Making Websites AI-Ready

As AI systems like ChatGPT and Gemini increasingly deliver direct answers to users’ questions, fewer people are clicking through to websites. That means your site may see less traffic, unless AI systems are linking to it.

While this shift is still unfolding, the good news is that many of the strategies that help AI find and reference your site are the same ones used in traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO): publishing high-quality, authoritative content that answers real user questions, and earning backlinks from other reputable websites.

SEO isn’t going away.  It remains essential because millions of people still rely on search engines. But now, effective SEO does double duty: it helps you rank in both search results and AI-generated answers.

There’s also a new and important tool in the AI landscape: the llms.txt file. This emerging standard gives website owners more control over how AI systems interact with their content:  what they can access, what they can’t, and how they should interpret it. While not yet universally adopted, major AI platforms are beginning to support it, and adoption is expected to grow.

If you’re running a WordPress site, there are already plugins available to help you generate an llms.txt file. We’ve tested them—and currently, only one meets the proposed standard and works as intended.

Want to make sure your website is “AI-friendly”? We can help. Contact us today to future-proof your content and ensure it stays visible in an AI-driven world.

Sample AI Results

The figure below shows a response from Google Gemini, featuring a link to the California Mission Guide, one of the author’s websites.