FREE PREMIUM PLAYBOOK · 30 PAGES · FOR CONTRACTORS
THE GOOGLE AI CITATION PLAYBOOK.
Free. Ruthlessly honest. Delivered to your inbox in under 60 seconds.
WHAT'S INSIDE
EVERY FRAMEWORK WE CHARGE FOR, FREE.
Thirty pages. Ten chapters. Written for home service contractors who are tired of watching AI answer queries their competitors used to lose to Google. You can build this yourself, or skip the 15-25 hours per week and hire us. Either way, the whole system is in here.
How AI engines actually pick who to cite
The 4-signal stack, weighted per engine. Why ChatGPT sources differ from Google AI Overviews differ from Perplexity.
Copy-paste schema templates
LocalBusiness, FAQPage, Service, HowTo, and Review. All validated and ready to paste into your <head>. Chapter 4.
llms.txt full sample + robots.txt fixes
The exact file structure for a contractor site. Plus the robots.txt allowances most contractors are silently blocking.
The 5-step citation framework
Audit → entity authority → content extraction → crawler access → monthly iteration. With realistic timelines.
Monthly tracking cadence + tools
The 5×5 query matrix. What to measure, what to ignore. Tools that actually work (DataForSEO, ZipTie, Profound) vs vanity metrics.
Eight common mistakes that kill citations
The exact infrastructure, content, and authority errors we find on 95% of contractor sites, with the specific fix for each.
GET THE PLAYBOOK
WHERE SHOULD WE SEND IT?
STRAIGHT TALK
WHAT THIS PLAYBOOK ISN'T.
Not this
- A pitch dressed up as a guide.
- Generic "AI SEO" content recycled from LinkedIn posts.
- A wall of "thought leadership" with no actual templates.
- A 3-page PDF after filling out a 12-field form.
What it is
- Our actual internal system. Same frameworks we charge for.
- Working schema and llms.txt you can paste in tonight.
- Honest timelines, realistic effort, named tools we use.
- Two paths: build it yourself or hand it off. Your call.
FAQ · AI CITATIONS
How AI Citation Actually Works.
Last updated July 2026 · Reviewed by Nick Peist, Founder
How Do AI Engines Decide Which Businesses to Cite?
They assemble an answer from sources they can corroborate, and the large majority of what they cite is third-party rather than a company's own website. Directories, review platforms, community discussion, and video carry more weight than most owners expect. Your own site's job is to be the consistent, checkable record everything else is measured against.
Is Getting Cited by AI the Same as Ranking on Google?
No. Being indexed, being ranked, and being cited are three different outcomes with three different mechanics. A page can rank first for a query and never be quoted in an AI answer, usually because it never states the fact plainly enough to be lifted out.
Does Adding Schema Markup Get You Cited by AI?
Not on its own. Schema helps machines parse what is already on a page, and correct business markup is worth having, but there is no evidence that adding it causes an engine to start citing you. Treat it as hygiene rather than as a lever.
Should I Block AI Crawlers From My Website?
Be careful which ones. Search-serving crawlers are what let an engine read your site and name you in an answer, and blocking those makes you invisible to AI search. Training crawlers are a separate, genuine business choice. People block the wrong set and believe they protected their content when they removed themselves from the results.
How Long Does It Take to Start Showing Up in AI Answers?
It depends on how much corroborating information already exists about your business and how often the engines refresh what they know. It is not instant, and anyone promising a date is guessing. The work that moves it is the same work that makes you a real, verifiable entity rather than a website.