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The Nine Signals

AI findability

Whether assistants can discover and name your business across realistic buyer prompts.

SignalAI findability
What it checksMention rate, source coverage, profile presence, and query-family coverage
MovesMentioned, Recommended
Fix cardBusiness is not showing up in AI answers
VerifyRe-run check across prompt families
At risk
Needs work
Strong
04070100

What it measures​

AI findability measures whether the business is present in the source ecosystem assistants consult. That includes the official website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business, directories, review platforms, maps, and local or vertical sources.

The audit should not use one prompt. The research file on AI findability emphasizes prompt families: category-and-location queries, "near me" queries, "best" queries, problem-specific queries, reputation queries, budget queries, emergency queries, and competitor comparison queries.

Why it moves your EAC​

An assistant cannot cite or recommend a business it never retrieves. Findability is the entry point into the answer set. When this signal is weak, the business may be technically online but absent from the model's candidate list.

Findability also affects stability. If a business appears for only one exact prompt but disappears under normal paraphrases, the assistant has not built a durable understanding of the entity.

What the agent sees​

Weak read

The business appears in a branded search, but not in "best near me," "open now," or service-specific prompts. Directory and profile coverage is thin, so the assistant has safer alternatives.

Strong read

The business appears across category, location, service, and comparison prompts. Its website, profiles, reviews, and directories all point to the same entity.

How to improve​

  1. Claim the core local profiles. Keep Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business, Yelp, Facebook, and vertical directories complete and current.
  2. Build answer-ready location and service pages. Each page should state the business name, service, service area, hours, and next step in visible HTML.
  3. Cover real prompt families. Add content and profiles for service-specific, emergency, reputation, comparison, and attribute-specific prompts.
  4. Earn third-party corroboration. Local press, associations, chambers, and category-specific directories help assistants find more evidence paths.

How to verify​

Did the business enter the answer set?

Re-scan across paraphrased buyer prompts. Look for mention rate, top-three recommendation rate, and whether the cited sources describe the same business.

Re-run check

Research basis: docs/research/deep-research-report(5).md