How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI

More customers now ask AI tools things like “who’s a good electrician in Toronto?” or “best family dentist near me” instead of scrolling through Google. If you’re wondering how to get your business recommended by ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews or other AI assistants, the honest answer is reassuring: there’s no secret trick, and most of what works is ordinary, good local SEO.

AI tools build their answers from information they can find about you on the web: your website, your Google Business Profile, reviews, directories and mentions on other sites. The clearer, more consistent and more trusted that information is, the more likely you are to be mentioned. Here’s what that means in practice.

How AI assistants find businesses to recommend

Different tools work differently, but the broad pattern is similar:

• Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode draw on Google’s normal search index. Google says there are no extra requirements or special optimizations needed to appear in them, beyond being indexed and eligible to show in Search (Google’s AI features guide). Google also recommends keeping your Business Profile information current.
• ChatGPT search can include any public website, as long as the site doesn’t block OpenAI’s search crawler, called OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI’s publisher FAQ). OpenAI also says it may use third-party search providers.
• Other assistants (Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Gemini and others) rely on web search results and their own crawlers in a similar way.

So the real question is: when an AI tool searches for businesses like yours, what will it find?

Step 1: Make your basic facts impossible to get wrong

AI tools are summarizing. If your information is confusing or contradictory, they may skip you or get details wrong. Make sure these are clear and identical everywhere:

• Business name
• What you do (in plain words, not slogans)
• Where you are and the areas you serve
• Phone number, website and hours
• Key services and specialties

Put them on your website (homepage, about page, contact page and footer), your Google Business Profile, Apple Maps, Bing Places and the main directories in your country.

Step 2: Complete your Google Business Profile

A complete, verified Google profile with accurate categories, services, hours, photos and reviews feeds both Google Maps and Google’s AI features. If yours is half-finished, start with our Google Business Profile setup guide.

Step 3: Say clearly what you’re best at

AI answers often reflect specific strengths: “known for same-day repairs”, “specializes in heritage homes”, “good with anxious patients”. If you never say what makes you different, nobody else will either.

On your website:

• Give each main service its own page
• State specialties plainly: “We specialize in tankless water heaters” beats “quality solutions”
• Mention the types of customers you serve best
• Answer common questions directly, in short paragraphs

Clear, direct sentences are easier for both people and AI tools to understand and quote.

Step 4: Get reviews that describe the experience

Reviews are some of the richest information about a local business on the web. When many customers mention the same things (“on time”, “explained everything”, “fair price”, “fixed the leak in an hour”), that pattern is visible to anyone, or anything, reading them.

Ask every customer for a review, consistently, and reply to them. Our guide on how to get more Google reviews covers how to ask without breaking Google’s rules (no incentives, and no only asking happy customers).

Step 5: Get mentioned on other trusted sites

AI tools, like search engines, give weight to what others say about you. Useful mentions include:

• Local news stories and community websites
• “Best of” lists from reputable local publications
• Trade associations, manufacturer installer directories and accreditation bodies
• Chambers of commerce and business associations
• Well known review and directory platforms in your country

You can’t control every mention, but you can earn them by doing good work, being involved locally and asking partners to list you.

Step 6: Don’t accidentally block AI crawlers

Some website security settings and plugins block bots aggressively. That can include the crawlers AI tools use. Check your robots.txt file (visit yourdomain.com/robots.txt) and any firewall or bot-protection settings with your web developer or hosting provider.

If you want to appear in ChatGPT search, make sure OAI-SearchBot isn’t blocked. If you want to appear in Google’s AI features, make sure Googlebot can crawl your site, which is required for normal Google Search too.

Step 7: Measure AI traffic

You can see some of this traffic already:

• In Google Search Console, visits from AI Overviews and AI Mode are counted as part of your normal Search traffic, under the “Web” search type.
• In Google Analytics, OpenAI says ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to links it sends people to, so you can spot that traffic in your referral reports.
• Ask customers how they found you. “I asked ChatGPT” is becoming a real answer.

What doesn’t work

Be skeptical of anyone selling a shortcut:

• Special “AI files” or secret markup that guarantee AI mentions. Google says no special files or schema are required for its AI features.
• Fake reviews or paid listicles on low-quality sites.
• Stuffing your content with phrases like “best plumber in Dallas” over and over.
• Guarantees. No one can promise an AI tool will recommend you, just as no one can guarantee a #1 Google ranking.

Frequently asked questions

Does ChatGPT recommend local businesses?

It can. When ChatGPT searches the web to answer a question like “who’s a good roofer in Denver?”, it may mention businesses it finds in search results, directories, reviews and websites. Which businesses appear depends on what information is available and how the question is asked.

Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT or Google’s AI?

There’s no way to buy a place in the AI-generated answer itself. OpenAI’s publisher guidance focuses on making sure your site can be crawled, and Google says its AI features use the same signals as normal Search. Ads, where they exist, are separate and labeled.

Do I need special schema markup or an “llms.txt” file?

Google says you don’t need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup to appear in its AI features. Standard structured data can still help search engines understand your business, as long as it matches what’s visible on the page, but it isn’t a requirement for AI visibility.

What if an AI tool says something wrong about my business?

Fix the source. Check your website, Google Business Profile and major directory listings for outdated or inconsistent details, and correct them. Clear, consistent information across the web gives AI tools less room for mistakes.

Is AI search going to replace Google?

Nobody knows exactly how search will change. What’s clear is that the basics, being easy to find, easy to understand and well reviewed, help across Google, Maps and AI assistants alike. Building those doesn’t depend on predicting the future.

Summary checklist

• Name, services, location, phone and hours identical everywhere
• Google Business Profile complete and verified
• Clear service pages that say what you specialize in
• Direct answers to common customer questions
• Steady flow of genuine reviews, all replied to
• Mentions on trusted local and industry sites
• Search engine and AI crawlers not blocked
• AI traffic tracked in Search Console and Analytics

AI search is new, but the businesses it recommends tend to be the ones that were already easy to find, easy to understand and well reviewed. Work on those, and you’re preparing for both.