How Can AI Agents Discover Your Business?

To make your business discoverable by AI agents, publish a canonical machine-readable profile, align official registry facts, structure offers and hours, add verification, and monitor how ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, DeepSeek, and AI Overviews describe you. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) improves citation odds; discoverability in the agent era also requires entity clarity, trust signals, and invoke paths. This playbook is sequenced for operators—especially Hong Kong merchants who can claim official licence records—without assuming an enterprise SEO team.

Follow the steps in order. Skipping to “write more blogs” before you have a stable Agent Card usually wastes effort.

Playbook Overview

| Phase | Goal | Primary outputs |

| --- | --- | --- |

| 0. Baseline | Know how AI describes you today | Prompt log + error list |

| 1. Canonical identity | One public ID | Agent Card `/t/{id}` |

| 2. Registry claim | Official provenance | `/r` linked / claimed |

| 3. Structure facts | Machine-parseable ops | Hours, offers, NAP fields |

| 4. Machine surfaces | Agent fetch paths | JSON, schema, `/b`, APIs |

| 5. Trust upgrades | Preferable shortlist | Verification, Trust Score |

| 6. GEO amplification | More discovery paths | Citeable content, mentions |

| 7. Monitor & iterate | Stop drift | Quarterly AI checks |

Supporting surfaces: [/registry](/registry), [/directory](/directory), [/developers](/developers), [/llms.txt](/llms.txt), [/dashboard/create-trusgent](/dashboard/create-trusgent), [/tools/ai-visibility](/tools/ai-visibility).

Phase 0 — Baseline Your AI Visibility (Half Day)

Run the same prompts across engines. Examples:

•“Best [category] in [district] that is licensed / verified”

•“What are the opening hours of [exact trade name]?”

•“Book [service] near [landmark] for [constraints]”

•“Compare [you] vs [known rival] for [use case]”

•“What is [trade name]’s licence number / address?”

Log for each engine (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, DeepSeek, AI Overviews):

•Mentioned? Correct name?

•Address / hours accuracy

•Licence awareness

•Hallucinated attributes

•Suggested action (site, call, rival)

This baseline tells you whether your problem is discovery, accuracy, or trust.

Phase 1 — Create a Canonical Agent Card

1. Start at [/dashboard/create-trusgent](/dashboard/create-trusgent)

2. Choose a stable public handle you can keep for years

3. Fill identity: trade name, aliases (EN/ZH), category

4. Write a quotable 2–4 sentence definition (GEO-friendly)

5. Publish the public Trust Passport at `/t/{id}`

Why first? Brand mentions and blog posts need a resolution target. Without a canonical ID, every citation is a fuzzy string match.

Deep dive: [What Is an Agent-Ready Business Profile?](/blog/agent-ready-profile).

Phase 2 — Claim Official Registry Records (HK-Focused, Globally Applicable Pattern)

Hong Kong pattern (FEHD and similar lists)

1. Search [/registry](/registry) / browse for your premises or licence

2. Confirm licence number, address, and English/Chinese names match operations

3. Claim the record into your Agent Card when eligible

4. Keep `/r/{registryId}` as provenance; enrich `/t` and `/b` as the living profile

5. After profile quality gates, some flows redirect registry attention toward the claimed Agent Card

If you are outside HK or lack a public registry

•Publish licence PDFs *and* structured licence fields

•Link regulator pages when they are stable URLs

•Use consistent identifiers (company number, professional register IDs)

GEO note: Official pages are strong corroborators for answer engines. Claiming them lets you add hours/menu without fighting the registry HTML as your only public face.

Phase 3 — Structure the Facts Agents Need

Must-have fields

•[ ] Legal + trade names

•[ ] Full address + service area

•[ ] Phone / WhatsApp / email as typed channels

•[ ] Opening hours with timezone

•[ ] Category + specializations

•[ ] Short “about” definition

•[ ] Licence IDs

Should-have fields

•[ ] Menu/services with price bands

•[ ] Booking rules (lead time, party size, deposits)

•[ ] Languages

•[ ] Accessibility / dietary / compliance constraints

•[ ] Last updated date

Anti-patterns to delete

•Hours only in Instagram highlights

•Menu only as photos

•Different phone numbers on every platform

•“24/7” claims that are false

Phase 4 — Ship Machine-Readable Surfaces

Humans get HTML. Agents get contracts.

1. Confirm Agent Card JSON (pattern: `/api/v1/t/{id}`) returns the same facts as the page

2. Add JSON-LD on public pages; keep parity with fields

3. Publish / polish brand facade `/b/{id}` for menus and booking UX

4. Review developer entry points at [/developers](/developers) (REST / MCP as available)

5. Understand platform `llms.txt` at [/llms.txt](/llms.txt)—mirror the mindset on your own site by linking to your canonical profile from an obvious AI-oriented page or docs note

| Surface | Reader | Job |

| --- | --- | --- |

| `/t/{id}` | Human + AI | Identity, trust, summary |

| `/b/{id}` | Human + AI | Ops / convert |

| `/r/{id}` | Human + AI | Official provenance |

| JSON / MCP | Agents | Invoke without scraping |

| Marketing site | Humans | Story + SEO |

| [/directory](/directory) | Agents + humans | Discovery among verified profiles |

Phase 5 — Verification and Trust Score

Discoverability without trust yields soft mentions. Upgrade:

1. Complete identity / business verification steps offered in-dashboard

2. Attach licence evidence where required

3. Enable proof-oriented review practices

4. Review Trust Score breakdown; fix the lowest levers first (often completeness + verification + freshness)

Signal detail: [Trust Signals AI Agents Use to Rank Merchants](/blog/trust-signals-in-the-agent-to-agent-economy).

