Key Takeaways
- Describe the client, not only the service. Buyers describe themselves when they ask an assistant for help. A page that states who you work with gives the assistant something to match that description to.
- State five things in plain sentences. Who the client is, how big, what situation they are in, the problem in their own words, and where and how you work. Each one is a line, not a paragraph.
- Use numbers and nouns where you now use adjectives. "Growing companies" matches nothing. "Firms of 10 to 40 employees" matches a question that says "my 25-person firm".
- Say who it is not for. Two or three honest exclusions make the fit line sharper, save the wrong inquiries, and read as confidence to a buyer who is checking you.
- Put it where it gets read, then test it. Give it its own page or a headed section near the top of your services page, as text. Then ask an assistant a question shaped like your client and see who comes back.
Your site says what you do. It probably says it well. What it may not say, anywhere, in one place, is who you do it for. "Leaders." "Growing companies." "Teams that want more." Those words are true of everyone, so they match no one.
How do you write a "who this is for" page? You state five facts about your client in plain sentences, add who it is not for, and put it where it can be read as text. It is the shortest page you will write and one of the most useful, because it is the one a buyer's own description of themselves can be matched to.
Below is the short answer, why an assistant needs the client described, the five lines, the case for saying who it is not for, and where the page should live.
How do you write a "who this is for" page?
Write a "who this is for" page by stating, in five plain sentences, who your client is, how big their business is, what situation they are in, the problem in their own words, and where and how you work. Then add two or three lines on who it is not for.
That is the whole page. It can be 120 words. It does not need a story, a philosophy or a photo. Its job is to let a stranger, or an assistant reading on a stranger's behalf, tell in ten seconds whether they qualify.
It is different from describing your work. Getting your own category right is covered in how to describe what you do so AI puts you in the right category. That is the "what". This page is the "who", and the two are matched separately.
Why an assistant needs the client described
An assistant needs the client described because buyers put themselves in the question. They do not ask for "an operations consultant". They ask for one "for a 25-person engineering firm in Denver where everything runs through the owner". Every part of that is about the buyer.
A page that describes only the service can match one phrase in that question. A page that also states the client can match four. Google describes its AI answers as built by running several related searches for one question. Its guide to AI features says AI Overviews and AI Mode may issue "multiple related searches across subtopics and data sources" to develop a response. The size, the industry and the city in a buyer's question are each a likely subtopic.
The idea of naming your audience is not new, and it is not ours. Google's guidance on helpful content asks site owners whether they have "an existing or intended audience" that would find the content useful. And the shared vocabulary sites use to label pages for machines has an entry for exactly this: the Audience type on schema.org, defined as the "intended audience for an item, i.e. the group for whom the item was created." A service can carry one.
You do not need to add any labels to benefit. The plain sentences on the page come first, and they are what a buyer reads too. The same Google guide says there are no additional requirements to appear in its AI answers, and lists making important content available as text among the basics.
The five lines the page states
The page states five lines: who, size, situation, problem and place. Each is one sentence a buyer could have said about themselves. Here they are for a made-up practice.
This is for
- Who Owners of architecture and engineering firms
- Size 10 to 40 employees
- Situation The owner still approves every proposal and schedule
- Problem, in their words "Everything runs through me"
- Where and how On site in Denver and the Front Range, remote elsewhere in the US
This is not for
- Firms of fewer than 5 people
- Companies that want new software set up
- Anyone who needs a stand-in manager
Three lines. Each one is a fact about the work, not a verdict on the buyer.
The example is illustrative. Larkfield Operations is a made-up name and not a client. Its page is for owners of architecture and engineering firms, with 10 to 40 employees, where the owner still approves every proposal and schedule, who would say "everything runs through me", served on site in Denver and the Front Range and remotely elsewhere in the US. It is not for firms of fewer than 5 people, companies that want new software set up, or anyone who needs a stand-in manager. A buyer who asks "who helps a 25-person engineering firm in Denver where everything runs through the owner?" has now described a page that exists.
Most pages already gesture at each of the five. The work is replacing the gesture with a fact.
| Line | Vague version | Matchable version | What a buyer says that it matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who | "Leaders and teams" | "Owners of architecture and engineering firms" | "I own an engineering firm" |
| Size | "Growing companies" | "10 to 40 employees" | "We're about 25 people" |
| Situation | "Ready for the next level" | "The owner still approves every proposal and schedule" | "I sign off on everything" |
| Problem, in their words | "Operational inefficiency" | "Everything runs through me" | "Everything runs through me" |
| Where and how | "Serving clients everywhere" | "On site in Denver and the Front Range, remote elsewhere in the US" | "in Denver" |
The fourth line is the one most often missing. Your trade has a name for the problem. Your client has a sentence for it. Write the sentence.
