Getting onto page one of Google is no longer the only search visibility problem businesses need to think about.
People are now asking ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews questions they previously would have typed into Google. Instead of opening ten search results, they may receive one generated answer supported by a handful of websites.
The question is no longer just:
“How do I rank?”
It is also:
“How do I become one of the websites AI systems use to build the answer?”
There is no setting you can switch on and no guaranteed method of forcing ChatGPT or Google AI to cite your website.
There are, however, clear things you can do to make your website considerably easier to discover, understand and retrieve.
And some of the advice being sold as “GEO” or “AI SEO” is already becoming outdated.
Quick Answer: How Do You Get Cited by ChatGPT?
To improve your chances of being cited or linked by ChatGPT and Google AI search, your website should:
- Be accessible to the relevant search crawlers
- Answer specific questions clearly
- Publish genuinely useful information rather than generic SEO content
- Demonstrate real expertise and experience
- Cover your core subjects in depth
- Make it clear who your business is and what you specialise in
- Support factual claims with reliable sources
- Use strong internal linking
- Keep important information current
- Maintain solid traditional SEO
There is no special “ChatGPT schema” or piece of code that automatically gets a business cited.
Google has also explicitly said that there is no special generative AI optimisation trick required. Its AI search features remain closely connected to its existing Search systems.
Let’s look at what that means in practice.
What Does It Mean to Be Cited by ChatGPT?
When ChatGPT uses web search to answer a question, it can provide links and citations to websites that support its response.
For a business, being cited could mean ChatGPT answering a question such as:
“Should I split my Shopify Performance Max campaigns?”
and using an article from your website as one of the supporting sources.
Or somebody might ask:
“What should I check before hiring a Google Ads consultant in Sydney?”
and your guide could be retrieved as relevant supporting information.
That is valuable because the user is not simply browsing a list of search results. Your business is being introduced while the AI system is actively helping that person make a decision.
OpenAI says public websites can appear in ChatGPT search, but placement is not guaranteed. Its search system uses multiple factors intended to surface relevant and reliable information.
So the objective should not be trying to “trick ChatGPT”.
The objective is to make your website a useful source.
1. Make Sure ChatGPT Can Actually Access Your Website
This sounds obvious, but it is the first thing I would check.
OpenAI uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search.
If your robots.txt configuration blocks OAI-SearchBot, you may prevent your content from being included in ChatGPT summaries and snippets.
OpenAI specifically recommends allowing OAI-SearchBot if you want content to be discoverable, surfaced and cited in ChatGPT search.
This is different from GPTBot, which relates to potential model training.
You can therefore choose to allow ChatGPT search discovery without necessarily giving the same permissions to GPTBot.
For businesses actively trying to increase AI search visibility, checking robots.txt should now be part of a basic technical SEO audit.
2. Your Website Still Needs Strong Traditional SEO
There has been a rush to rename SEO.
You will see terms including:
- GEO, or Generative Engine Optimisation
- AEO, or Answer Engine Optimisation
- AI SEO
- LLM optimisation
- AI Search Optimisation
Some of these labels are useful for explaining a changing search environment.
But they can also make the process sound more mysterious than it really is.
Google’s latest guidance is very clear about this. Traditional SEO remains relevant because its generative AI features are built on Google’s existing Search ranking and quality systems.
That means the fundamentals still matter:
Good site architecture.
Useful content.
Crawlability.
Indexation.
Internal linking.
Page experience.
Topical relevance.
Authority.
Technical SEO.
You shouldn’t abandon SEO and replace it with GEO.
AI search optimisation should sit on top of good SEO.
3. Answer the Question Quickly
One of the most common problems I see on business websites is unnecessary padding.
Someone asks:
“How much should I spend on Google Ads?”
Then the article spends six paragraphs explaining what Google Ads is.
That does not help the reader.
A better page gives the reader a useful answer early, then explains the details.
This is one reason I increasingly use short Quick Answer sections near the top of important articles.
It gives both people and search systems a concise summary before the deeper explanation.
But don’t take this too far.
Google has specifically said there is no requirement to break everything into tiny “AI-friendly” chunks. Its systems can understand broader pages and multiple related topics.
The goal is clarity, not chopping every article into dozens of artificial fragments.
4. Stop Publishing Commodity Content
This may be the biggest change businesses need to make.
Google is now explicitly encouraging non-commodity content for generative AI search.
