Is there a way to submit your site to AI search engines like you do with Google Search Console?

Great question - here’s the current landscape:

Direct Submission Methods by Platform:

The reality: There’s no unified “AI Search Console.” But here’s what you can do:

For ChatGPT/Copilot (Bing-dependent):

1. Set up Bing Webmaster Tools (you can import from GSC)
2. Submit your XML sitemap
3. Use IndexNow protocol for faster indexing
4. Request indexing for important pages directly

For Perplexity:

1. Ensure your robots.txt allows PerplexityBot
2. Optimize for fast-loading, mobile-friendly content
3. Build authority signals (they weight authoritative sources)

For Gemini:

• Traditional Google SEO applies
• Strong Core Web Vitals help
• Use structured data (they love schema)

The best approach is optimizing for Bing AND Google, which covers most AI platforms.

From a technical crawlability perspective, here’s what matters:

robots.txt configuration:

User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

User-agent: Claude-Web
Allow: /

User-agent: anthropic-ai
Allow: /

Don’t accidentally block AI crawlers:

• Some aggressive bot-blocking rules catch AI
• Check if your security plugins block unknown user agents
• Review WAF rules that might interfere

Technical requirements:

1. XML sitemap - Submit to Bing Webmaster Tools
2. Clean URL structure - No parameters or duplicates
3. Server response - Fast, reliable, no excessive redirects
4. Mobile optimization - AI platforms prioritize mobile-friendly
5. SSL certificate - HTTPS is expected

JavaScript consideration: Most AI crawlers don’t execute JavaScript. If your content is JS-rendered, you need:

• Server-side rendering (SSR)
• Pre-rendering solution
• Static HTML generation

Check your site with JavaScript disabled - that’s what AI crawlers see.

Indexing is only half the battle. Here’s what matters for actually getting CITED:

Indexing ≠ Citation

Your content can be indexed but never cited if it doesn’t meet AI citation criteria:

• Not structured for AI comprehension
• Not authoritative enough
• Not answering the right questions
• Not fresh/updated

What improves citation likelihood:

1. Answer-first content - Direct answers in opening paragraphs
2. Structured data - FAQ schema, Article schema, Organization schema
3. Question-based headings - Match how people ask AI questions
4. Comprehensive coverage - Thorough answers, not thin content
5. Authority signals - Expert bylines, citations, credentials

My workflow:

1. Get indexed (technical SEO)
2. Structure for AI (content optimization)
3. Monitor citations (tracking)
4. Iterate based on data

Am I Cited helps with step 3 - seeing which content actually gets cited vs. just indexed.

Enterprise perspective on AI indexing:

Our setup:

• 50,000+ pages
• Heavy JavaScript framework
• Multiple subdomains and properties

What we implemented:

1. Bing Webmaster Tools - Imported from GSC, submitted all sitemaps
2. IndexNow - Automated via CI/CD pipeline
3. Pre-rendering - Using Prerender.io for dynamic content
4. robots.txt - Explicit allow rules for all known AI crawlers

Monitoring approach:

• Track AI crawler hits in server logs
• Monitor which pages get cited
• Correlate indexing with visibility

The revelation: Our most-cited content wasn’t always our highest-traffic content. Different optimization needed.

Key insight: At enterprise scale, you need systematic processes, not manual submissions. Automate everything.

Small startup perspective - we don’t have enterprise resources but still got good AI visibility:

Our low-resource approach:

1. Bing Webmaster Tools - Free, took 20 minutes to set up
2. Yoast IndexNow - WordPress plugin, automatic
3. Clean HTML - Avoided JavaScript complexity
4. Schema via plugin - Rank Math handled it

What we focused on instead:

• Writing content that actually answers questions
• Building topical authority in our niche
• Regular content updates (AI loves fresh content)
• Clear structure with good headings

Results after 3 months:

• Showing up in Perplexity for niche queries
• Some ChatGPT citations
• Gemini cites us for specific topics

The technical part wasn’t hard. The content quality part was the real work.

Structured data is underrated for AI indexing. Here’s why:

Schema markup helps AI understand:

• What your content is about
• Who authored it
• When it was published/updated
• What questions it answers

High-impact schema types for AI:

Implementation tips:

1. Use JSON-LD (Google’s preferred format)
2. Place in page <head> or early in <body>
3. Validate with Google’s Rich Results Test
4. Don’t overdo it - only use relevant schema

The connection: AI platforms use knowledge graphs. Schema feeds knowledge graphs. Better schema = better AI understanding of your content.

Think of schema as “teaching AI what your content means.”

The missing piece in most indexing discussions: monitoring

You can submit everything correctly but have no idea if it’s working. Here’s what to track:

Server log analysis:

• Watch for GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot
• Track which pages they hit
• Note crawl frequency patterns

Citation monitoring:

• Which of your pages appear in AI answers?
• What prompts trigger your content?
• How does your visibility change over time?

Indexing doesn’t equal visibility: I’ve seen sites perfectly indexed that never get cited. The indexing is step 1, but you need to verify the whole chain works.

Tools we use:

• Server logs for crawl activity
• Am I Cited for citation tracking
• Bing Webmaster Tools for index status

Without monitoring, you’re optimizing blindly.

This thread gave me exactly what I needed. Here’s my implementation plan:

Immediate technical setup:

1. Set up Bing Webmaster Tools (import from GSC)
2. Submit sitemaps to Bing
3. Implement IndexNow (we’re on WordPress, so plugin route)
4. Audit robots.txt to explicitly allow AI crawlers
5. Check our site with JS disabled - we might have issues

Content optimization:

1. Implement FAQ schema on key pages
2. Restructure content with answer-first approach
3. Add question-based headings
4. Update author bios with credentials

Monitoring:

1. Set up server log monitoring for AI crawler activity
2. Use citation tracking to see what’s actually getting picked up
3. Correlate indexing with visibility

Key insight: There’s no AI Search Console, but the combination of Bing Webmaster Tools + IndexNow + proper technical setup gets you most of the way there. Then content quality and monitoring complete the picture.

Thanks everyone!