Say who it is not for
Say who it is not for in two or three short lines, because a boundary stated from both sides is easier to match and easier to believe. "For firms of 10 to 40" is clearer when the page also says "not for firms of fewer than 5".
Owners resist this. It feels like turning work away. In practice it turns away inquiries you would have declined on the first call, and it tells the buyer who does qualify that you have done this enough to know where it works. A buyer who is checking you reads an honest exclusion as confidence.
Three rules keep the list useful:
- Keep it to facts about the work. "Not for companies that want software set up" is a fact. "Not for people who aren't serious" is an insult.
- Keep it short. Two or three lines. A long list reads as a warning.
- Point somewhere if you can. If you know who does serve that buyer, say what kind of help to look for.
The same honesty applies to which buyer questions you try to be named for. A narrow question you can truly answer beats a broad one you cannot, which is the argument of which AI questions are worth winning, and which are vanity.
Where the page lives, and how to check it
Put the five lines on their own page, or in a headed section near the top of your services page, as plain text. Not in an image, not in a slider, and not only on a PDF. Then check it by asking an assistant a question shaped like your client.
- Choose the home. One kind of client: a page titled "Who we work with" linked from your main menu. Two or three kinds: a short "Who this is for" section inside each service.
- Write the five lines and the two or three exclusions. Read them aloud. If a line would be true of every competitor, narrow it.
- Repeat the first two lines, worded the same way, on your LinkedIn profile and any directory listing you control.
- Wait a few weeks, then ask two assistants a question that uses your client's size, industry, city and problem. Ask twice. Answers vary from run to run.
- Note who was named. If it was not you, read the pages of whoever was and see what they state that you do not.
How the "who" section sits beside price, length and outcome inside each service is covered in how to write a services page an AI can quote.
One honest limit. A clear fit line does not guarantee an assistant names you, and nobody can promise a date by which an answer will change. It removes one reason to be skipped: that nothing on your site said you work with a business like the one asking.
Asking by hand shows you one answer. The free check gives you a count. It asks ChatGPT 25 real buyer questions from your niche at $0 and emails a plain-English readout: your score, who got named in your place, and the one fix to start with. It runs as soon as you ask for it, and the report lands within the hour between 7am and 5pm Central, or by 10am the next morning outside those hours.
Questions we hear the most
How do you write a "who this is for" page?
State five things in plain sentences: who the client is, the size of their business, the situation they are in, the problem in their own words, and where and how you work. Then add two or three lines on who it is not for.
Why does a "who this is for" page help with AI answers?
Because buyers describe themselves in the question. Someone asks for help "for a 25-person engineering firm in Denver", and an assistant can match that only to a page that states the same things. A page that describes just the service leaves the match to guesswork.
Should I have a separate page or a section on my services page?
Either works if the words are on the page as text under a clear heading. A separate page suits a practice with one kind of client. If you have two or three distinct kinds, a short headed section inside each service is clearer.
Won’t saying who I don’t work with cost me clients?
It costs you inquiries you would have turned down anyway. Stating two or three honest exclusions makes the fit line easier to match and saves a poor-fit buyer a wasted call. Keep the list short and factual, not a judgment of anyone.
How specific should I be about who I work with?
Specific enough that a stranger could tell in ten seconds whether they qualify. Use a head count or revenue range, a named industry or role, and a city or region. If a line would be true of every competitor, it is too broad.
Does the AnswerHalo free check test whether AI matches me to the right client?
Partly. The free check asks ChatGPT 25 real buyer questions from your niche at $0 and emails your score, who got named in your place and the one fix to start with. The questions are worded the way your buyers ask, so a weak fit line shows up as a low score.
How fast does the free check report arrive?
It runs as soon as you ask for it. The report lands within the hour between 7am and 5pm Central, or by 10am the next morning outside those hours. It arrives by email, and there is nothing to log in to.
Your buyers are already asking. Find out what AI tells them.
The free check asks ChatGPT 25 real buyer questions about your niche and sends you the report within the hour, at $0. If it shows you are already getting named everywhere, we will say so in plain words.
Get my free check →