How to Get Recommended by ChatGPT
Understanding how to get recommended by ChatGPT starts with understanding what these systems need to know about your business. Your website should clearly communicate your services, expertise, location, experience and the types of customers you help.
Getting your website found by Google is one thing.
Getting ChatGPT, Google AI Search or another AI system to actually mention or recommend your business is a different challenge.
A potential customer may no longer search:
“Google Ads consultant Sydney”
They might ask:
“Who is a good Google Ads consultant in Sydney for a Shopify business?”
Or:
“Which Google Ads specialist in Sydney has experience with Performance Max and Google Shopping?”
Or:
“Can you recommend someone to audit an underperforming Shopify Google Ads account?”
That change matters.
The customer is no longer simply looking at a list of websites and deciding which one to click. They are asking an AI system to help narrow the choices.
So the question for business owners is becoming:
What makes ChatGPT or Google AI Search recommend one business instead of another?
There is no single trick, special piece of code or guaranteed way to make that happen.
There are, however, some very practical things that can make your business easier for AI systems to discover, understand and potentially reference.
Quick Answer: How Do You Get Recommended by ChatGPT and AI Search?
To improve your chances of being recommended in ChatGPT and Google AI Search, your website needs to clearly explain who you are, what you do, where you operate and why you have genuine expertise in the subject.
Strong traditional SEO still matters.
Your site should also contain useful, specific content that answers the questions customers are asking, demonstrate real experience, maintain accurate business information across the web, earn legitimate mentions and links, and remain accessible to search and AI crawlers.
There is no guaranteed method of getting ChatGPT to recommend a business.
The goal is to create enough clear and trustworthy information that an AI system has good reason to consider your business when answering a relevant question.
Being Found Is Not the Same as Being Recommended
This is an important distinction.
Your website might already appear in Google.
ChatGPT may even be able to find pages from your website.
But that does not automatically mean your business will appear when someone asks for recommendations.
Consider these two questions:
“What is Google Shopping?”
and
“Who can help fix my Google Shopping campaigns in Sydney?”
The first is informational.
The second requires the AI system to identify businesses that appear relevant to the service, location and problem described.
That means simply publishing broad educational content is not enough.
Your website also needs to make your expertise and commercial relevance clear.
How Does ChatGPT Find Businesses to Recommend?
There isn’t a publicly available formula showing exactly why one company is recommended and another isn’t.
OpenAI does confirm that public websites can appear in ChatGPT Search and recommends allowing its OAI-SearchBot crawler if you want your content to be discovered, surfaced, cited and linked.
That is the technical starting point.
But accessibility alone does not establish that you are the right answer to a customer’s question.
Your overall online presence needs to make several things clear:
- what your business does
- which services you specialise in
- which industries you work with
- where you are located
- which locations you service
- what problems you solve
- who is behind the business
- what experience you have
- whether other websites refer to your business
- whether your information appears consistent and credible
Think of it less as trying to manipulate ChatGPT and more as removing ambiguity.
If your website makes it difficult to work out exactly what you do, you are giving AI systems less useful information to work with.
Google Says Good SEO Still Matters for AI Search
There has been a rush to rebrand AI search optimisation as something completely separate from SEO.
You may have seen terms such as:
GEO, Generative Engine Optimisation
AEO, Answer Engine Optimisation
AI SEO
ChatGPT SEO
Some of these terms are useful descriptions. But business owners should be careful about anyone claiming there is a completely new secret formula for ranking in AI.
Google’s own guidance is much more straightforward.
Google says its generative AI search experiences are built on its existing Search ranking and quality systems. Traditional SEO fundamentals remain important, including crawlability, indexing, useful content, internal links and accurate business information.
In other words:
You shouldn’t abandon SEO and start chasing AI tricks.
Good AI search optimisation should build on solid SEO rather than replace it.
1. Make It Extremely Clear What Your Business Actually Does
This sounds obvious.
It often isn’t.
I regularly see business websites using vague language such as:
Innovative digital solutions designed to help businesses reach their full potential.
That tells a person almost nothing.
It also gives a search engine or AI system very little useful information about the actual business.
