Our brand doesn't show up in ChatGPT or Perplexity at all - what are we doing wrong?

I’ve diagnosed this problem for dozens of companies. Let me walk you through the most common causes:

The 5 Reasons Brands Disappear from AI:

Most likely diagnosis based on your description:

You have good SEO signals but weak AI signals. Different things.

SEO signals: Backlinks, DA, keyword rankings AI signals: Third-party mentions, entity clarity, external validation

Quick diagnostic:

1. Google: “[your brand] reviews” - how many third-party sites mention you?
2. Wikipedia: Do you have an entry?
3. G2/Capterra: Are you listed with reviews?
4. Reddit: Does anyone discuss your product?
5. Schema markup: Is your Organization schema implemented?

My guess: You’ll find your brand lives almost entirely on your own domain, with minimal third-party presence that AI can triangulate.

I want to add the “entity clarity” angle:

The confusion test:

Ask ChatGPT: “What is [your brand]?”

If it:

• Gives a clear, accurate answer = You’re a recognized entity
• Gives a vague answer = Weak entity signals
• Confuses you with another company = Entity conflict
• Says “I don’t have information” = Not in training data

Common entity problems:

1. Inconsistent naming

   • “Company Inc.” vs “Company” vs “Company Software”
   • AI treats these as potentially different entities

2. No structured data

   • Without schema markup, AI guesses at your identity
   • Guessing leads to confusion or omission

3. Generic name

   • If your brand name is common words, AI may not recognize it as an entity
   • “Quality Solutions” vs “Salesforce” - which is clearer?

4. Name conflicts

   • Another company with similar name
   • Past company names or acquisitions

The fix:

Create an “entity brief” - one consistent description of:

• Official name
• What you do
• Who you serve
• Key products

Use this EVERYWHERE - website, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, schema markup, press releases. Consistency builds entity recognition.

PR perspective on building AI visibility:

Why third-party mentions matter so much:

AI systems are trained on web content. The more your brand appears in authoritative content, the more likely AI “learned” about you during training.

But here’s the thing: Even post-training, RAG systems still search for current mentions.

So third-party presence helps both:

• Training data (permanent)
• Live search (immediate)

PR tactics that build AI visibility:

1. Industry rankings and lists

   • “Best X software” lists are AI citation magnets
   • Get on as many as possible

2. Expert commentary

   • Executives quoted in publications
   • Those quotes appear in AI training data

3. Original research

   • Publish data others will cite
   • “According to [your company]’s research…” becomes AI knowledge

4. Analyst relationships

   • Gartner, Forrester mentions carry massive weight
   • Even being mentioned in analyst reports helps

5. Customer success stories

   • Published in third-party outlets
   • Not just on your own blog

The timeline:

PR takes time to compound. Start now, expect 3-6 months before meaningful AI visibility impact.

Let me address the technical barriers angle:

Things that can block AI from finding you:

1. Blocked AI crawlers in robots.txt

   • Some sites block GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot
   • Check your robots.txt file

2. JavaScript-heavy rendering

   • If content requires JS to display
   • Some AI crawlers don’t execute JS well

3. Slow page speed

   • Crawlers have time limits
   • Slow sites get crawled less thoroughly

4. Login/paywall barriers

   • Gated content isn’t crawled
   • AI can’t cite what it can’t access

5. No XML sitemap

   • Makes discovery harder
   • Especially for deeper pages

Quick technical audit:

1. Check robots.txt for blocked AI bots
2. Test site in Google Search Console for indexing issues
3. Verify key pages load without JavaScript
4. Check page speed scores
5. Confirm sitemap is submitted and current

Technical issues are less common than entity/PR issues, but they can completely block AI visibility if present.

Content angle - your content might be SEO-optimized but not AI-optimized:

SEO-optimized content:

• Keyword-focused headlines
• Optimized meta descriptions
• Internal linking structure
• “Read more” and “Learn why” hooks

AI-optimized content:

• Question-focused headlines that match AI queries
• Direct answers in first paragraph
• Comprehensive coverage of topics
• Extractable statements AI can quote

The gap:

Your content might rank in Google but not get cited by AI because it’s not structured for AI extraction.

