Where descriptions drift
- Old press releases and launch posts.
- Directory and marketplace listings created years ago.
- Partner pages and integration marketplaces.
- Review site profiles.
- Employee LinkedIn profiles describing the company.
Write one canonical description
- One sentence: what you do, for whom, and the main outcome.
- One paragraph: add industries, company sizes, regions and key integrations.
- A fact list: the details from your product facts page.
Roll it out
- Website: homepage, about page, product facts page.
- LinkedIn company page.
- Directories, marketplaces and review profiles.
- Partner and integration listings.
- Boilerplate in press releases.
Check the result
Ask AI assistants "What is [your company]?" and "Who is [your company] for?" every month. When the answers match your description, it's working.
A description template
One sentence: [Company] is [category] for [audience] that [main outcome].
One paragraph: add the industries, company sizes, regions, key integrations and what makes you different, in plain words.
Example (fictional): "Example Software is month-end close software for finance teams at 100–1,000 person companies in the US and UK. It connects to NetSuite, Sage Intacct and Xero and helps teams close in about five days."
Questions
Should every listing use identical wording?
The core sentence, yes. Longer descriptions can vary in detail but shouldn't contradict each other.
What about old press coverage?
You can't change it, but newer, consistent sources outweigh it over time.
Who should own the description?
Marketing, with product and sales signing off.
Why AI amplifies inconsistency
A human reading three different descriptions of your company might work out the truth. An AI assistant summarising many sources may average them, pick the most common one, or hedge with vague language. Any of those outcomes weakens how you're described to buyers. Consistency removes the ambiguity.
A quarterly consistency check
- Search for your company name plus "is a" or "provides".
- Review the top results, directories and partner pages.
- List descriptions that differ from your canonical one.
- Update what you control; request updates for the rest.
Positioning changes
When you reposition, plan the rollout: update your site first, then high-traffic listings, then the rest. Expect AI descriptions to lag behind for a while.
Start here: AI visibility for B2B. More articles in AI visibility.