Get listed on the sites and directories AI answers cite

The first step is learning which outside pages the answer engines actually rely on for your category. Kite works this out from real answers, not from a list of popular directories, because the sources that matter differ from one category to the next. A project-management tool might find that answers lean on two software review sites and a few comparison blogs, while a local accounting firm might find that answers lean on map listings and a city business directory.

Kite uses what it knows about your products, customers, and competitors to propose the questions worth asking. Those cover the problems your customers want solved, the category you compete in, and comparisons between you and the companies you compete with. You can add your own questions or change the list before Kite runs it.

Kite then runs the questions through ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude. For every answer, it records whether your company appears, which competitors appear, and which pages and websites the answer cites. Across all your questions, the same few outside pages usually come up again and again. Those repeat sources are where Kite looks first.

Related How-to pages

• How to measure how often your brand appears in AI answers with DataForSEO: Run your buyers' questions through all four answer engines and record the mentions and cited pages that make up your baseline.

The pages worth your time are the ones cited across many of your questions that name your competitors and leave you out. Kite opens each cited page and checks what kind of page it is, which companies it mentions, and how directly it answers the question. A roundup that appears in answers to six of your questions and names four of your competitors is a far better target than a directory that shows up once.

Kite also looks at why competitors are on those pages and you aren't. Sometimes a competitor has a profile on a review site and you don't. Sometimes a comparison blog lists products with a free plan, and your free plan isn't mentioned anywhere the writer would find it. Search rankings add context here too. A cited page that also ranks well in Google for your category is read by people as well as by answer engines, so getting onto it pays off twice.

From this, Kite builds a set of ranked recommendations. Each one names the page, the questions it affects, the competitors it currently names, and who does the work. Kite marks each recommendation as something it builds, something it drafts for you to send, or something only you can do, such as asking customers for reviews.

Related How-to pages

• How to find out why competitors get cited in AI answers with Semrush: Look at the pages and search rankings behind a competitor's appearances in AI answers before deciding where to pitch.

A roundup writer adds a product when the request is easy to evaluate and fits the list they've already written. Kite starts every pitch by reading the article. It notes how the list is organized, what the writer judges each product on, and where your company would fit. A list sorted by team size needs to know which size of team you serve best. A list that quotes prices needs your price.

Kite then finds the right person to contact. For most roundups, that's the author named on the article. Kite looks them up and finds their professional email address when the source provides one.

The pitch Kite drafts is short and specific. It names the article, says which section your company belongs in, and gives the writer a ready-to-use description of your product in the same style as the other entries. It adds the details the writer would otherwise have to dig up, such as your pricing, the customers you serve, and how you differ from the products already on the list. For example, if a "best AI scheduling tools for clinics" list names five tools that all charge per seat, the pitch might point out that yours charges a flat monthly price and that clinics with ten or more staff tend to pay less as a result.

Kite gives you the finished pitch and the writer's contact details. You send it from your own email, because a pitch from a founder or marketer at the company reads as a real request from a real person.

A directory listing helps when it's on a directory the answers actually cite and when it describes your company clearly and consistently. Kite prepares a submission for each directory on the shortlist. It writes your company description in the lengths each site asks for, chooses the categories that match how buyers search that site, and gathers your logo, pricing, key features, and the customers you serve.

Kite writes every listing from the same research about your company, so your name, description, and category read the same way everywhere. That consistency matters more than it seems. When an answer engine reads three directories that describe your company in three different ways, it has a harder time connecting them to the same business.

You submit each listing from your own account on the directory, since most directories ask the business owner to claim or verify the profile. Review sites also need reviews from your customers, which only your customers can write. When a review site is one of the sources that matters, Kite says so in its recommendations, so you know where it's worth asking happy customers to leave a review.

For a closer look at which directories tend to show up in AI answers, see Directory submission sites that AI answers actually cite Coming soon .

Getting listed only counts if the answers change, so Kite measures the result. After your pitches land and your listings go live, Kite waits a few weeks before checking, because answer engines don't re-read pages right away. Then it runs the same questions through ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude again.

Kite compares the new answers with your starting point. It shows which questions now mention your company, which newly listed pages are being cited, and how your share of voice changed against your competitors. Share of voice is the portion of all the brand mentions across your questions that belong to your company. Because Kite recorded which pages it pitched and when, it can connect a new mention to the listing that most likely caused it.

The results shape the next round. A roundup that added you and now drives mentions shows Kite what kind of page works for your category. A page that ignored the pitch might be worth a follow-up, or Kite might move on to the next source on the list. Kite can also check the same questions on a schedule, so you see new sources as they start appearing in answers.

For the broader work of improving how your company shows up in AI answers, including changes to your own website, see Improve your visibility in AI answers.