Phase 6 — GEO Amplification (Only After the Entity Is Clean)

Now content and mentions compound instead of confusing models.

Citeable content checklist

•[ ] One definitive “what we do / don’t do” page or profile block

•[ ] FAQ answering real buyer questions in full sentences

•[ ] Tables for pricing bands / coverage / process steps

•[ ] Case or proof sections with checkable details

•[ ] Internal links to `/t`, `/b`, and registry claim

Brand mention hygiene

•Prefer accurate local/industry references over spammy “Top 100 AI tools” lists

•Ensure every mention uses the canonical trade name and city

•When you guest post, link the Agent Card, not only the homepage

Princeton-era GEO research (2023–2024) highlighted that generative engines reward clearer, denser, more attributable content. Treat that as mechanism guidance—not a promise of a fixed traffic percentage.

Website still matters

Fix the failure modes in [Why Your Website Alone Won't Get You Cited...](/blog/why-your-website-is-not-enough-for-ai-agents): server-render facts, stop image-only menus, align NAP.

Phase 7 — Monitor, Diff, and Iterate

Cadence:

•Weekly (ops-heavy businesses): hours/menu changes → update fields same day

•Monthly: re-run 5–10 prompts across engines; diff against baseline

•Quarterly: verification renewal, Trust Score review, competitor prompt set

•After major changes: licence renewal, relocation, rebrand → update registry claim + all fields immediately

Tools: [/tools/ai-visibility](/tools/ai-visibility) plus manual Perplexity/ChatGPT checks.

When answers are wrong, patch the entity, then the corroborators, then the content. Do not only rewrite the homepage headline.

Prompt Pack You Can Reuse (Copy/Paste)

Use these as a standing regression suite. Swap brackets for your vertical.

1. “Which licensed [category] near [district] are open [day] after [time]?”

2. “What is the official address and licence number for [exact trade name]?”

3. “Compare [you] and [rival] for [constraint: kids / allergens / B2B SLA].”

4. “How do I book [you] for [party size] on [date]?”

5. “Summarize what [you] offers, with sources.”

6. “Is [you] the same business as [Chinese / English alternate name]?”

7. “Which AI-visible / verified merchants in [category] serve [area]?”

Run the pack after every material profile change. Store answers in a shared doc so marketing, ops, and agencies argue from the same evidence—not anecdotes.

Roles: Who Owns Which Phase?

| Role | Owns | Common miss |

| --- | --- | --- |

| Owner / GM | Registry claim truth, licence IDs | Delegating claim to someone without licence docs |

| Ops / store manager | Hours, menu, booking rules | Updating Instagram but not Agent Card |

| Marketer / GEO agency | Citeable content, brand mentions | Publishing claims that contradict fields |

| Developer / vendor | JSON, schema, MCP, site links | Schema theater without field parity |

| Customer support | Review responses, dispute paths | Ignoring public complaints agents can retrieve |

Discoverability fails when everyone “owns content” and nobody owns entity freshness.

14-Day Sprint Plan (Condensed)

Day 1–2: Baseline prompts; list errors

Day 3–4: Create Agent Card; lock handle

Day 5–6: Registry search + claim

Day 7–8: Hours, NAP, licence fields

Day 9–10: Menu/services + facade `/b`

Day 11: JSON + schema parity test

Day 12: Verification submission

Day 13: Two citeable FAQ/definition blocks

Day 14: Re-query engines; file remaining gaps

Soft Product Fit

Trusgent (准策) packages this path as a Trust Layer for AI: Agent Cards, HK registry claim flows, brand pages, verification, Trust Score, and JSON/API/MCP for agent invoke. You can still hire writers for GEO content; the playbook’s backbone is the structured identity those writers should point to. Conceptual framing: [Beyond GEO](/blog/beyond-geo-trust-layer-for-ai).

End-State Checklist

•[ ] Canonical `/t` profile live

•[ ] Registry claimed or licence fields published

•[ ] `/b` facade with real offers

•[ ] JSON matches HTML

•[ ] Verification completed at target level

•[ ] Trust Score reviewed

•[ ] Listed/discoverable via [/directory](/directory)

•[ ] Site links to profile; facts not image-only

•[ ] Prompt baseline improved on accuracy

•[ ] Booking/inquiry path callable

•[ ] Update cadence assigned to a human owner

FAQ

How is this different from “doing SEO”?

SEO still helps humans and some crawlers find pages. This playbook optimizes the entity agents retrieve, trust, and call. Keep SEO; add Agent Cards and verification.

Do I need MCP on day one?

No. Start with accurate fields + JSON + booking URL/rules. Add MCP/API depth when you are ready for higher automation ([/developers](/developers)).

What if my business is not in the HK registry?

Use the same sequence: canonical profile → structured facts → whatever official IDs you have → verification → GEO content. Registry claim is a high-leverage shortcut when open data exists—not a hard requirement for every vertical.

Can agencies run this playbook for clients?

Yes. Highest value retainers in 2026 often combine entity ops (profile + verification + monitoring) with citeable content—not content alone.

Will submitting to more directories help?

Only if data stays synchronized. Ten inconsistent directories hurt more than two clean ones plus a canonical Agent Card.

How do AI Overviews fit?

Treat them like other generative surfaces: clear entities and corroboration help inclusion and accuracy. Do not build a separate “AI Overviews only” site section—build one source of truth.

What is success in 90 days?

Fewer factual errors in AI answers, correct licence/address recall, appearance in relevant non-branded prompts, and at least one working invoke path (book/inquire) agents or users can complete from your profile.

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*Updated September 2026*