When people search Google or ask an AI tool such as ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot about your services, what are they told? A findability audit shows you, explains where each wrong answer comes from, and hands your team the fixes, ready to assign.
- For
- New Zealand government agencies, councils and Crown entities. Private-sector and non-profit organisations are welcome too.
- You get
- The answers people get, why the wrong ones are wrong, a fix list with owners, the quick fixes prepared, and a re-check
- Typical time
- Two to three weeks, depending on the size of the site
- Price
- Fixed, in a written quote agreed before work begins
When it helps
- People phone or email to ask things your website already answers, or the contact centre hears "but the website says…".
- ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Google's AI Overviews give wrong or outdated answers about your services.
- Links broke after a migration or a merge of sites, and Wikipedia or other sites still point to the old pages.
- AI crawlers are blocked, and nobody is sure whether that was decided or happened by accident.
- You're about to put an AI assistant or new search on your site, and want to check the pages it will answer from first.
One question, checked
The audit starts from the questions people ask about your services, and follows each one to the answer they get.
- Correct, from the council1Rates due dates
- Right, but someone else's page1Dog registration
- Wrong1Missed recycling
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"My recycling wasn't collected today, what do I do?"Google AI Mode, citing the council
WrongAI Mode saidCall before 3pm. After 3pm, bring the bin in and wait for next week.
The council saysIf it hasn't been collected by 3pm, call 04 499 4444.
Fix: lead with the action. "Not collected by 3pm? Call us on 04 499 4444."
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"How much to register a desexed dog?"ChatGPT, citing Petme and a pet-site calculator
Unofficial sourceChatGPT said$148, or $222 if paid late. Right, but taken from a pet social site, with a harness ad underneath.
The council says$148, or $222 on or after 1 August, in a collapsed table on its fees page.
Fix: put the main fees in the page text, not only in a collapsed table.
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"When are Wellington City Council rates due?"Google AI Overview, citing the council
CorrectAI Overview saidFour instalments: 1 September, 1 December, 1 March and 1 June.
The council saysThe same four dates.
What you get
Every audit comes with the same package. I check your services from the outside in, the way the public meets them: Google, AI tools, maps, Wikipedia and your own sites. Each answer is checked against your own information, as I did at MBIE when checking AI Overviews for accuracy.
- The answers people get The questions people ask most about your services, chosen with you, and what Google, its AI answers and the main AI assistants tell them. Each one marked right, out of date or wrong.
- Where each wrong answer comes from The page, document, listing or outside site behind every wrong or out-of-date answer, so you fix the cause and not the symptom.
- Where your pages disagree Facts that your pages, PDFs or other sites state in different ways, such as two versions of a fee or an eligibility rule. AI tools pick one, and people phone to check. You get each conflict, the version that's current, and the pages to correct.
- A fix list, ready to assign Each fix with an owner (the web team, a platform owner, IT, your vendor, comms or someone outside), a verdict (fix now, fix in the next release or monitor) and a rough size.
- Quick fixes, prepared The things that can be fixed straight away, prepared so your team only has to load or send them.
- A decision on AI access One page for IT and security: which AI tools can read your sites today, what each option costs you, and a recommendation. A decision, not an accident.
- A findings session An hour with your team to go through the top issues and agree who does what.
- A re-check The same questions checked again about three months later, so you can show what changed.
A typical line on the fix list: an old fees page still comes up in Google, and AI tools quote it. Redirect it to the current fees page (redirect prepared). Who acts: the web team. Verdict: fix now.
For councils, the audit is the first answer review: the same package, built around the questions residents ask.
Why AI answers go wrong, and what the audit looks for, in more detail:
What I need from you
- Your site's address, and the services that matter most to you.
- A scoping call at the start, and an hour with your team to present the findings at the end.
- Optional: read-only Search Console or analytics access, and the top reasons people contact you.
A quick self-check
Ask Google, ChatGPT and Claude five questions people often ask you, and compare each answer with your own pages. If an answer is wrong or out of date, or rests on a page you didn't expect, the audit works out why and what to fix first.
Packages
Every package has a fixed price, set by its size and agreed before work begins, and is sized to sit within the single-quote limit in most agencies' procurement rules. Your procurement team confirms the purchasing route and any supplier requirements.
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Health check
One site and about 10 of the questions people ask most. The fix list and a findings session: a quick, clear picture for a small organisation or a single service.
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Findability audit
Your main site and the platforms it links to, about 25 questions, and the full package above. For councils, the first answer review.
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Portfolio review
Several sites, or a group of councils in a region, reviewed together, including where they give different answers to the same question, with one fix list across all of them.
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Change review
Before or after a rebuild, merger or rename, or a service moving to a new organisation: what people are still told about the old one, and the redirects and corrections to make.
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Fix support
Working with IT, web teams and vendors on the findings. A day rate or a fixed price, agreed for each job.
The audit is external: it looks at what Google, AI tools and other sites see, with no access to your systems needed. Making the fixes is up to your team or your vendor, or fix support.
How it works
- A scoping call to discuss your site and your priorities.
- A written quote with a fixed scope and price.
- The audit is carried out externally, with no access to your systems required. It typically takes two to three weeks.
- You receive the report, and the findings are presented to your team.
Common questions
Do you need to be on the Government Marketplace?
That's for your procurement team to confirm. I provide a written scope and a fixed quote, sized to sit within the single-quote limit in most agencies' procurement rules. Your procurement team confirms the purchasing route, including whether the Marketplace applies, and any supplier requirements.
We block AI crawlers on purpose. Will the audit say we're wrong?
No. Some blocking is deliberate, because AI crawlers load servers and push up hosting costs. The audit shows what each choice costs you, so blocking is a decision, not an accident. For example, blocking OpenAI's training crawler (GPTBot) doesn't keep you out of ChatGPT search; blocking its search crawler (OAI-SearchBot) does.
How is this different from an SEO audit or an automated tool?
An automated tool gives you a list of warnings about your website. The audit starts from what people are actually told, by Google, AI tools, maps and other sites as well as your own, and ends with fixes that have an owner and a priority, the quick ones already prepared. You get answers you can act on, not a score.
What access do you need?
None for the external audit: I only need your site's public address. Read-only access to Google Search Console or your analytics is optional and makes the search findings sharper.
Can we check what AI says about us ourselves?
Yes. Ask Google, ChatGPT and Claude five questions people often ask you, and compare each answer with your own pages. It shows whether there's a problem. The audit works out why, and what to fix first.
Do you use AI to do the audit?
I use AI tools for some of the analysis, such as sorting crawl results and drafting. Every finding, answer and source in the report is checked by me against your pages before it reaches you, and the report says where AI tools were used.
How long does an audit take?
Typically two to three weeks from the scoping call to the findings session, depending on the size of the site.
We have several websites. Do they contradict each other?
It's common after mergers and migrations, when a fee, a rule or a contact detail changes on one site and not the others. The audit lists each conflict, which version is current and which pages to correct. For several sites at once, the portfolio review covers it across all of them.
Can you work with our team beyond the audit?
Yes. As well as fix support, I offer AI project consulting: choosing a platform, writing requirements and testing the answers, for a single piece of work or alongside your team for longer.
Talk about your site
Send a few lines through the contact form or call (027) 450 5720.