How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT and Google's AI answers?
AI assistants recommend businesses they can understand and trust. Make your website clearly say what you do, where and for whom, answer common customer questions in plain language, add structured data, keep your business details the same everywhere online, and earn reviews and mentions on other sites.
What is AI search?
More people now ask AI tools questions like "who's a good plumber near me?" Tools such as ChatGPT search, Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity read web pages and other sources, then write an answer that may name specific businesses. This is sometimes called AI search, answer engine optimization (AEO) or generative engine optimization (GEO).
How do AI assistants decide which businesses to mention?
Each tool works differently and none publish a full recipe, but they all need to find clear, trustworthy information about you. If your website is vague, slow or missing basic details, there is less for them to use.
What can I do on my website?
- Say it plainly. Your homepage and service pages should state what you do, where you work and who you help, in normal words.
- Answer real questions. Add FAQs with direct answers: prices, areas served, how long things take, what's included.
- Add structured data. Schema markup (like LocalBusiness, Service and FAQPage) labels your details so machines can read them.
- One page per service. A focused page is easier to quote than one long page about everything.
- Let the right crawlers in. Check your robots.txt isn't blocking the search crawlers that AI tools use, like OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search.
What can I do off my website?
Keep your name, address, phone and hours identical on your Google Business Profile and directory listings. Ask happy customers for reviews. Get mentioned by local news, associations and partner businesses. AI tools often draw on these outside sources, not just your own site.
Can anyone guarantee AI recommendations?
No. Be wary of anyone who promises it. What you can do is make your business easy to understand and easy to trust, which helps with Google search too. Every site we build includes this AI search set-up.
Questions people also ask
What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?
GEO is the practice of making your content easy for AI tools to find, understand and cite in the answers they write. It overlaps heavily with good SEO.
Does schema markup help with AI search?
Structured data makes your business details clearer to machines. It is not a guarantee, but it removes guesswork about what you do, where and when.
Do I need a separate strategy for ChatGPT and Google?
Mostly no. Clear pages, honest answers, consistent business details and good reviews help across tools.