Commodity content is information that could have come from almost anywhere.
For example:
“5 Benefits of Google Ads”
or:
“10 Ways SEO Can Grow Your Business”
There are already thousands of pages saying exactly the same thing.
An AI model can summarise that information without needing your particular website.
Compare that with:
“Google Ads Audit vs Ongoing Management: Which Should You Pay For?”
or:
“Should You Split Performance Max Campaigns for Shopify?”
Those subjects contain judgement, experience and context.
Google says unique perspectives, first-hand experience and information that goes beyond what can easily be generated or copied from elsewhere are particularly valuable.
That should influence how businesses approach content from now on.
Don’t just publish more.
Publish something worth retrieving.
5. Give AI Systems Information They Cannot Easily Get Somewhere Else
This is where genuine experience becomes useful.
Take Google Ads.
Anybody can publish:
Google Ads lets businesses advertise on Google.
There is virtually no reason for an AI system to cite your website for that statement.
But an experienced Google Ads consultant could explain something more useful:
Splitting a Performance Max campaign can give you more control over budget allocation and product groups, but splitting campaigns too aggressively can leave individual campaigns without enough conversion data to optimise effectively.
That contains judgement.
The same principle applies to every industry.
A mortgage broker could explain where borrowers commonly get caught out.
A roofer could explain when a roof really needs replacement rather than another repair.
An eCommerce business could compare actual problems it sees with different fulfilment systems.
A dentist could explain when one treatment makes sense over another.
That is information an AI system has a reason to retrieve.
6. Build Depth Around a Subject
One strong article is useful.
A connected group of strong articles is considerably better.
If your business wants to become associated with a particular subject, build genuine depth around it.
For example, a website covering AI search optimisation might publish articles answering:
- How do I get found in ChatGPT?
- Why does ChatGPT recommend some businesses?
- Why is ChatGPT ignoring my website?
- How do I get cited by ChatGPT?
- Can ChatGPT crawl my website?
- How do I measure traffic from ChatGPT?
- Does schema help AI search?
- What is the difference between SEO and AI search optimisation?
Each page addresses a different question while supporting the same core subject.
Internal links then connect those pages.
This creates something far more useful than writing twenty unrelated marketing articles because a keyword tool happened to show some search volume.
7. Make It Clear Who Is Behind the Content
If you provide professional advice, don’t make your website look anonymous.
Have a proper About page.
Identify the author of articles where appropriate.
Explain relevant experience.
Make your business name, services, location and areas of expertise consistent across the site.
If you have genuine credentials, qualifications, professional memberships or significant industry experience, include them.
Don’t manufacture “expertise signals”.
Just make the expertise that already exists easier to verify.
AI systems are trying to provide reliable answers. An identifiable source with clear subject matter expertise is far more useful than a faceless website producing hundreds of generic articles.
8. Support Important Claims
If you make factual claims, particularly about platforms such as Google, Shopify, Meta or ChatGPT, link to the primary source where possible.
For example, if I am explaining how Google’s AI search features work, Google’s Search Central documentation is more useful than citing another marketing agency’s interpretation of Google’s documentation.
The same applies to:
- Statistics
- Government regulations
- Industry standards
- Medical information
- Financial rules
- Platform policies
- Technical documentation
Good outbound links do not “give away your SEO”.
They help create a more useful piece of content.
The important part is adding your own interpretation rather than simply rewriting the source.
9. Don’t Expect Schema Markup to Magically Get You Cited
Structured data is still useful.
But there is an important distinction here.
Google says there is no special structured data required for its generative AI search features.
That means adding more schema is not some secret GEO tactic.
Use appropriate structured data because it helps search engines understand content and can make pages eligible for relevant traditional search features.
But don’t expect adding another block of JSON-LD to suddenly make ChatGPT quote you.
The underlying content still needs to be worthwhile.
10. Don’t Assume You Need an llms.txt File
This is another area where a lot of questionable advice has appeared.
You may have heard recommendations that every business needs an llms.txt file for AI search optimisation.
Google has now explicitly clarified that it does not use llms.txt for Google Search and that having one will neither improve nor damage your Google visibility.
Other services may eventually use similar files, so maintaining one isn’t necessarily harmful.
But I would not put it ahead of fixing basic SEO, improving content or making your website crawlable.
Those jobs matter more.
11. Keep Your Best Content Current
AI search has increased the importance of freshness for subjects that change quickly.