Compare it with:
I am a Sydney Google Ads consultant specialising in Shopify and eCommerce businesses. I work directly with Google Shopping, Performance Max, Google Merchant Centre, product feeds and conversion tracking.
That statement establishes:
- the service
- the location
- the specialisation
- the type of customers
- the platforms involved
- the areas of expertise
Clear language beats clever language.
If someone has to read five paragraphs before understanding what you actually sell, your website needs work.
2. Build Pages Around the Services You Actually Want to Be Recommended For
One generic services page is rarely enough.
If you offer several distinct services, give the important ones proper pages.
For example, my own site doesn’t just say that I provide “digital marketing”.
I have specific pages dealing with areas such as:
- Google Ads consulting
- Google Ads audits
- Shopify Google Ads
- Google Merchant Centre
- product feed optimisation
- Shopify SEO
- AI search optimisation
That gives search engines and AI systems much clearer information about the areas in which the business operates.
It also allows each page to answer specific customer questions rather than trying to squeeze every service into one generic page.
3. Answer the Questions People Ask Before Hiring You
This is where AI search becomes particularly interesting.
People speak to ChatGPT differently from the way they traditionally type into Google.
Instead of:
roof repairs Sydney
they might ask:
“Can you recommend a reliable roofing company in Sydney that handles roof restoration and Colorbond replacement?”
Instead of:
Shopify Google Ads agency
they might ask:
“Who specialises in fixing poorly performing Performance Max campaigns for Shopify stores in Australia?”
These are much richer questions.
Your website should contain enough detail to answer them.
This doesn’t mean creating hundreds of pages targeting every imaginable AI prompt.
It means properly covering the genuine questions customers ask during the buying process.
Good examples include:
- How much does the service cost?
- Who is the service best suited to?
- What is included?
- What problems does it solve?
- How is your approach different?
- What should customers check before hiring someone?
- How long does the work normally take?
- What mistakes should customers avoid?
- What experience should a provider have?
- Do you work with a particular platform, industry or location?
Useful answers create context.
Context helps both customers and search systems understand your business.
4. Demonstrate Real Experience Instead of Publishing Generic Content
This is probably one of the biggest opportunities for small specialist businesses.
Google’s latest guidance for generative AI search specifically encourages unique, expert-led content rather than information that simply repeats what is already available elsewhere.
That makes sense.
AI can already summarise generic information very well.
There is little value in publishing another article saying:
“Google Ads is an online advertising platform that allows businesses to advertise on Google.”
Thousands of websites already say it.
Instead, write about things you genuinely see in your work.
For example:
- why Performance Max campaigns waste money
- problems you regularly find during Google Ads audits
- when broad match causes trouble
- why conversion tracking numbers can be misleading
- how poor Merchant Centre data damages Shopping performance
- why increasing a campaign budget doesn’t automatically increase profit
- what you check before restructuring an account
That type of content demonstrates an actual point of view.
It is much harder to commoditise because it comes from experience.
5. Give Straight Answers Near the Top of Important Pages
You do not need to write your entire website for robots.
You should, however, make important answers easy to find.
That is why I increasingly use a Quick Answer section near the beginning of detailed articles.
For example:
Quick Answer
A Shopify Performance Max campaign can spend heavily without producing enough sales when Google is working from poor conversion data, weak product feed information, low-performing products, overly broad asset groups or unsuitable landing pages.
That paragraph answers the question immediately.
The rest of the article can then explain the subject properly.
This is useful for human readers who want a fast answer, and it also creates a clear passage that search and AI systems can interpret.
6. Use Specific Headings and Well-Structured Content
Your headings should tell readers what each section actually answers.
Weak heading:
More Information
Better heading:
Does SEO Help Your Business Appear in ChatGPT?
Weak heading:
Our Approach
Better heading:
How I Improve a Shopify Product Feed Before Increasing Google Ads Spend
Specific headings create structure and reduce ambiguity.
Google itself recommends organising content logically with useful paragraphs, sections and headings.
That doesn’t mean chopping every article into dozens of tiny fragments just because somebody told you AI likes “content chunks”.
Google has specifically said there is no requirement to do that.
