Get onto the "best of" lists that AI answers draw on

When an AI assistant answers "what is the best X for Y?", it often leans on pages written by someone else. Many of those pages are lists. If your business is on the right lists, the assistant has something to quote. If it is not, it has to guess.

The short answer

1. Ask the assistants your own buyer questions and write down which pages they cite (see find the sources AI assistants cite).
2. Keep the list pages that are real, current and about your kind of business.
3. Check honestly whether you fit. If you do not, fix the gap first.
4. Send the editor a short, polite note with facts they can check.
5. Never pay for a place in a way that breaks the publisher's own rules, and say so when something is sponsored.

No list page can make an assistant name you. It only gives the assistant one more place to read about you.

Why lists matter

One small study put 40 software buying questions to three assistants, giving each question one live web search. Its authors report that the cited pages that were not community discussion were dominated by "X vs Y" and "best X for Y" pages, and say these work because they answer the question fully. The study comes from a company that sells AI-visibility monitoring. Its authors list their own limits: one run, on one day, in English, on software only, and a citation is not an endorsement. Treat it as a hint, not a rule for your market.

Step 1: find the pages your buyers' questions lead to

Write the five questions a buyer might type, such as "best bike repair shop in Leeds for e-bikes". Ask each one in at least two assistants that show their sources. Open every link they cite. Our guide on finding the sources AI assistants cite shows how to do this in order and how to read the result.

Make a simple table:

Keep a page only if it is a list or comparison, it covers your kind of business and place, and it was updated in the last year or two. Drop pages that are plainly abandoned.

Step 2: check that you fit

Read the page like an editor. Look at what they say they judge: price range, size, location, speed, a certain feature. Then ask yourself:

• Do we meet their stated criteria today?
• Is the information on our own site clear enough to prove it? Prices, address, opening hours, what we do and do not offer.
• Do we have something the listed businesses lack that we can show with evidence?

If the honest answer is no, do not write the email yet. Fix the gap on your site first. Our guide on letting AI search bots in is the place to start if your pages cannot be read at all.

Step 3: find the right person

Look for a name on the page, an "about" or "contact" page, or a note on how to suggest a business. Many publishers say how they pick entries. Follow what they say. If a page says "we do not take suggestions", respect that.

Step 4: send a short, polite note

Here is a template. Change every bracket, and cut anything that is not true for you.

Subject: Suggestion for your list of [kind of business] in [place]

Hello [first name],

I read your list "[exact title]" and found it useful. I run
Harbor Lane Cycles, an e-bike repair shop in Leeds.

I noticed the list covers [what they cover]. We do [one concrete
thing], and I think it fits because [one reason tied to their stated
criteria]. You can check this here:

- Our services and prices: https://www.example.com/services
- What customers say, on their own platforms: [link]

If it is not a fit, no problem. If you would like any other detail,
I am happy to send it.

Thank you for your time,
[Name], [role], Harbor Lane Cycles
[phone or email]

Send one note. If you hear nothing, one short follow-up after a couple of weeks is fine. Then stop.

What not to do

• Do not pay for a place that the publisher presents as an independent pick. Google lists exchanging money for links as link spam, and says the same of trading goods or services for links, such as sending a product so that someone writes about it with a link. It says buying and selling links for advertising or sponsorship is normal when the links are marked with rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored".
• Do not hide a deal. The FTC's Endorsement Guides say a connection that readers would not expect, with payment as the typical example and free products as another, should be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, ideally very close to the endorsement. If you pay or give a product, ask that the page says so.
• Do not mass-email. Sending the same note to hundreds of editors reads as spam and rarely helps.
• Do not argue with a "no". You may want that editor's goodwill later.
• Do not ask for a link with exact keywords. Ask to be considered. Let them write it.

How to check it worked

• Re-run the same buyer questions after about a month, in the same assistants, and note whether the list page is still cited and whether your name appears in the answer.
• Check the list page itself: are you on it, is the information right, does it link to the correct URL?
• Keep a log with dates. Assistants give different answers on different days, so ask each question more than once before drawing a conclusion.

What this won't do

• It will not make an assistant name you. Citing a page is not the same as recommending what is on it.
• Editors owe you nothing, and most notes get no reply.
• A list can change or be removed.
• Our own check may show that lists are not what the assistants cite in your market. In that case, spend the time elsewhere, for example on reviews and communities.

Related

Press coverage works in a similar way, and it needs stronger proof: see earn press with evidence. To fit this into a schedule, use the 90-day plan.