Readiness
Checklist
12 practical checks to make sure your website works for people, search engines and AI assistants.
How to use this checklist
This checklist is designed to be used by anyone who manages a business website. No technical background needed.
Things you can verify yourself by looking at your website, trying a search, or testing a booking or enquiry journey. Most take just a few minutes.
These look at what is happening behind the page: structured data, whether important pages can be found and understood by machines, and how forms and actions are labelled. If a deeper check feels unfamiliar, that is completely normal. Use it as a signal the site may be worth reviewing.
Each check includes a suggested fix. Some are straightforward changes you can make yourself. Others may need a developer or a professional review.
There are no trick questions and no pass or fail. This is about knowing where you stand and what to improve first.
Can AI-assisted search find the right information?
1. Can an AI assistant find your business at all?
Try a natural search such as "good [business type] in [town]" or "where can I book [service] near [town]?" Check whether your business appears in the response and whether the assistant links to the right website or profile.
If you do not appear, first make sure your website clearly says what you do and where you operate. Keep your business details consistent across the website and your main business profiles.
2. Are your core business details easy to find?
Can somebody quickly find your business name, location or service area, opening hours, phone number and contact options without hunting through several pages?
Put important business details in predictable places such as the contact page, footer and relevant service pages. Keep them current and written as normal text, not only inside an image.
3. Does your website describe those details with structured data?
Check whether the site uses appropriate structured data, often called Schema Markup, to describe information such as the organisation or local business, address, telephone number and opening hours.
Add or correct the appropriate structured data so the machine-readable information matches what visitors see on the page.
Can it understand what you offer?
4. Can someone understand what you offer in a few seconds?
Look at your homepage and main service pages. Are your actual services named clearly, or does the copy rely on broad phrases such as "solutions for your needs"?
Use the words customers would use when asking for the service. Name the service plainly and explain who it is for, what is included and where it is available.
5. Does each important service have enough information?
Choose your most important service. Can a visitor find a clear description, price or price guidance where appropriate, location or availability, and the next step?
Give important services their own clear section or page rather than hiding everything inside one generic services page.
6. Do page titles and headings describe the page properly?
Open a key service page. Does the browser title and main page heading clearly describe the service and business context, or are they vague labels such as "Welcome" or "Our Services"?
Use descriptive page titles and a clear main heading. Organise subheadings so the page structure makes sense to both readers and machines.
Can it trust the information it finds?
7. Is your information consistent everywhere on the site?
Compare your opening hours, phone number, address, service area, prices and key policies across the homepage, contact page, footer and service pages.
Choose one accurate version of each detail and update every place where it appears. Remove old prices, outdated opening hours and duplicate contact information.
8. Does your website agree with your public business profiles?
Compare your website with your Google Business Profile and other important profiles you actively use. Are the business name, address or service area, hours and contact details aligned?
Update whichever source is out of date. Consistency reduces confusion for customers and for systems trying to reconcile information about the business.
9. Can search engines actually access and index the important pages?
Check whether your key pages appear in a normal search and, if you have access, use a search console or site audit tool to confirm they are crawlable and indexable. Look for accidental noindex settings, blocked pages or broken canonical links.
Remove accidental blocks, correct indexing settings and make sure important pages are linked from the site navigation or relevant content.
Can it take the next step?
10. Is the next step obvious?
From a service page, can a customer immediately tell how to book, enquire, request a quote or contact you?
Use one clear primary action and link it directly to the page or form needed to complete that action. Avoid making customers guess what happens next.
11. Does the booking or enquiry journey actually work?
Complete the journey yourself on a phone. Submit the form or go as far as possible through the booking process. Check that buttons work, required information is clear and the confirmation makes sense.
Repair broken steps, remove unnecessary fields and make the confirmation explicit so the customer knows the request or booking was received.
12. Are forms and actions clearly labelled for browsers and assistive systems?
Check whether form fields have proper text labels, buttons say what they do, and important actions are normal links or buttons rather than relying only on icons, images or unclear script-driven controls.
Use meaningful labels, descriptive button text and standard accessible controls. This improves usability for people and can make the action path easier for automated browsing systems to interpret.
Your scorecard
Mark each check below. This is for your reference, not a test.
| Check | Yes | Not sure | Needs work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Can an AI assistant find your business at all? | |||
| 2. Are your core business details easy to find? | |||
| 3. Does your website describe those details with structured data? | |||
| 4. Can someone understand what you offer in a few seconds? | |||
| 5. Does each important service have enough information? | |||
| 6. Do page titles and headings describe the page properly? | |||
| 7. Is your information consistent everywhere on the site? | |||
| 8. Does your website agree with your public business profiles? | |||
| 9. Can search engines actually access and index the important pages? | |||
| 10. Is the next step obvious? | |||
| 11. Does the booking or enquiry journey actually work? | |||
| 12. Are forms and actions clearly labelled for browsers and assistive systems? |
What your answers mean
Let us take a closer look
Landing Pad Digital can review your website and show you what is already working, what could be improved and where to start.
- Website structure and service clarity
- Structured data and business information
- Crawlability and indexing
- Booking, enquiry and contact journeys
- Analytics and tracking where relevant