Content audit questions:

1. Do your pages directly answer the questions users ask AI?
2. Are answers at the top of the page or buried?
3. Could AI quote a single sentence from your page?
4. Is content comprehensive or thin?

Example transformation:

Before (SEO): “Why Our CRM Solution Transforms Businesses” After (AI): “What is CRM Software? Complete Guide for Enterprise Teams”

The second version matches how people actually ask AI questions.

Let’s reverse engineer your competitors who DO appear:

What to analyze:

Pick your top 3 competitors that AI mentions. For each:

1. Third-party presence

   • Google “[competitor] reviews” - how many sources?
   • Do they have Wikipedia?
   • G2/Capterra review count?
   • Reddit mentions?

2. Content structure

   • How do they format their pages?
   • Do they have clear Q&A sections?
   • What questions do their pages answer?

3. Entity clarity

   • Is their brand name clear and consistent?
   • Do they have schema markup?
   • Can you find their Wikidata entry?

Build a comparison matrix:

The gaps show exactly where to invest.

Let me consolidate this into an action plan:

Phase 1: Foundations (Week 1-2)

• Implement Organization schema markup
• Audit and fix brand consistency across all platforms
• Check and fix robots.txt for AI crawler access
• Complete all directory profiles (G2, Capterra, Crunchbase)
• Start monitoring with Am I Cited

Phase 2: Quick Wins (Month 1)

• Launch customer review campaign (goal: 50+ new G2 reviews)
• Restructure top 10 pages for AI extraction
• Create one piece of original research
• Start engaging in relevant Reddit/community discussions

Phase 3: Authority Building (Months 2-3)

• Digital PR outreach (industry publications)
• Seek inclusion in “best of” lists
• Pursue analyst briefings
• Get executives quoted in publications

Phase 4: Sustained Growth (Months 4-6)

• Pursue Wikipedia entry if eligible
• Continue review momentum
• Regular content optimization
• Ongoing PR and external presence building

Expected timeline:

• First improvements in RAG systems: 4-8 weeks
• Meaningful visibility change: 3-4 months
• Parity with competitors: 6-12 months

This isn’t fast, but it’s the actual path.

Honest question: Is this actually worth the investment?

The ROI calculation:

If AI search drives 5% of your target market’s discovery today… And that’s growing 4x per year… In 2-3 years, 20-30% of discovery might be AI-mediated.

The compound effect:

Companies building AI visibility now:

• Establish authority in training data
• Build citation momentum
• Become default AI recommendations

Companies waiting:

• Play catch-up against established players
• Miss training data windows
• Need more investment to achieve same results

My take:

If you’re invisible to AI today, you’ll be even more invisible tomorrow. Competitors are building their AI presence while you’re not.

The question isn’t “is this worth it?” - it’s “can you afford to be invisible to a growing discovery channel?”

Start now, even if it’s uncomfortable. The alternative is worse.

This thread has been a wake-up call. I now understand why we’re invisible.

The diagnosis:

We have good traditional marketing but weak AI signals:

• Third-party presence: Minimal
• Entity recognition: Unclear (no schema, inconsistent naming)
• External validation: Almost none
• Content structure: SEO-focused, not AI-friendly

We’ve been invisible because AI can’t verify we exist. Our brand lives on our own domain and nowhere else.

What I’m committing to:

This week:

• Schema markup implementation
• Brand consistency audit
• Robots.txt check
• Set up Am I Cited monitoring

This month:

• Launch G2 review campaign
• Restructure key pages for AI
• Start PR outreach
• Community engagement

This quarter:

• 100+ new reviews
• 5+ third-party mentions
• Original research publication
• Industry list inclusion

The mindset shift:

We’ve been asking “how do we rank in Google?” for years.

We need to ask “how do we become a brand that AI recognizes, trusts, and recommends?”

Different question. Different strategy. Starting now.

Thank you everyone.