Keep your social presence active across platforms with Feedsta, an AI social media manager that creates, schedules, and analyzes your posts, so your brand stays visible where customers research your business.
AI agents are already contacting local businesses on behalf of real customers, and companies whose contact information is hidden behind bot protection are losing jobs to competitors with accessible info. Gartner projects that 90% of B2B buying will be AI-agent intermediated by 2028, representing $15 trillion in spend, while Google AI Overviews now appear in 48% of tracked queries and organic click-through rates have dropped 61% on those queries. If your website isn’t readable and submittable by AI assistants, you’re invisible to a fast-growing segment of buyers.
What happened when an AI assistant tried to book a screen repair?
A recent real-world test: an AI assistant was asked to contact a screen repair company. The AI found five businesses, but two had their contact information hidden behind bot protection.
This is happening right now, not in some distant future. AI agents are making purchasing decisions, contacting businesses, and booking services on behalf of real customers.
The Rise of AI Agents in Customer Interactions
Recent reporting suggests a shift toward AI-mediated commerce.
- Gartner predicts agentic AI will resolve 80% of common customer service issues by 2029.
- 60% of brands will use agentic AI for 1-to-1 customer interactions by 2028 (Gartner).
- 90% of B2B buying will be AI-agent intermediated by 2028, equating to $15 trillion in B2B spend flowing through AI agents (Gartner).
- 40% of enterprise applications will feature AI agents by 2026, up from less than 5% in 2025.
- ChatGPT alone serves 810 million daily users, many of whom ask it to find and contact businesses.
Traditional search is being disrupted at the same time:
- Google AI Overviews now appear in 48% of tracked queries as of February 2026.
- Traditional search volume is predicted to drop 25% by 2026 (Gartner).
- AI Overviews appeared for 68% of local searches.
- Organic click-through rates dropped 61% for queries where AI Overviews appear.
What Is AI Contactability?
AI Contactability is the ability of AI agents to find, read, and use your business’s contact information. AI Contactability goes beyond being indexed by requiring that AI systems acting as intermediaries between customers and businesses can read and use the contact information.
AI Contactability is part of a broader concept called AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), which involves optimizing your website for AI engines that provide direct answers and take actions on behalf of users, not for traditional search engines.
Specifically, AI Contactability measures whether AI assistants can:
- Find your email address, phone number, and physical address.
- Read your services, pricing, and business hours.
- Submit contact forms on behalf of users.
- Access your website without being blocked by bot protection.
Think of it this way: if a potential customer asks ChatGPT or Claude to "find me a plumber in Long Island and get me a quote," can the AI actually do that with YOUR business? Or does it hit a wall?
The 8 Factors That Determine Your AI Contactability Score
| # | Factor | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain HTML Contact Info | Email and phone number are not hidden behind JavaScript rendering, images, or bot protection walls. |
| 2 | Schema.org ContactPoint | Your Organization markup includes phone, email, and contactType in structured data. |
| 3 | AI Crawler Access | Your robots.txt does not block GPTBot, ClaudeBot, ChatGPT-User, or other AI user agents. |
| 4 | Semantic HTML | Proper use of <header>, <footer>, <nav>, and <main> elements instead of generic <div> soup. |
| 5 | Machine-Readable Services | Schema.org Service and LocalBusiness markup describes what you offer. |
| 6 | Plain-Text Business Info | Services, hours, and location are accessible without JavaScript execution. |
| 7 | Contact Form Accessibility | Forms are not blocked by CAPTCHA challenges that prevent AI agents from submitting inquiries. |
| 8 | Email Obfuscation | Email addresses are not encoded, image-only, or JavaScript-decoded; they exist as readable text. |
A failure in even one area can mean a lost customer.
Why Most Websites Are Invisible to AI
Most websites block the AI systems that could refer users to them.
- 79% of top news sites block AI training bots via robots.txt.
- 5.8 million websites currently block ClaudeBot.
- 5.6 million websites currently block GPTBot.
- There has been a 336% increase in sites blocking AI crawlers year-over-year.