A guide explaining Google’s advertising features from three years ago may contain technically correct information but still be a poor source today.
Review important pages periodically.
Look for:
- Outdated product names
- Old screenshots
- Features that no longer exist
- Changed policies
- Broken outbound links
- Old prices
- Old statistics
- Recommendations you would no longer give a client
Updating an existing strong page is often more useful than publishing another mediocre article.
12. Use Internal Links Properly
Internal linking helps people and search engines understand how subjects on your website relate to one another.
Don’t use meaningless anchor text such as:
click here
Instead, link naturally from relevant phrases.
For example:
If you are explaining AI search visibility, link to your guide about how to get found in ChatGPT and Google AI Search.
If you are discussing business recommendations, link to your article explaining why some businesses get recommended by ChatGPT.
If you are talking about technical problems, link to your article about why ChatGPT might be ignoring your website.
That makes the relationship between the pages obvious.
13. Google AI Search Is Using Query Fan-Out
This is an important concept.
Google has confirmed that its generative AI search experiences can use query fan-out.
In simple terms, Google can take one complicated question and perform several related searches behind the scenes before generating the answer.
Someone might search:
“What’s the best Google Ads strategy for a Shopify store with 1,000 products and a limited budget?”
Google’s AI systems may explore several related subjects, such as:
- Shopify Google Shopping
- Performance Max
- Campaign structure
- Product feeds
- Budget allocation
- Conversion tracking
This is another reason building genuine topical depth matters.
You don’t necessarily need one enormous page trying to rank for every possible variation.
You need a useful body of content covering the important questions surrounding your subject.
14. Google Preferred Sources Is Worth Watching
Google has also introduced Preferred Sources.
Users can select certain websites as preferred sources, making content from those sites more likely to be highlighted for that particular user.
Google says preferred sources can now also appear with a preferred badge in AI Mode and AI Overviews where those features are available.
Website owners can also add Google’s preferred-source button to eligible websites.
This is still an evolving feature, and I would not build an entire strategy around it.
But it tells us something important about where search is heading.
Brands that people actively recognise and trust may have an increasingly valuable advantage.
15. Measure Whether ChatGPT Is Actually Sending Traffic
There is no point talking about AI visibility without eventually measuring something.
OpenAI says referral links from ChatGPT search automatically include:
utm_source=chatgpt.com
That means traffic generated from ChatGPT search can be identified using analytics platforms such as Google Analytics.
Google is also developing more direct reporting for its own generative AI features.
In June 2026, Google announced dedicated Generative AI performance reporting within Search Console, including visibility from AI Overviews and AI Mode. The rollout initially covered a subset of websites, so availability may vary by Search Console property.
This is a major improvement.
Until recently, a lot of AI search optimisation involved guessing.
We are gradually getting better measurement.
What Doesn’t Work for AI Search?
There are already plenty of shortcuts being promoted.
I would be extremely cautious about:
Mass-producing hundreds of AI articles
More pages do not automatically create authority.
Creating separate pages for every tiny search variation
Google specifically warns against producing content at scale primarily to manipulate rankings or generative AI responses.
Keyword stuffing
AI systems understand concepts and synonyms considerably better than old search engines did.
Buying fake mentions
Google has specifically warned against chasing inauthentic mentions as an AI search strategy.
Adding schema everywhere
There is no special AI schema that guarantees inclusion.
Relying entirely on AI-generated copy
AI can be extremely useful when researching, structuring and editing content. But if your finished article simply repeats information already found across hundreds of websites, you haven’t added much reason for another AI system to cite it.
Can a Small Business Really Get Cited by ChatGPT?
Yes.
You do not need to be Wikipedia, Forbes or a multinational company to appear in AI search results.
OpenAI says any public website can potentially appear in ChatGPT search.
The opportunity for smaller businesses is specificity.
A small business may have direct experience with a very specific problem that a large generic publisher does not.
That is exactly where I think many businesses should concentrate.
Don’t try to become the internet’s ultimate authority on “marketing”.
Become genuinely useful for the subjects your customers actually ask about.
A Practical AI Search Checklist
If I were reviewing a business website for AI search visibility today, I would start here:
- Confirm Google can crawl and index the important pages.
- Confirm OAI-SearchBot isn’t unintentionally blocked.
- Review robots.txt and relevant meta directives.
- Strengthen weak About and author information.
- Identify the main subjects the business genuinely knows well.