Write for the reader first.
Just make the structure clear.
7. Build a Recognisable Business Entity Across the Web
Your website should not exist in isolation.
Search and AI systems can encounter information about a business from many sources.
For a local or professional business, this can include:
- your own website
- Google Business Profile
- industry directories
- professional associations
- reputable news or industry websites
- business listings
- review platforms
- partner or supplier websites
- genuine customer discussions
- social profiles
The important word is genuine.
Buying hundreds of rubbish directory listings or manufactured brand mentions is not a serious AI search strategy.
Google explicitly warns against chasing inauthentic mentions simply to influence AI visibility.
What you want is consistency.
Your business name, location, services, expertise and website should make sense wherever they appear.
8. Strengthen Your Google Business Profile
For businesses serving a geographic market, Google Business Profile remains important.
Keep the basics accurate:
- business name
- website
- business category
- services
- phone number
- opening hours
- address or service area
- photographs
- business description
Reviews also matter commercially because people use them to judge a business.
Don’t try to manufacture them.
Ask genuine customers for honest reviews and respond appropriately.
Google confirms that Business Profile information can help local business information appear across Google Search, including generative AI experiences.
9. Get Mentioned by Websites Other Than Your Own
You can say you’re brilliant on your own website.
That isn’t particularly independent evidence.
Third-party references add another layer.
For a specialist business, worthwhile mentions could come from:
- industry publications
- local media
- reputable directories
- suppliers
- manufacturers
- professional organisations
- podcasts
- event websites
- partner businesses
- specialist blogs
- useful expert contributions
This is not about buying backlinks by the hundred.
One genuinely relevant mention from a respected website can be more useful than a pile of junk links from sites nobody reads.
The aim should be to build a real digital footprint around the business.
10. Create Content Around Your Genuine Areas of Expertise
If you want your business to become associated with a subject, cover that subject properly.
One article about Google Ads does not make a website an authority on Google Ads.
A useful body of content might cover:
- Google Ads audits
- Google Shopping
- Performance Max
- Merchant Centre
- Shopify tracking
- product feeds
- ROAS
- campaign budgets
- poor quality leads
- campaign structure
- landing pages
Each article should answer a different question.
Then link related content together.
This builds a much clearer picture of what the website is about.
The same principle applies to almost any industry.
A roofer should have useful content about roofing problems.
A financial adviser should demonstrate knowledge about the financial services they actually provide.
A physiotherapist should answer questions patients genuinely ask.
A Shopify consultant should publish practical Shopify information.
Don’t publish random articles just because a keyword tool says they have traffic.
Build depth around the areas where you actually want to be known.
11. Use Internal Links to Connect Related Expertise
Internal links are easy to overlook.
They help visitors move between related information and help search engines discover and understand relationships between your pages.
If you publish an article about getting recommended by ChatGPT, it should naturally link to your broader guide explaining how to get found in ChatGPT and Google AI Search.
It should also link to the relevant AI search optimisation service.
If you mention Shopify SEO, link to your Shopify SEO information.
If you discuss Google Ads consulting, link to the appropriate Google Ads page.
Don’t use vague anchor text such as:
click here
Use descriptive language such as:
AI search optimisation for Australian businesses
or:
Google Ads consultant for Shopify stores
The link itself then provides useful context.
12. Make Sure AI and Search Crawlers Can Access the Website
Great content is fairly useless if important crawlers cannot access it.
For Google, important pages need to be crawlable and indexable.
For ChatGPT Search, OpenAI recommends ensuring OAI-SearchBot is not blocked if you want website content to be discovered and used in search summaries and citations.
Check:
- robots.txt
- noindex settings
- canonical URLs
- XML sitemap
- internal links
- server or firewall blocking
- CDN security settings
- Google Search Console indexing
You do not need to obsess over exotic technical tricks.
Get the fundamentals right first.
13. Keep Important Business Information Current
AI search creates another reason to maintain your website properly.
Old pricing, outdated services, closed locations and obsolete information all create conflicting signals.
Review important pages periodically.
Update dates when you have genuinely updated the content.
Remove information that is no longer correct.
Keep Google Business Profile information current.
