Powered by KwikChexWhen AI gets your business wrong: how to fix it
By About This Business editorial team · Published · Updated
Short answer
When an AI assistant gets your business wrong, find the source it's repeating, which is often an outdated listing, an old page or a conflicting profile, and correct it there. Then make your correct facts consistent across your website and listings, keep them dated and easy to quote, and make sure AI search crawlers can reach you. Assistants update as their sources do.
Key takeaways
- Assistants repeat their sources, so fix the source, not the answer.
- Use the citation links in the answer to trace where the wrong fact came from.
- Make name, address, people and services consistent everywhere.
- Changes take time to show up, because pages must be recrawled.
Why do AI assistants get businesses wrong?
Because they repeat and blend what their sources say, and the web holds outdated and conflicting versions of most businesses. Common causes:
- Stale listings with an old address, phone number or director.
- Conflicting details across your website, social profiles and directories.
- Missing facts, which some answers turn into negative claims ("no evidence of insurance").
- Similar names, where facts about another business get mixed in.
- Unreachable pages, because crawlers are blocked and the assistant falls back on other sites.
This is the practical side of How AI assistants decide what to say about your business.
How do you fix a wrong AI answer?
Trace the source, fix it there, then make your correct version the clearest one available.
- Record the wrong answer. Note the assistant, the question you asked and the date.
- Follow the citations. Most AI search answers link their sources. Find the page with the wrong fact. See How ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI find their sources.
- Fix your own pages first. Update your website, and keep the date visible.
- Correct third-party listings. Update directories and profiles you control, and ask the others to update.
- Make facts consistent. Use the same name, address format, people and services everywhere.
- Check crawler access. See AI crawlers and robots.txt.
- Recheck later. Ask the same question again after a few weeks.
Which facts should be consistent everywhere?
The ones people ask assistants about most.
| Fact | Where to keep it consistent |
|---|---|
| Trading and legal name | Website, Companies House, directories, social profiles |
| Location and service area | Website, maps listings, directories |
| Leadership | Website about page, Companies House, professional profiles |
| Services | Website, directory categories |
| Contact details | Everywhere you're listed |
| Evidence such as insurance and accreditations | Website and the issuer's own listing |
What if the assistant turns a missing fact into a negative one?
Publish the fact clearly, with its source and date, and use neutral wording for genuine gaps. An assistant that can't find your insurance may say there's "no evidence" of it. The fix is to make the fact findable. In Business DNA, gaps are labelled "Information pending" in the page and its data, which gives assistants no basis for a negative claim. See "Information pending" isn't a red flag.
How can Business DNA help?
It gives assistants one dated, sourced record of your facts to compare others against. It doesn't remove wrong information elsewhere, and no one can guarantee an assistant will use it. But a clear, consistent, current record is the strongest version of your facts you can offer. To build one, see The owner's guide to building your Business DNA, and to keep it current, see Keeping your record fresh.
Part of How AI assistants decide what to say about your business.
FAQ
Can I ask ChatGPT or Claude to correct their answer about my business?
Individual chats don't change what an assistant tells other people. Use any feedback option the product offers, but the lasting fix is correcting the sources the assistant reads.
How long until AI answers change?
It depends on how quickly the corrected pages are recrawled and reindexed, which can take anywhere from days to months. Google notes recrawling can take that long for Search.
An assistant says we have no insurance because it couldn't find any. What can I do?
Publish the insurance fact clearly, with its source and date, so it can be found. Business DNA labels gaps "Information pending" so a missing fact is never presented as a negative one.