More customers now ask ChatGPT or another AI assistant instead of typing a search: “Who’s a good electrician near Charlestown?” or “Best café in Terrigal for brunch?” The answer names a few businesses, and you want to be one of them. So here’s how to get recommended by ChatGPT and Google’s AI answers.
No one can guarantee that ChatGPT or Google’s AI will recommend you. What you can do is make your business easy to find, understand and trust.
How ChatGPT and AI search choose who to mention
When you ask for a recommendation, AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google’s AI answers look across the web and then summarise what they find. Your website, your Google Business Profile, your reviews and other sites that mention you all feed in. Therefore, the clearer and more consistent that information is, the easier it is to get recommended by ChatGPT and similar tools.
1. Make sure ChatGPT can read your website
First, check that your website doesn’t block search engines and AI search tools such as Googlebot and OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot. Also put important information in text, not only in images, and keep the site fast.
Free AI search checker See whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google can read your website, in a few seconds. Check my site →2. Say clearly what you do and where
Spell it out in plain words, for example: “We’re a licensed electrician in Charlestown, serving Lake Macquarie.” Then give each service and each area you serve its own page.
3. Answer the questions customers ask
Add FAQs to your service pages, such as what it costs, how long it takes and which areas you cover, because AI assistants often quote clear, direct answers.
4. Keep your Google Business Profile complete
Google’s AI answers appear alongside its local results, so a complete, accurate profile helps in both. In particular, check the category, hours, services, photos and service areas.
5. Earn reviews and mentions
Genuine reviews and mentions on trusted local sites (directories, your industry body, local news) also show that real people use and recommend you. Here’s how to get more Google reviews.
6. Add structured data
Structured data is code on your pages that tells machines what they’re looking at, such as your business, your services and your FAQs. Google says there’s nothing special you need to do for its AI features beyond good SEO, and structured data is part of that.
Free LocalBusiness schema generator Fill in your business details and copy ready-to-paste structured data for your homepage. Make my schema →How to check if ChatGPT mentions you
Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Google the questions your customers would ask, using your service and suburb. Try a few wordings, since answers change. Finally, note who gets mentioned and which sources they cite.
AI SEO (GEO / AEO) Help ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI recommend your business, with clear answers, structured data and trusted mentions. See the service →