Eight common AI visibility mistakes local businesses make

Short answerThe most common mistakes are simple: the website blocking crawlers, no Google Business Profile, hours that differ across sites, details only in images or PDFs, duplicate listings, no reviews, buying shortcuts, and never testing what AI actually says.

1. Blocking crawlers with noindex or a blanket Disallow. See robots.txt check.
2. No or unverified Google Business Profile.
3. Different hours on different sites. See why AI gets hours wrong.
4. Key facts in images or PDFs. See menus and price lists.
5. Duplicate or abandoned listings.
6. No recent reviews, or never replying.
7. Buying shortcuts: fake reviews, "guaranteed" rankings. See can you pay ChatGPT?
8. Never testing. Use the five-minute test.

Related guides

• How to get your business recommended by AI
• AI visibility checklist for local businesses
• How to check what ChatGPT says about your business

Sources

• Google Search Central: Optimizing for generative AI features
• OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers