AI agent readiness checklist for UK businesses

Ten steps, in the order that gives the biggest gain first

Quick answer: To be ready for AI agents, make your facts accurate and consistent, add structured data, publish an llms.txt file, let AI crawlers in, state prices and policies in plain text, then add protocols such as A2A or MCP and test with real AI questions.

Steps 1 to 5: the foundations

  1. One source of truth. Write down your name, address, hours, services, prices and policies once. Use the same wording everywhere.
  2. Plain-text prices and policies. Agents cannot quote what they cannot find. Put “from £X” and your returns, cancellation or booking rules in text, not only in images or PDFs.
  3. Structured data. Add schema.org markup (Organization or LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage) so machines read facts instead of guessing.
  4. Let AI crawlers in. Check robots.txt is not blocking the crawlers you want, such as OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot and ClaudeBot. See our guide.
  5. An llms.txt file. A short Markdown summary at /llms.txt that tells AI systems who you are and which pages matter.

Steps 6 to 10: becoming usable by agents

  1. Fast, clean pages. Quick loading, one main heading per page, and short answers near the top.
  2. Question-style content. Answer the questions customers really ask, in 25 to 60 words, then explain.
  3. Pick the right protocol. MCP for tools and data, A2A for agent requests, UCP for shops. See the comparison.
  4. Guardrails. Decide what agents may do, what needs a human, and log every request.
  5. Test it. Ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity real customer questions about you, and write down what they say. Repeat monthly.

Want it checked for you?

Our free agent-readiness scan checks the technical points automatically and gives you a score and a fix list. Our AI agent readiness service fixes the gaps for you.

Frequently asked questions

How long does this take?

A small business can finish steps 1 to 5 in a day or two. Protocol work depends on your systems.

Will this help Google rankings too?

Yes. Clear facts, structured data and fast pages help both search engines and AI assistants.

Do I need to block AI crawlers?

Only if you do not want to appear in AI answers. Blocking them makes you less visible to AI search.

Is there a free way to start?

Yes. Run our free scan on your homepage and work down the fix list.

Talk to us

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Or email contact@heimdell-tech-ai.co.uk

Related: AI agent readinessllms.txt explainedWebsite upgrades

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