- Map the questions potential customers ask around those subjects.
- Improve existing pages before blindly creating more.
- Add clear answers near the beginning of informational articles.
- Remove generic filler.
- Add first-hand observations, comparisons and experience.
- Link related articles together properly.
- Support factual claims with reliable primary sources.
- Review structured data for accuracy rather than quantity.
- Update old articles.
- Measure traffic from ChatGPT and Google AI search where reporting is available.
None of these steps is particularly glamorous.
That is partly the point.
There is no magic AI search switch.
FAQs About Getting Cited by ChatGPT and Google AI
How do I get my business cited by ChatGPT?
Start by ensuring OAI-SearchBot can access your website. Then concentrate on publishing useful, specific and trustworthy information that directly answers the questions your potential customers ask. Being crawlable makes your website eligible to be discovered, but it does not guarantee a citation.
How does ChatGPT decide which websites to cite?
OpenAI does not publish a simple ranking formula. It says ChatGPT search uses multiple factors intended to help users find relevant and reliable information. Relevance, accessibility and the usefulness of the source therefore matter, but placement cannot be guaranteed.
Can a small business appear in ChatGPT search?
Yes. OpenAI states that any public website can potentially appear in ChatGPT search. Smaller businesses can compete particularly well when they publish detailed information based on genuine specialist experience.
Do I need special schema markup for ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews?
No special AI schema currently guarantees inclusion. Google specifically says structured data is not required for its generative AI search features. Continue using appropriate structured data where it makes sense for normal SEO, but don’t treat it as an AI visibility shortcut.
Does traditional SEO still matter for AI search?
Yes. Google says its generative AI Search experiences are built on its core Search ranking and quality systems. Crawlability, indexability, content quality, site structure and established SEO practices therefore remain important.
Does my website need an llms.txt file?
Not for Google. Google has explicitly said that llms.txt does not improve or reduce visibility in Google Search. Other AI services may choose to use the format, but it should not be treated as a replacement for good technical SEO and useful content.
Do backlinks matter for AI search?
Authority across the wider web can still matter, particularly because AI search often relies on established search and retrieval systems. But chasing low-quality links or manufactured mentions is not a sensible strategy. Genuine industry references, useful content and legitimate links are considerably more defensible.
Does my website have to rank number one on Google before ChatGPT can cite it?
No. ChatGPT search and other AI search systems do not simply reproduce Google’s number-one organic result. AI responses may use multiple sources depending on the question. Traditional organic visibility is still valuable, but there isn’t a rule saying you must rank first before you can appear in an AI response.
How can I tell if ChatGPT is sending visitors to my website?
OpenAI adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to referral links from ChatGPT search. You can use analytics software such as GA4 to identify this traffic.
How long does it take to get cited by ChatGPT?
There is no guaranteed timeframe. Making a website crawlable does not mean it will immediately be selected as a source. The more realistic objective is to steadily improve the quality, relevance, authority and accessibility of your content and measure whether visibility increases over time.
Final Thought
AI search is moving quickly, but I don’t think businesses need to panic and rebuild everything they know about SEO.
They do need to adapt.
The businesses most likely to benefit are not necessarily the ones publishing the most content.
They are the ones publishing the most useful content about subjects they genuinely understand.
Make your website technically accessible.
Answer real questions.
Show your experience.
Remove generic waffle.
Build depth around the subjects you want your business associated with.
That gives Google, ChatGPT and future AI search systems something worth using.
And more importantly, it gives the potential customer something worth reading.
CTA I would put immediately below the article
Is Your Website Ready for AI Search?
If you’re unsure whether ChatGPT and Google AI can properly access, understand and surface your website, I can review your current SEO and AI search setup.
I look at the technical foundations, site structure, content, internal linking and the signals that can affect how your business is discovered across traditional search and emerging AI search platforms.
Learn more about AI Search Optimisation in Sydney
Phil Adair is a Sydney-based Google Ads consultant with more than 17 years of hands-on experience. He specialises in Shopify and eCommerce advertising, including Performance Max, Google Shopping, Merchant Centre and product feeds, and also manages selected lead-generation campaigns for service and B2B businesses.
Phil works directly on every account, with no junior account managers or offshore handovers. His focus is practical: reduce wasted ad spend, fix tracking and product feed problems, and improve profitable sales.
Learn more about Phil Adair or request a free Google Ads audit.