“AI-ready” is not enough detail to evaluate a website proposal. Ask which system the work targets and what will be checked. For a public business website, start with access, page content, and accurate information.
Public pages must be reachable
A developer can inspect the response status, robots rules, indexing directives, canonical address, and links to an important page. If JavaScript supplies the content, inspect the rendered result as well as the initial response.
Private customer and administrative information should remain protected. Search access is a question about public pages, not a reason to expose the rest of the business.
Separate the page from a picture of it
A screenshot shows a person’s visual experience. It does not establish which text a crawler received or whether access was allowed. Put service explanations in accessible page content and use images to support them.
Our technical page-check article explains the distinctions. A test should state what it establishes instead of claiming to reproduce a model’s internal interpretation.
Ask what the feature is for
Google’s AI-feature guidance builds on its existing search requirements. OpenAI documents distinct controls for search and training. Neither fact turns “AI-ready” into a universal certification.
Request the documentation behind a proposed change and the acceptance check for it. A file being present is not evidence that the business has been selected for an answer.
Review the customer-facing result
Read the service page, inspect the examples, and test the inquiry path. Those checks establish whether the page helps a visitor after discovery.
The SEO and AI search service describes work you can inspect: access review, page improvements, business information, and reporting. Ask for the same specificity in any proposal.
What a technical handoff should contain
Ask for a list of tested URLs and the findings for each: response status, indexing directive, canonical address, internal link, readable main content and any crawler restriction. An “AI-ready” badge is much less useful than knowing which page failed which check.
Distinguish a fix from a recommendation. Removing an accidental noindex directive on an intended public page is a concrete change. Suggesting a new product guide is editorial work that still needs research and approval. Both may belong in the project, but they are not the same deliverable.
Use the page-text inspection guide for the content check and the ChatGPT access guide for OpenAI’s search crawler. A successful test establishes only what was tested; it is not a guarantee of recommendation.
I run Good Creations in Grants Pass. I work directly with business owners on website design, content, and search. My work includes service writing, inventory websites, and custom publishing tools.
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