How LLMs Actually Find and Evaluate Your Business Online
Understanding where AI systems look for information about your business—from reviews and social media to publications and beyond.
When someone asks ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity about businesses in your industry, these AI systems don't just look at your website. They're pulling information from dozens of sources across the internet to build a comprehensive picture of who you are, what you offer, and whether you're trustworthy.
Understanding where AI systems look—and how they evaluate what they find—is crucial for managing your online presence in the AI age.
The AI Information Gathering Process
AI systems use a multi-layered approach to gather information about businesses. They don't rely on a single source. Instead, they synthesise information from multiple channels to form a comprehensive view.
Your Website: The Foundation
Your official website remains the primary source. AI systems look first to your website for authoritative information about your business—your services, location, contact details, expertise areas, team members, and company history.
Structured data on your website helps AI systems quickly identify authoritative information. Organisation schema tells AI "this is the official business information". Article schema identifies your content and authorship.
Review Platforms: Trust Signals
Review platforms provide crucial trust signals that AI systems weight heavily when evaluating businesses. Google Business Profile reviews are particularly significant—they're often the first external validation AI systems encounter.
What matters to AI systems isn't just your overall rating—it's the pattern, recency, and detail of reviews. Detailed reviews matter more than generic ones.
Social Media Presence
Your social media presence offers AI systems insight into your business personality, engagement levels, and current activity. LinkedIn is particularly important for B2B businesses.
News and Publication Mentions
Media mentions provide authoritative third-party validation that AI systems highly value. Coverage in industry publications carries significant weight.
The Consistency Check
Perhaps the most critical aspect of AI evaluation is consistency checking. AI systems cross-reference information from multiple sources. If your information varies across platforms, the AI system flags inconsistency and reduces confidence in all your information.
How Okapi & Co Can Help
We specialise in comprehensive online presence management for AI visibility. Our services include multi-platform audits to identify inconsistencies and gaps, structured data implementation on your website, review management strategy, and ongoing monitoring of AI citations and recommendations.
Want to ensure AI systems find and recommend your business? Contact us to discuss your specific situation.