Your website passes Google Search. But does it pass Google’s AI agents?

Google just released a new Lighthouse report that tests whether your site is ready for AI agents to crawl, understand, and cite your content. Most websites fail. And if you’re not passing this test, you’re losing visibility to AI-generated search results, AI overviews, and the next generation of how people find businesses in North London.

We’ve audited dozens of local websites over the past month. The same five mistakes keep showing up. Here’s what they are and how to fix them.

Mistake 1: Missing or Broken Structured Data (Schema Markup)

This is the biggest one. AI agents need to understand what your content actually says. They do that by reading your schema markup.

Most websites either have no schema markup at all, or they have schema that’s incomplete, broken, or outdated. We saw one Finchley business with schema markup that was 18 months old. The dates, author information, and even the business address were wrong.

AI agents read that bad schema and learn the wrong things about you. Then they either ignore your content or cite you for the wrong reasons.

How to fix it: Start with your blog posts. Every article needs at least three schema types: Article, BreadcrumbList, and FAQPage (if you have FAQ questions). Your service pages need LocalBusiness or Service schema with your actual North London address, phone number, and hours. Use Google’s Rich Results Test to check if your markup is valid. If it shows errors, fix them. If it shows nothing, you need to add schema.

Mistake 2: No Author Attribution or Missing Author Credentials

AI agents are trained to identify trustworthy sources. They do this by looking for author information.

If your blog posts have no author name, no author credentials, and no way to verify who wrote them, AI agents treat your content as less trustworthy. You’re competing against articles that clearly show the author’s name, job title, and relevant experience. You’re losing that fight.

We worked with a North London SEO agency last month that was publishing advice on technical SEO without any author attribution at all. The content was good, but AI agents and humans couldn’t tell if it came from someone with real experience or from a template. After we added author bylines with credentials, they started getting cited in AI overviews within three weeks.

How to fix it: Every blog post needs a visible author byline. Include the person’s name, job title, and one sentence about their relevant experience. For service pages, make it clear who owns the business and what their qualifications are. Link to an About Us page or author archive page so readers (and AI agents) can verify expertise. If you have certifications, degrees, or relevant industry memberships, display them.

Mistake 3: Poor Content Structure and Readability for Machines

Human readers can understand messy content. AI agents cannot.

If your content is a wall of text with no headings, no lists, no tables, and no clear sections, AI agents struggle to extract the key information. They might miss important facts. They might misunderstand the core message.

The Lighthouse report now checks this. It looks for proper heading hierarchy, short paragraphs, and scannable content formats.

One North London law firm we audited had pages with two massive paragraphs under each H2 heading. No bullet points, no tables, no structure. The content was accurate and detailed, but AI agents were failing to understand the core points. After we broke it into shorter paragraphs, added numbered lists, and created comparison tables, the page started showing up in AI overviews for local legal searches.

How to fix it: Use proper heading hierarchy (H1, then H2s, then H3s). Never skip levels. Break paragraphs into 3-4 sentences maximum. Use bullet points for lists. Create tables for comparisons or options. Add subheadings that make the content scannable. AI agents will understand your content better, and so will humans.

Mistake 4: No Visible Contact Information or Business Identity

AI agents need to know who you are and how to reach you. If your contact details are hidden, unclear, or missing, AI agents can’t verify your legitimacy.

We saw a Whetstone marketing agency that had their phone number only in the footer, in small text. The address was on a separate contact page with no schema markup. The owner’s name appeared nowhere. From an AI agent’s perspective, this was a ghost business.

Trust signals matter more for AI agents than for traditional search. If your business identity is hard to find, AI agents are less likely to cite you.

How to fix it: Put your business name, phone number, and full North London address on every page (at minimum in the header and footer). Make sure it’s exactly the same as your Google Business Profile and Google Maps listing. Add LocalBusiness schema to your homepage with this information. Create an obvious About Us page with real team photos, credentials, and contact details. AI agents reward clarity and consistency.

Mistake 5: Outdated or Incorrect Information (Broken Trust)

This might be the most damaging mistake. If your website has old information, wrong addresses, outdated prices, or incorrect team member details, AI agents learn that you’re unreliable. Once they do, they stop citing you.

A Hendon accountant we worked with had last updated their homepage in 2022. The service descriptions were outdated, the team photos were from 2021, and one team member listed no longer worked there. When AI agents read this site, they flagged it as outdated and reduced its trust score significantly.

How to fix it: Do a complete audit of your website. Check every page for:
– Outdated dates, years, or references
– Old team member photos or descriptions
– Incorrect phone numbers or addresses
– Outdated pricing or service descriptions
– Links that lead nowhere
– Old testimonials from clients who may no longer be happy

Update everything. Then, update your publication dates in your schema markup. AI agents notice when content is fresh and regularly maintained.

How to Test If Your Site Is AI-Ready

Google’s Lighthouse report is the official tool. Here’s how to use it:

Run Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools on each key page of your website. Look for the AI readiness section. Lighthouse will show you specific failures and suggestions. Fix the high-priority items first: missing schema markup, broken author attribution, and content structure problems.

We run free Lighthouse audits for North London businesses. If you’d like us to test your site against these AI readiness standards, get in touch or call us on 020 3355 8773. We’ll show you exactly what’s stopping your site from being cited in AI search results.

Why AI Readiness Matters Right Now

This isn’t a future problem. AI agents are crawling websites today. Google’s new Search Console reports show which sites are getting AI citations and which aren’t. If you’re not AI-ready, you’re invisible to the fastest-growing way people find local businesses.

North London businesses that fix these five mistakes today will have a two-month advantage over competitors who ignore AI readiness. That advantage matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Lighthouse AI readiness and why does it matter?

Lighthouse is Google’s auditing tool. The new AI readiness report checks whether AI agents can crawl, understand, and trust your content. It matters because AI agents are used in AI search results, AI overviews, and ChatGPT integrations. If your site fails, you lose visibility to these channels.

Do I need schema markup for every page?

Blog posts, service pages, and your homepage definitely need it. For other pages like FAQ pages, product pages, or location pages, schema markup makes a huge difference for AI readiness. Start with your most important pages and work through the rest.

How long does it take to make my site AI-ready?

If your site has no schema markup, expect 2-4 weeks to implement it properly across key pages. If you already have schema but it’s broken, 1-2 weeks to fix. Content restructuring can happen in parallel. The timeline depends on your site size and complexity.

Will fixing these mistakes improve my Google Search rankings?

Yes. Better schema markup, clearer author attribution, improved content structure, and fresher information all help traditional Google Search ranking. Plus they help AI agents. You’re optimizing for multiple channels at once.

Should I hire an agency to do this or fix it myself?

If you’re comfortable with WordPress and you understand schema markup, you can do a lot yourself. If you’re not, an agency is faster and more accurate. We’ve helped dozens of North London businesses become AI-ready in 3 to 6 weeks.

Stop losing visibility to AI search. Fix these five mistakes, and your website will be ready for how customers actually find local businesses in 2026.