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GuideHow AI assistants choose who to recommend
When a buyer asks an AI assistant 'who's the best [what you do]?', it doesn't roll dice — it names the business it can most confidently resolve and sees corroborated across the sources it trusts. Three signals decide the shortlist, in roughly this priority: entity clarity, citation density, and quotable content. Understand these and you understand exactly why you are, or aren't, getting named.
FAQ
What's the single biggest factor?Entity clarity. If the model can't confidently tell what you do, where, and for whom, it won't risk recommending you — it names a competitor it's more certain about. Organization schema, an llms.txt file, and consistent details everywhere fix this first.
Why do citations matter so much?AI recommends what's recommended consistently across sources it trusts — review platforms, directories, 'best of' roundups, reputable press and community threads. Citation density is the biggest ongoing lever once your entity is clear.
How do I see how the AI is judging me?Run a free Cited scan — it runs your category's real buying-intent prompts across multiple engines, shows whether you're named and who's named instead, and pinpoints which of the three signals is holding you back.
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Most businesses score under 40/100 and have no idea. Find your score in 15 seconds, then fix it.
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