Blocking AI crawlers can also block AI agents that could send paying customers.
There is an important distinction between AI training crawlers (which scrape content to train models) and AI agents acting on behalf of users (which are trying to find and contact your business). Many businesses block both without understanding the difference, and lose real revenue as a result.
How Do You Make Your Website AI-Agent Ready?
Most of these fixes are straightforward. Here’s the action plan:
1. Audit Your robots.txt
Review which AI user agents you are blocking. Consider unblocking agents that bring you business while still restricting training crawlers.
2. Add Schema.org Structured Data
Implement LocalBusiness, ContactPoint, and Service schema markup so AI agents have structured, reliable data about your business to act on immediately.
3. Put Contact Info in Plain HTML
Your phone number, email address, and physical address should be in crawlable HTML text, not embedded in images, rendered via JavaScript, or hidden behind click-to-reveal interactions.
4. Make Contact Forms AI-Accessible
Consider alternative verification methods for known AI agents. A CAPTCHA that blocks an AI assistant from submitting a lead form is a CAPTCHA costing you money.
5. Ensure Business Info Is in Crawlable Text
Your services, pricing, business hours, and service areas should all be in plain text, not locked inside PDFs, JavaScript widgets, or accordion elements that require interaction to reveal.
6. Test with AI Assistants
Ask ChatGPT or Claude to find your business information: phone number, services, hours. If they can’t, neither can the AI agents your potential customers are using.
The Business Opportunity
Businesses that make their information easier for AI systems to find now can win customers their competitors lose out on. This is a first-mover advantage because most businesses don’t yet know this is a problem.
"When someone asks their AI assistant to find a plumber in Long Island, an SEO agency in New York, or a tax professional near them, will it find YOUR business? Or will it skip you and call your competitor instead?"
The businesses that AI agents don’t find may notice fewer calls, even when their Google rankings appear unchanged.
Get Your AI Contactability Score
NewSunSEO now includes AI Contactability scoring in every SEO audit. We evaluate the relevant factors, identify where your website may fall short, and work to implement fixes that can make your business visible and accessible to AI agents.
Don’t wait until your competitors figure this out first.
Contact us today to see how your website scores: Contact NewSunSEO to learn how we can help.
Learn more about our AI Visibility Audit at NewSunSEO.
Wondering if your own business shows up in ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity? Run a free BizScoreAI scan to check your AI Visibility Score and get a prioritized list of fixes.
FAQ
What is AI Contactability?
AI Contactability is the ability of AI agents to find, read, and act on a business’s contact information. It covers whether AI assistants can find email, phone, and address; read services, pricing, and hours; submit contact forms; and access the site without being blocked by bot protection. It is a core part of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).
Why are most websites invisible to AI agents?
Many sites block AI user agents in robots.txt without distinguishing between training crawlers and buyer-intent agents. 79% of top news sites block AI training bots, 5.8 million sites block ClaudeBot, 5.6 million block GPTBot, and AI crawler blocking has grown 336% year-over-year, costing those sites real customer leads.
How do I make my website AI-agent ready?
Audit robots.txt to selectively allow buyer agents, add Schema.org LocalBusiness, ContactPoint, and Service markup, keep phone, email, and address in plain HTML, avoid CAPTCHAs on contact forms, keep services and hours in crawlable text, and test by asking ChatGPT or Claude to retrieve your business details. NewSunSEO’s AI Visibility Audit scores these factors.
Want help with this in Myrtle Beach or Long Island? Talk to us.
NewSunSEO
Grow in Google and AI Search
AI-SEO, local search, paid ads and websites from one team, with offices on Long Island and in Myrtle Beach.
- AI-SEO
- Local AI-SEO
- AI Consulting
- PPC
- Web Design
- Web Development
- Long Island Office(631) 320-1700
- Myrtle Beach Office(843) 492-7131
Request a Free Proposal
Tell us about your business and where you want to grow.
We will reply by email to talk through your goals and what a proposal would include.
We use your details only to reply to you and send what you asked for. See our Privacy Policy.
