LightSite AI has published new research on how prepared businesses are for AI-driven search. The study reviewed more than 500 websites across ecommerce, SaaS, and technology companies. The findings show that while most websites can technically be found by modern AI systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, they lack the structured foundation required for those systems to interpret and represent brand information correctly.
The analysis revealed that 47 percent of websites have issues in their robots.txt files, which control access for search and AI crawlers. Many companies fail to include clear allow rules for trusted AI agents or unintentionally block them through Cloudflare and other security settings. Another 91 percent of the reviewed websites lack structured data such as JSON-LD markup or essential AI-specific files in the “.well-known” directory. These files help AI systems identify what a business offers, where to find verified data, and how to cite it accurately.
SaaS and technology companies were the least prepared, often missing both structured data and AI-readable configurations. Ecommerce sites performed somewhat better because many popular platforms now include basic schema and SEO tools by default, though most still lack deeper AI search compatibility.
Stas Levitan, founder of LightSite AI, said the results highlight an industry-wide gap in what is now called Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO.
“Most companies are discoverable but not understood,” said Levitan. “AI systems rely on structured, machine-readable data to decide how to describe, recommend, or reference a brand. Without that layer, even strong websites risk being misrepresented or overlooked in AI search results.”
Implementing structured data has traditionally been expensive and time-consuming, often requiring developers to manually add and maintain code. LightSite AI simplifies this process by automatically generating and updating the structured data layer. The company’s patent-pending platform also provides analytics that show how often a brand appears in AI-driven results and how it compares to competitors in AI SEO, GEO, and Generative Search Optimization performance.
The research makes it clear that awareness of AI search optimization is growing, but adoption remains slow across industries. Businesses that address this gap early will have an advantage as AI assistants become a primary source of information discovery.
About LightSite AI
LightSite AI helps businesses improve how they are recognized and represented in AI-powered search. The platform builds and maintains structured data layers that make websites visible and understandable to AI systems and includes analytics to measure visibility, accuracy, and competitive position in Generative Engine Optimization, AI SEO, GEO, and AEO.
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Country: United Kingdom
Website: https://www.lightsite.ai