# Study ties agent-ready websites to more AI recommendations

Published: 2026-09-29T04:51:02.571Z · Source: arXiv GEO (https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.34951v1)
Source date: 2026-09-28
Flags: preprint study — vendor-adjacent; co-author Assaf Elovic co-founded Tavily, an AI-agent web-search company acquired by Nebius — no affiliation disclosed in the paper

A preprint posted to arXiv September 28 argues that "agent experience," or AX — whether an AI agent can successfully fetch and read a business's own site — now matters more than answer-engine optimization's focus on off-site citations. Running 37,927 simulated buyer-question journeys across four agent harnesses and 1,056 real businesses matched on fame and prior model knowledge, the authors found agent-ready businesses had their AI answers built from their own pages 78% of the time versus 56% for the rest, were clearly recommended 1.9 times more often, and got answers that were 41% more accurate; answers about sites that weren't agent-ready were 3.7 times more likely to omit facts the buyer had asked for. Only 7-10% of the finished answer came from the model's training knowledge either way. Co-author Assaf Elovic co-founded Tavily, an AI-agent web-search company Nebius acquired in 2026; the paper lists no institutional affiliation or funding source.

Why it matters: If the finding holds up beyond one preprint, it argues the AEO playbook of seeding off-site citations matters less than making a business's own site fetchable and readable once an agent actually visits it.

## What this answers

**What is agent experience, or AX, in AI search?**

A September 2026 arXiv preprint defines AX as whether an AI agent can successfully fetch and read a business's own website when researching a buyer's question, as distinct from answer-engine optimization's focus on off-site citations.

**Does having an agent-readable website help a business get recommended by AI?**

The same preprint found agent-ready businesses had AI answers built from their own pages 78% of the time versus 56% for the rest, and were clearly recommended 1.9 times more often.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-09-29-study-ties-agent-ready-websites-to-more-ai-recommendations/
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