10 GEO Mistakes Keeping Your Website Invisible to AI

Your Website Might Be Invisible to AI (And You Probably Don't Know It)

So you've heard about GEO. You know ChatGPT and Perplexity are becoming the new search. Maybe you even tried asking AI about your stuff.

And... nothing. Silence. Competitors get mentioned. You don't.

The frustrating part? It's usually not because your product is worse. It's because your website is making mistakes that make it invisible to AI.

After analyzing thousands of websites, we've found the 10 most common mistakes. Most sites make at least 5. Some make all 10.

Let's fix that.

Mistake #1: Writing for Keywords Instead of Questions

The Problem

Traditional SEO trained us to stuff keywords everywhere: "best running shoes," "running shoes for men," "buy running shoes online."

AI doesn't work like that. It understands context and intent. When someone asks ChatGPT "What running shoes for marathon training?", AI looks for pages that actually answer that - not pages that repeat "running shoes" 47 times.

The Fix

Rewrite to directly answer questions. Think about what customers actually ask:

Instead of: "Best running shoes for sale" Write: "Best running shoes for marathon training provide cushioning for distances over 20 miles while staying responsive."

Instead of: "Quality laptop deals" Write: "For video editing under $1500, you need at least 16GB RAM, dedicated GPU, and 512GB SSD."

Quick test: Read your page out loud. Does it sound like a helpful answer or keyword soup?

Mistake #2: Hiding What Makes You Different

The Problem

Many sites bury what makes them special. Homepage talks about "innovative solutions" and "customer-centric approach" - words that mean nothing to AI (or humans honestly).

AI needs concrete differentiators when comparing options. If your unique value isn't clearly stated, AI has no reason to pick you over competitors.

The Fix

State differentiators explicitly:

Weak: "We offer quality products at competitive prices."

Strong: "We're the only running shoe store in Austin that offers free gait analysis and 60-day trial runs. Shoes don't work for your running style? Return them worn."

Make it specific (numbers, locations, guarantees), unique (what competitors don't offer), and prominent (first paragraph, not buried in footer).

Mistake #3: No Schema Markup (Or Broken Schema)

The Problem:

Schema markup is like a nutrition label for your website. It tells AI exactly what's on your page in a structured format: this is a product, it costs $149, it has 4.5 stars from 127 reviews, it's in stock.

Without schema, AI has to guess. And AI that has to guess often guesses wrong or skips your site entirely.

The Fix:

Implement proper schema markup for:

• Products: Price, availability, reviews, brand, SKU
• Organizations: Name, address, phone, hours, social profiles
• Articles: Author, publish date, headline, image
• FAQs: Questions and answers (AI loves these)
• How-To: Step-by-step instructions
• Reviews: Rating, author, date

Use Google's Rich Results Test to validate your schema. Better yet, run a Recomaze audit to see exactly what AI can and can't understand about your site.

Mistake #4: Thin Product Descriptions

The Problem:

"Great quality. Fast shipping. You'll love it!"

That description tells AI nothing. When someone asks ChatGPT for product recommendations, the AI needs actual information to make a recommendation: specifications, use cases, comparisons, limitations.

The Fix:

Every product page should answer:

What is it? (Clear, specific description)

Who is it for? (Ideal customer, use cases)

What are the specs? (All relevant technical details)

How does it compare? (Position against alternatives)

What are the limitations? (Honest about who it's NOT for)

Example transformation:

Before: "Premium wireless headphones with amazing sound quality. Perfect for music lovers."

After: "Over-ear wireless headphones with 40mm drivers and active noise cancellation. 30-hour battery life, Bluetooth 5.2, and USB-C fast charging (10 minutes = 3 hours playback). Best for: commuters and office workers who need to block background noise. Not ideal for: athletes (no water resistance) or audiophiles seeking flat studio monitoring."

Mistake #5: Missing FAQ Content

The Problem:

FAQs are AI gold. They're literally questions and answers—exactly the format AI uses to understand and respond to queries.

Yet most websites either don't have FAQs, or have generic ones like "What are your shipping times?" that don't address what customers actually wonder.

The Fix:

Create comprehensive FAQ sections based on:

• Questions your support team actually receives
• Questions people ask in reviews and comments
• "People also ask" questions from Google
• Questions you'd ask if you were buying this product

Structure them with FAQ schema markup so AI can easily parse them.

Pro tip: Don't just answer "What is [product]?" Answer "What is [product] vs [competitor]?", "Is [product] worth it?", "What are the problems with [product]?"

Honest, comparative content performs better with AI.

