Guide
How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT and AI Search
People can ask AI search tools for businesses and services, but answers, citations and accuracy vary by tool and query. Your website and third-party sources may both inform an answer. This guide focuses on what you can improve: accessible content, accurate business facts, useful answers and evidence of your work. No website setup guarantees a recommendation.
Google Search documentation
Sources: AI features and your website; Optimising for generative AI search. These sources describe Google Search, not every AI platform.
How AI assistants actually pick businesses
Different tools retrieve and present information differently. Their complete recommendation systems are not public, and one answer is not a stable ranking. Make your services, identity and project evidence easy to find on your website, and keep official profiles accurate. Third-party mentions can also inform answers; your website is not the only possible source.
What AI can and cannot read
- Can read: clean HTML with real headings, service pages that say what you do and where, FAQ sections with direct answers
- Can read: structured data (schema) that states your business type, location, and services in a machine format
- Less reliable to access: image-only information, login-gated content and details that require complex interactions. Some systems process images and JavaScript, but access and capability vary
- Support claims: show real work and explain your contribution. Do not assume an assistant will fact-check every unsupported statement
The technical setup that makes you readable
Start with crawlable pages, readable text, useful internal links, accurate metadata and structured data appropriate to the content. Google says its AI search features need no special AI markup or llms.txt file. An optional text directory is not a proven ranking requirement. FAQ content should help visitors; adding FAQ markup does not guarantee an AI citation or a search enhancement.
Answer the question before it is asked
Answer buying questions with enough context to help: what the service includes, what it costs, who it suits and what evidence supports it. A clear pricing explanation helps someone evaluating a website project, but does not guarantee a citation. Use questions where they improve the page rather than publishing a page for every possible wording.
What to ignore: guarantees and “AI ranking” packages
Nobody can promise that ChatGPT will recommend you, and anyone selling a guaranteed AI ranking is selling smoke. What can honestly be done is technical: make the site fast, structured, and readable, so that when AI tools look for businesses like yours, yours is one they can actually parse and cite. Treat it like accessibility for machines, a setup task done once and maintained, not a monthly magic subscription.
A realistic 5-point self-check
- Search your business name in an AI tool: does it know you exist, and is what it says accurate?
- Open your site on a phone on mobile data: does the main content appear within about 3 seconds?
- Does each service you offer have its own page with a clear heading and location context?
- Do your pages answer real client questions in visible text, not only in images or PDFs?
- Is your name, location, and contact info identical across your site, Google profile, and socials?
Frequently asked questions
Can you guarantee my business appears in ChatGPT or AI search answers?
No, and no honest provider can. What I deliver is the technical setup, structure, schema, speed, and readable content, so AI tools and search engines can read and cite your business. Whether they mention you depends on factors nobody controls directly.
What is the difference between SEO, GEO, and AEO here?
SEO makes a site readable for search engines, GEO (generative engine optimisation) focuses on being usable by AI assistants, and AEO (answer engine optimisation) means structuring content as direct answers. In practice they overlap heavily: one well-built site serves all three.
Does my existing website need to be rebuilt for this?
Not always. Sometimes it needs a technical pass: schema, headings, meta structure, speed fixes, and FAQ content. A paid UX and product audit tells you honestly whether your current site can be upgraded or is fighting you.
Is an Instagram page enough for AI tools to find me?
Social profiles can contribute information, but access varies by platform and tool. A website gives you control over service details, project evidence and enquiry paths. Neither a profile nor a website guarantees an AI recommendation.
Is this a one-time setup or an ongoing service?
The core is a one-time technical setup included in how I build every site. Keeping content current and the setup healthy over time is ordinary upkeep, scoped per product where it is genuinely needed. There is no “AI ranking subscription”, that is not a real thing.
Want to know what AI tools currently see when they read your business?
Send your website or business name and you get an honest read on how readable your current setup is for search engines and AI systems.