Key takeaways
- Across 96 B2B websites the average AI-readiness score was 7.9/10 — professional firms scored lowest.
- 64% of leading Indian CA and tax firms and 67% of law firms lacked business structured data.
- Only 4% block AI crawlers in robots.txt; 11% returned errors to an OpenAI-identified request, often a firewall setting.
Results by segment
| Segment | Sites | Avg score /10 | No business schema | No llms.txt | No FAQ on homepage | robots.txt blocks AI bots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fintech | 14 | 8.9 | 29% | 36% | 29% | 0% |
| India CA & tax firms | 11 | 5.5 | 64% | 73% | 73% | 0% |
| International accounting firms | 13 | 8.5 | 23% | 54% | 38% | 0% |
| B2B SaaS | 12 | 8.3 | 33% | 42% | 67% | 8% |
| Indian law firms | 12 | 6.2 | 67% | 92% | 83% | 8% |
| GIFT City, funds & wealth | 10 | 7.9 | 30% | 60% | 60% | 0% |
| UAE business setup | 13 | 8.8 | 8% | 31% | 15% | 8% |
| Startup services | 11 | 8.5 | 55% | 36% | 27% | 9% |
| All sites | 96 | 7.9 | 38% | 52% | 48% | 4% |
Score: our 10-point automated check of public signals (crawler access, structured data, llms.txt, FAQ content, sitemap, meta tags). Higher is better. “No FAQ on homepage” checks the homepage only.
Key findings
- Professional firms lag most. Leading Indian CA and tax firms averaged 5.5/10 and Indian law firms 6.2/10 — against 8.9 for fintech and 8.8 for UAE business-setup firms.
- Business identity is missing. 64% of the CA and tax firm sites and 67% of the law firm sites had no Organization or professional-service structured data — the machine-readable “who we are” that helps assistants name a firm correctly.
- llms.txt is still rare — absent on 52% of all sites and 92% of law firm sites. It’s an emerging convention rather than a requirement, but it’s a cheap way to describe your services to AI systems.
- Few block AI on purpose. Only 4% block AI crawlers in robots.txt. A further 11% returned an error to a request identifying as OpenAI’s crawler — often a firewall or CDN bot rule rather than a deliberate choice, and worth checking.
- Startups-services firms sell online but 55% lacked business schema — a gap in a segment where AI shortlists matter.
Method
- 96 reachable websites (of 108 attempted), chosen from public lists: International Tax Review 2026 rankings, ALB India boutique law firm list, Inc42 2026 funding lists, startup-services comparisons and UAE business-setup directories.
- Automated checks run on 18 October 2026 against each homepage, robots.txt, llms.txt and sitemap. One request per check; no logins, no personal data.
- This is a snapshot of technical readiness, not a ranking of firms or a measure of how often they appear in AI answers. No firm is named.
Check your own site
Run the free AEO readiness checker, read what AEO is, or ask us for an AEO audit. Firm-specific results are available to the firm on request.
Sources
- International Tax Review — firm rankings
- ALB India — PE/VC boutique law firms
- Inc42 — 2026 funded startup lists
Frequently asked questions
What is the AI Visibility Index 2026?
A snapshot study by Durgesh Chavda of how ready 96 Indian and global B2B websites are for AI answer engines, measured by automated checks of crawler access, structured data, llms.txt, FAQ content and sitemaps on 18 October 2026.
Which industries are least ready for AI search?
In this sample, Indian CA and tax firms (average 5.5/10) and Indian law firms (6.2/10) scored lowest; fintech (8.9) and UAE business-setup firms (8.8) scored highest.
Do most companies block ChatGPT's crawler?
No — only 4% of the sites blocked AI crawlers in robots.txt, though 11% returned an error to a request identifying as OpenAI's crawler, often due to firewall or CDN rules.
Please note: this guide is general information based on the rules as they stood on the review date above. Regulations and RBI/CBDT procedures change often — please get advice on your specific facts before acting.