Mistake #6: Slow, Bloated Pages

The Problem:

When AI crawlers visit your site, they're not willing to wait 8 seconds for your page to load. They're visiting thousands of sites. If yours is slow, they'll get partial information or skip you entirely.

Heavy images, excessive scripts, and poor hosting don't just hurt user experience—they hurt AI visibility.

The Fix:

Target these benchmarks:

• Time to First Byte (TTFB): Under 200ms
• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Under 2.5 seconds
• Total page weight: Under 2MB

Quick wins:

• Compress and lazy-load images
• Remove unused JavaScript
• Use a CDN
• Enable caching
• Consider static site generation for content pages

Mistake #7: Ignoring Internal Linking

The Problem:

AI builds understanding through connections. When your pages link to each other logically, AI understands the relationships between your content and products.

When everything is siloed with no internal links, AI sees disconnected fragments instead of a coherent brand.

The Fix:

Create meaningful internal links:

• Link products to relevant buying guides
• Link blog posts to related products
• Link FAQ answers to detailed pages
• Use descriptive anchor text (not "click here")

Good internal linking example:

A product page should link to related buying guides. A blog post should link to relevant products. FAQ answers should link to detailed pages. Each link should use descriptive anchor text that tells AI what the destination page is about.

This creates a web of context that AI can navigate and understand.

Mistake #8: No Content Freshness Signals

The Problem:

AI prioritizes current information. If your product page was last updated in 2022, AI might assume the information is outdated—even if the product is still current.

Websites without visible update dates, or with clearly stale content, get ranked lower in AI recommendations.

The Fix:

• Add "Last updated" dates to important pages
• Actually update content regularly (even small refreshes count)
• Use schema markup for dateModified
• Remove or redirect outdated content
• Keep pricing and availability current

A page updated yesterday beats an identical page that hasn't changed in a year—all else being equal.

Mistake #9: Blocking AI Crawlers

The Problem:

Some websites block AI crawlers in robots.txt, thinking they're protecting content or reducing server load. Others accidentally block crawlers through misconfigured security settings.

If AI can't read your site, AI can't recommend you. It's that simple.

The Fix:

Check your robots.txt for these common AI crawlers:

• GPTBot (OpenAI/ChatGPT)
• Google-Extended (Google AI)
• Anthropic-AI (Claude)
• PerplexityBot (Perplexity)
• Bytespider (various AI services)

Decide intentionally whether to allow or block each one. If you want AI visibility, you need to allow these crawlers.

Also check that your pages don't return errors, require authentication, or use JavaScript that prevents content from being read.

Mistake #10: No Clear Entity Identity

The Problem:

AI needs to understand who you are, not just what you sell. When your brand lacks a clear entity identity—consistent name, description, and attributes across the web—AI struggles to build a coherent picture.

This is why some businesses get recommended and others don't, even when their products are similar.

The Fix:

Establish clear entity signals:

Consistent naming: Use the exact same business name everywhere

About page: Detailed company information, history, team

Schema organization markup: Complete with logo, founders, founding date

External validation: Wikipedia page, Crunchbase profile, industry directory listings

Social proof: Reviews on multiple platforms, press mentions, awards

The more places AI finds consistent information about your brand, the more confident it becomes in recommending you.

How Many Mistakes Is Your Site Making?

Most websites we analyze make 5-7 of these mistakes. Some make all 10.

The good news? These are all fixable. And since most of your competitors are making the same mistakes, fixing even a few puts you ahead.

Priority order for fixing:

Start here (High Impact):

Blocking crawlers — High impact, low effort. Check robots.txt today.

Schema markup — High impact, medium effort. Add structured data to key pages.

FAQ content — High impact, medium effort. Create FAQ sections with schema.

Thin descriptions — High impact, high effort. Rewrite product pages with detail.

Then tackle these (Medium Impact):

Value proposition — Medium impact, low effort. Clarify what makes you unique.

Page speed — Medium impact, medium effort. Optimize images and scripts.

Internal linking — Medium impact, medium effort. Connect related content.

Questions vs keywords — Medium impact, high effort. Reframe content around questions.

Finally (Lower Impact):

Content freshness — Low impact, low effort. Add update dates.

Entity identity — Low impact, high effort. Build brand presence across the web.

Start with high-impact, low-effort fixes. Then work through the rest systematically.

See Your Exact Mistakes

Want to know specifically which of these mistakes your site is making?

Run a free Recomaze audit. In 30 seconds, you'll see:

• Which AI crawlers can access your site
• Whether your schema markup is complete
• How your content scores for AI readability
• What your competitors are doing better

Stop guessing why AI ignores your website. Start fixing the actual problems.

Run Your Free Audit Now →