Short answer: the first part works and you can check it yourself: if AI crawlers cannot reach or read your pages, fixing that is necessary, and you can test whether it is fixed. The second part, whether an AI assistant then recommends you and sends customers, is much harder to prove, and nobody should promise it. Here is what we can show, what we cannot, and how you would check each claim.
Part one: can AI read you? This is testable
You can test it in minutes. In our 13 November check of 20 sites that teach AI search optimization, none of the 17 readable robots.txt files blocked the main AI search crawlers, but 3 sites would not answer a plain request, and 1 treated OpenAI's crawler names differently from a browser. So access problems are real and uneven, and you only find them by testing.
On our own site, the 13 November test showed devmarde.com naming 7 AI crawlers in robots.txt, allowing all of them, serving llms.txt, and answering 200 to a browser and to the OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot names. Repeat it yourself with the four quick tests.
Part two: does it bring customers? The honest state
Our own site, dated. devmarde.com was registered on 13 September 2026. In its first month Google showed it for 217 queries, with 3,113 impressions and about 11 clicks (16 September to 15 October). We say plainly in the case study that this is small, that mobile speed is weak, and that we have not measured whether AI assistants name us. We publish it because a company advising on being found should show its own numbers, weak ones included.
A client in progress. We are making Archilance, a Dubai fit-out firm, readable to AI: Organization and Person schema, prices moved out of images into text, FAQs, llms.txt, and a robots.txt that lets GPTBot in. That page lists the checks we will use to measure it and states that results are not yet on it. We will add them when we can show the evidence.
What we do not claim
- We do not claim an AI assistant will recommend you after a fix. Nobody controls that, and recommendations are not for sale.
- We do not quote a lift percentage from a study we have not reproduced.
- We do not show leads we cannot document.
How you would judge any provider, including us
- Ask for a before and after on the same pages. Ours is a Crawl Audit score, refunded if it does not rise by 20 points.
- Ask what they will not claim. A provider who promises a place in the answer is guessing.
- Ask for dates. A number without a date cannot be checked.
- Test their own site. If they cannot make themselves readable, they cannot make you readable.
Is it worth it for a small business?
Worth it for the first layer, because it is cheap (what it costs), testable and also helps ordinary search. Be careful with anyone selling the second layer as a sure thing. Start with the order that works, and compare providers using this guide.
Questions people ask
Does AI search optimization work for small businesses?
The access part is verifiable: you can test whether AI crawlers can read your pages. Whether that leads to recommendations and customers is not yet proven for us, and we say so on our own case studies.
How long does AI search optimization take to show results?
The technical fixes can be done in about two weeks and re-scored straight away. Being named in AI answers depends on factors outside your site and has no guaranteed timeline.
Can anyone guarantee ChatGPT will recommend my business?
No. Anyone who does is guessing. What can be checked is whether your site is readable and whether the measured score improves.
Where can I see real results?
Our own dated numbers are on the devmarde.com case study and the method is on How we measure. Client results will be added to the Archilance page once we can show the evidence.
Figures as of the dates given. DevMarDe sells AI search fixes, so read this with that in mind.
Related
View all →How much does AI search optimization cost?
AI search optimization costs from about $29 a month for tracking to $1,999 a month for done-for-you work. What each price buys and what to skip. Prices checked 13 Nov 2026.
AI search optimisation for UK small businesses: where to start
A five-day plan for a UK small business to become readable to AI answers: let the search bots in, show your company details the way GOV.UK expects, mark up your business, and build proof on profiles you do not own.
We tested 20 AI search sites: who lets AI crawlers in
We checked 20 sites that publish AI search optimization advice. None blocks the main AI search crawlers in robots.txt, 3 would not answer a plain request, and 12 have llms.txt. Method and limits included.
Find out whether AI answers can read your site.
Crawl Audit scores your own domain against the signals in this guide. The free check needs no sign-up; the full report is $7.89, one time.