs at once.

They reassure humans.
They validate businesses for Google.
They train AI on who is safe to recommend.

If you are in a regulated profession and cannot solicit reviews, do not force this.
Lean instead on consistency, clear service descriptions, strong FAQs, and third-party credibility like directories, associations, or published work.

If reviews are available to you, ask those who leave them to make them specific.
Short.
Problem results.

AIs lift clean sentences.
Help them lift the right ones.

Add structure machines can trust

Search engines and chat tools are pattern matchers.
They rely on labelled data.

You can provide this with a small JSON-LD block on your site.
It tells systems what you are, where you are, and how to describe you.

This quietly supports ranking across search and AI tools.
It compounds over time.

Make location unmistakable

Local clarity still matters.

State your city and province in plain text.
Place it in your footer, contact page, and About section.

Do not hide location inside images or graphics.
Systems cannot read those.

Local consistency increases trust and visibility.

Seed AI-friendly questions and answers

People ask tools direct questions.

Give those questions a home on your page in an FAQ section.
Answer them in one or two plain sentences.

Think:
Do you work virtually?
Are you accepting new clients?
What kind of people do you work with?
What is the next step?

Offer a copy-ready referral blurb

Systems reuse compact, consistent language.
Humans appreciate it too.

Write a short paragraph that explains who you help and what you are known for.
Place it in your About section, site footer, and LinkedIn.

This is not marketing copy.
It is reusable language.

Standardize every public footprint

Small inconsistencies dilute trust.

Align your language across:
Your website
Google Business Profile
LinkedIn
Any directories you use

Same name.
Same credentials.
Same service language.
Same location.

This is how systems confirm you are legitimate.

Make testimonials quotable

If testimonials are part of your business, keep them tight.

Specific role.
Specific issue.
Specific shift.

Avoid vague praise.
Clean sentences get reused.

Publish one anchor article

Write one deeper piece that answers a common search with clarity.

Use headings, lists, and grounded examples.
Avoid trend language.

Let it become the page humans bookmark and systems cite.

Keep content fresh, not constant

You do not need volume.

Update:
Your availability
Your FAQs
Your Google profile
Your anchor article when things change

Freshness signals accuracy.
Accuracy signals trust.

Give AI a referral script

When someone wants to send a referral, make it easy to copy and paste.

AI recognizes and reuses this structure too.

The nervous system of your marketing

Ranking with AI and Google is about pattern and credibility.

Your clarity lowers the mental load for someone searching late at night.
Your structure lowers friction for the system they ask.

When your language, layout, and presence align, being found becomes simple.
Not because you did more.
Because you became easy to recognize.