For eCommerce businesses, keep product information in Google Merchant Centre accurate as well.
Google specifically recommends maintaining current Business Profile and Merchant Centre information for visibility across its search experiences.
14. Don’t Waste Time on Supposed AI Search Hacks
AI search has created a new industry almost overnight.
Predictably, it has also created plenty of questionable advice.
I would be cautious about anyone promising:
- guaranteed ChatGPT rankings
- guaranteed AI recommendations
- secret AI ranking factors
- hundreds of automated GEO pages
- mass-produced brand mentions
- special schema that supposedly guarantees AI inclusion
- one magic file that suddenly makes your website an AI authority
Google has already said there is no special schema required for AI Overviews or AI Mode.
It has also said an llms.txt file does not improve your visibility in Google Search.
That doesn’t mean new AI search techniques will never emerge.
They will.
But I would rather build a website around strong fundamentals and genuine expertise than chase every new acronym someone invents.
Can a Small Business Actually Get Recommended Over a Large Company?
Yes, potentially.
Being the biggest company does not automatically make a business the most relevant answer to every question.
Specificity can work in favour of smaller specialists.
Consider:
“Recommend a digital marketing agency.”
That is extremely broad.
Now compare it with:
“Recommend a Sydney Google Ads consultant who personally manages Shopify Performance Max and Google Shopping campaigns.”
That question contains:
- location
- platform
- specialisation
- service model
- campaign type
A specialist business that clearly matches those criteria may be more relevant than a large generic agency.
This is why positioning matters.
Trying to look like you do everything for everyone usually weakens the message.
Does Traditional SEO Still Matter?
Absolutely.
The idea that SEO is dead because ChatGPT exists is nonsense.
Google’s generative AI results still rely heavily on its Search infrastructure, ranking systems and indexed web content.
OpenAI also needs to discover web content before it can surface and cite that content through ChatGPT Search.
Good technical SEO, useful content, internal linking, authority and strong business information are therefore still important.
AI search optimisation should be seen as an extension of good search marketing rather than a replacement for it.
What I Would Focus on First
If I were reviewing a business that wanted better visibility in ChatGPT and Google AI Search, I would start with these questions:
- Can search engines and AI search crawlers access the site?
- Is the business clearly described on the homepage?
- Does each important service have its own useful page?
- Are location and service areas clear?
- Does the website demonstrate genuine expertise?
- Are important customer questions answered?
- Is there useful original content around the core services?
- Are related pages properly internally linked?
- Is the Google Business Profile accurate?
- Is the business mentioned by credible third-party websites?
- Are reviews and other trust signals visible?
- Is important content current?
- Does the site contain generic filler that should be replaced with something more useful?
- Can somebody understand why this business is different within a few minutes of visiting the website?
You don’t need to fix everything at once.
But you do need to give AI systems something substantial to work with.
The Real Goal Isn’t to “Trick ChatGPT”
This is where I think a lot of AI search advice goes wrong.
The objective shouldn’t be:
“How do I manipulate ChatGPT into mentioning my company?”
A much better question is:
“How do I make my business one of the clearest and most credible answers when someone asks about the services I provide?”
That changes the strategy completely.
You focus on:
- clarity
- expertise
- useful content
- authority
- consistency
- technical accessibility
- genuine third-party credibility
Those are useful improvements regardless of whether the customer finds you through Google, ChatGPT, Gemini or whatever AI search platform comes next.
Frequently Asked Questions About Getting Recommended in ChatGPT and AI Search
Can I pay ChatGPT to recommend my business?
There is no normal organic ranking system where you can pay OpenAI to make ChatGPT recommend your company ahead of competitors. Organic ChatGPT Search results and citations should not be treated like paid search advertising. Businesses should focus on making their online information accessible, accurate, relevant and credible.
Can I guarantee that my business will appear in ChatGPT?
No. Nobody can legitimately guarantee that ChatGPT will recommend a particular business for a particular question. AI answers can vary depending on the wording of the prompt, available information, location, context and the sources retrieved. Be cautious about providers promising guaranteed ChatGPT rankings.
How do I get my website into ChatGPT Search?
