0:00Introduction
Lesson 0.2: The six-step method.
0:04Why you need a method
When people talk about AI and visibility, what you mostly find are tricks: a magic phrase, a file to add, a plugin that promises everything. The problem is, without measuring, you can't tell if anything worked. And without an order, you risk fixing the wrong thing. The course method has six steps. We'll go through them one by one, and then see why they come in exactly this order.
0:291. Measure
Step one: measure, before you change anything at all. Pick the questions your customers really ask, put them to the AI engines, and note who gets cited, and with which page. That's your starting snapshot: without it, you'll never know if the work paid off.
0:472. Access
Step two: check that AI bots can actually get in and read your site. One wrong line in robots.txt, or a firewall that's too strict, and all your content work stays invisible.
1:013. Identity
Step three: make clear who you are. Your name, business, location and people, stated the same way everywhere, and confirmed by structured data. So an AI engine won't confuse you with someone else, and knows what to say about you.
1:184. Content
Step four: pages that actually answer. The questions you measured become pages with the answer in the first few lines, clear sources and your own data. On a well-linked site, where every important page is easy to find. And, if you sell online, with complete product pages.
1:385. Off-site
Step five: what other people say about you. AI answers often cite forums, reviews, directories and industry sites. Your name needs to be there, with information that matches what's on your own site.
1:526. Re-measure
Step six: measure again. Same questions, same engines, at regular intervals. You compare the results with your starting snapshot, and decide where to work next.
2:04Why this order
So why this exact order? You measure first because you need a starting point. And you check access right after that because, if AI bots can't get in, nothing else matters. Identity and content come before off-site work: it's easier to get cited by others when your own site clearly says who you are and what you offer. And the last step leads back to the first. It's a cycle, not a checklist you tick off once.
2:29A real example
In the case of the Italian luxury tour operator, you'll find the same phases: a starting audit, the technical side, a content system, authority off the site, and measuring the results. And it's thanks to measuring that we know where those clients came from: every quote request that started on ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude was tracked, one by one.
2:53How often to repeat the cycle
How often should you repeat the cycle? It depends on how fast your industry changes, and how much you publish. A good starting point: measure again once a month, and review your plan every three months. You'll fine-tune it in Module nine, once you have your first data.
3:10Your task for today
Your task for today: write the six steps in a column, on a sheet of paper or in the course worksheet. For each one, a line on what you know about your site, and one on what you don't. It doesn't need to be perfect: it shows where you're most exposed.
3:37Next lesson
In the next lesson, we'll set up the free tools we'll use throughout the course. See you there.