---
title: "How to Make Your Website Visible to ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity (2026 Checklist)"
url: https://stormap.ai/post/make-website-visible-to-chatgpt-claude-perplexity
category: "AI Tools"
tags: ["AI search", "robots.txt", "llms.txt", "GEO", "ChatGPT", "Claude", "Perplexity"]
published: 2026-10-09
updated: 2026-10-09
description: "A 6-step checklist to get found and cited by ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity: robots.txt for AI bots, server-rendered content, structured data and llms.txt."
source: Stormap (https://stormap.ai)
---
# How to Make Your Website Visible to ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity (2026 Checklist)
If someone asks ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity a question your website answers, will the assistant find your page, read it and link to it? For a lot of sites the answer is no, and the owner never finds out. The cause is usually one of a handful of fixable problems: a robots.txt rule that blocks the wrong bot, content that only appears after JavaScript runs, or missing basics like a description and structured data.
This checklist walks through each one, in the order that matters most. Every step can be checked in a few minutes, and you can test your site with the free [AI Visibility Score](/tools/ai-visibility-score/) as you go.
## How AI assistants actually reach your site
There isn't one "AI crawler". Each company runs several bots, and they do different jobs:
| Company | Bot | What it does | Obeys robots.txt? |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | `OAI-SearchBot` | Builds the index for ChatGPT search answers | Yes |
| OpenAI | `ChatGPT-User` | Opens a page when a user's question needs it | Not necessarily (user-initiated) |
| OpenAI | `GPTBot` | Collects content that may be used to train models | Yes |
| Anthropic | `Claude-SearchBot` | Indexes pages for Claude's search results | Yes |
| Anthropic | `Claude-User` | Opens a page when a Claude user's question needs it | Yes |
| Anthropic | `ClaudeBot` | Collects content that may be used to train models | Yes |
| Perplexity | `PerplexityBot` | Indexes pages to show and link in Perplexity answers | Recommended to allow |
| Perplexity | `Perplexity-User` | Opens a page for a user's question | Generally no (user-initiated) |
| Google | `Google-Extended` | Controls use of your content for Gemini training and grounding | Yes (doesn't affect Google Search ranking) |
The important split is between **answer bots** (search and user-triggered fetchers, which decide whether you show up and get cited) and **training bots** (which collect data for future models). You can block training bots and still be visible in AI answers. Blocking the answer bots is what makes a site invisible.
Sources: [OpenAI's crawler overview](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots), [Anthropic's crawler FAQ](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler), [Perplexity's bot guide](https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/bots).
## Step 1: Check robots.txt for accidental blocks
Open `https://yoursite.com/robots.txt`. Look for two common mistakes:
1. **A blanket block** such as `User-agent: *` followed by `Disallow: /`. That blocks every well-behaved bot, including the answer bots.
2. **Copy-pasted "block all AI" lists** that include `OAI-SearchBot`, `Claude-SearchBot` or `PerplexityBot`. Many of these lists were written to stop training and accidentally remove sites from AI search.
A balanced setup that keeps you visible in AI answers but opts out of training looks like this:
```txt
# AI answer bots: allowed (you can be found and cited)
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
User-agent: Claude-SearchBot
User-agent: Claude-User
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /
# Training crawlers: opted out
User-agent: GPTBot
User-agent: ClaudeBot
User-agent: Google-Extended
User-agent: CCBot
Disallow: /
User-agent: *
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
```
If you'd rather allow everything, that's fine too. The point is to decide on purpose. You can generate either version with the [AI robots.txt generator](/tools/ai-robots-txt-generator/). OpenAI notes that robots.txt changes can take about 24 hours to show up in ChatGPT search.
Also check your CDN or firewall. Some bot-protection settings challenge or block AI user agents before robots.txt is ever read, so a correct robots.txt isn't enough on its own.
## Step 2: Make sure the content is in the HTML
Most AI fetchers read the HTML your server sends. They usually don't run JavaScript the way a browser does. If your page is an empty `` that fills in after scripts load, the assistant sees almost nothing.
**Quick test:** run `curl -s https://yoursite.com/your-page | head -c 3000`, or use "View source" in your browser (not "Inspect"). If you can't see your main text there, neither can most AI bots.
**Fix:** use server-side rendering or static generation for important pages (Next.js, Nuxt, Astro, SvelteKit and most CMSs do this by default), or pre-render the pages that matter most.
## Step 3: Give each page a clear title and description
Assistants quote and link pages based on what they can understand quickly. Every important page should have:
- a specific `` that says what the page is (not just your brand name),
- a `<meta name="description">` that answers "what will I learn or get here?" in one sentence,
- a `<link rel="canonical">` pointing at the one URL you want cited, so duplicates (tracking parameters, trailing slashes) don't split the signal.
## Step 4: Add structured data
JSON-LD structured data tells machines exactly what a page is: an article, a product with a price, a FAQ, an organization. It removes guesswork about names, dates and prices.
A minimal article example:
```html
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "How to make your website visible to ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity",
"datePublished": "2026-10-08",
"dateModified": "2026-10-08",
"author": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Your Company" }
}
</script>
```
Use `Product` and `Offer` for things you sell, `FAQPage` for question-and-answer content, and `Organization` on your homepage.
## Step 5: Publish a sitemap and an llms.txt
A **sitemap** (`/sitemap.xml`, listed in robots.txt) is still the most reliable way for any crawler to find all your pages.
An **llms.txt** is a newer, optional file proposed in 2024: a short Markdown page at `/llms.txt` that lists your most useful pages with one-line descriptions, so an AI system can find the important content without crawling everything. Support varies between AI companies and it isn't a ranking signal anywhere, but it costs little to add and some agents and tools do read it. The format is simple:
```markdown
# Your Company
> One paragraph: what you do, who it's for, and what's most useful here.
## Docs
- [Getting started](https://yoursite.com/docs/start): install and first steps
- [Pricing](https://yoursite.com/pricing): plans and limits
## Optional
- [Blog](https://yoursite.com/blog)
```
You can create one from your sitemap with the [llms.txt generator](/tools/llms-txt-generator/).
## Step 6: Keep pages current and say so
AI assistants try to avoid stale answers. Show a visible "last updated" date on pages that change, keep `dateModified` in your structured data accurate, and actually revise the facts (prices, version numbers, steps) when they change. A page that clearly states when it was checked is easier to trust and cite.
## The 10-minute version
1. Run your homepage and one key page through the [AI Visibility Score](/tools/ai-visibility-score/).
2. Fix anything that blocks `OAI-SearchBot`, `Claude-SearchBot`, `Claude-User`, `ChatGPT-User` or `PerplexityBot`.
3. View source on your key pages and confirm the main text is there.
4. Add a description, canonical link and JSON-LD where they're missing.
5. Make sure `/sitemap.xml` exists and is listed in robots.txt, then add an `/llms.txt`.
If you use AI agents yourself, the same checks are available as tools in Stormap's [free MCP server](/developers), so you can ask Claude or Cursor to audit a site for you.