OpenAI says public websites can appear in ChatGPT Search. Website owners who want their content to be discoverable and included in summaries and citations should make sure OAI-SearchBot is not blocked from crawling relevant pages.
Does SEO help you appear in ChatGPT?
Yes, although ChatGPT Search is not identical to Google Search. Strong SEO usually improves the clarity, structure, crawlability, content quality and authority of a website. Those same improvements can make it easier for search and AI systems to discover and interpret your business.
What is ChatGPT SEO?
ChatGPT SEO is an informal term for improving a website and wider online presence so the business has a better chance of being discovered, understood, cited or mentioned in ChatGPT search experiences. It overlaps heavily with traditional SEO and AI search optimisation.
What is AI search optimisation?
AI search optimisation is the process of improving your website and online presence for visibility in AI-powered search and answer systems such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and other generative search tools. It usually includes technical SEO, useful content, clear business information, authority building and improving the consistency of your online presence.
Is AI search optimisation the same as GEO?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation. It is one of several terms used to describe optimisation for AI-generated search results. You may also see AEO, AI SEO and ChatGPT SEO. Google says its generative AI search features still rely on its core Search ranking and quality systems, so traditional SEO remains an important foundation.
Do I need special schema to rank in ChatGPT or Google AI Search?
There is currently no special schema markup that guarantees inclusion in ChatGPT or Google’s AI search results. Normal structured data can still be useful where appropriate because it helps search engines understand certain types of information and can make pages eligible for enhanced search features. It should match the information users can actually see on the page.
Do backlinks still matter for AI search?
Links and third-party mentions can help establish the wider authority and visibility of a business, but they should be earned legitimately. The aim should not be to manufacture hundreds of low-quality links or fake mentions. Useful references from credible and relevant websites create a stronger online footprint.
Do customer reviews help with AI search visibility?
Reviews can strengthen the overall online credibility of a business and are particularly important for local businesses. They also give prospective customers independent information when deciding who to contact. Reviews should be genuine and businesses should avoid manufactured or misleading review activity.
Does Google Business Profile help with AI search?
For local businesses, yes. Google says Business Profile information can help business information appear in Search, including its generative AI experiences. Keep your categories, services, website, contact information, photographs, opening hours and other business details accurate.
Should I create lots of articles using AI to improve AI visibility?
Not automatically. Producing hundreds of generic articles can create more noise rather than more authority. Google specifically recommends unique, useful and expert-led content and warns against producing large amounts of low-value content simply to manipulate search rankings. A smaller number of genuinely useful articles is a much better strategy.
How long does it take to start appearing in AI search results?
There is no fixed timeframe. A new or recently improved page first needs to be discovered and processed, and AI systems may rely on multiple external sources when deciding what to surface. Building stronger AI visibility should be treated as an ongoing process involving technical SEO, content development and authority rather than a one-off change.
Can a small business compete with large companies in ChatGPT recommendations?
Potentially, yes. A smaller specialist business may be highly relevant to a detailed question involving a particular service, location, industry or platform. Clear positioning and deep expertise can therefore be more useful than trying to present the business as a generic provider of everything.
How can I check whether ChatGPT can find my business?
Try several realistic questions that a potential customer might ask rather than simply typing your company name. Test service, location and problem-based questions. For example: “Who specialises in Google Shopping for Shopify stores in Sydney?” or “Recommend a Google Ads consultant who can audit an underperforming Performance Max campaign.” Results can vary, so look for patterns rather than treating one answer as a definitive ranking.
Want to Improve How Your Business Appears in AI Search?
If your business already relies on Google for leads or sales, AI search visibility is becoming another part of the search picture worth paying attention to.
I help Australian businesses improve the underlying website, SEO, content and technical signals that can make them easier to discover and understand across ChatGPT, Google AI Search and traditional Google Search.
There are no guaranteed ChatGPT rankings and I don’t sell AI search tricks.
The starting point is much simpler:
Can these systems clearly work out who you are, what you specialise in, why your business is credible and when you might be a useful recommendation?
If the answer isn’t clear, that’s what needs fixing first.
Request an AI Search Visibility Review
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.