How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT
More people now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI who to hire. They get two or three names back. If yours isn't one of them, there's no page two to land on.
How AI decides who to recommend
AI tools don't have a secret list. Most search the web in real time, read a handful of pages and summarize. ChatGPT search leans on Bing's index; Google's AI Overviews use Google's.
What they pick depends on how clearly you describe yourself, what others say about you, and whether your pages answer the question in plain, quotable words.
Say exactly who you are, everywhere
AI treats your business as an entity: a name tied to a location, a category and a set of facts. Use the same name, address, phone, service area and one-line description everywhere.
That means your website, Google Business Profile, Yelp, Apple Maps, Bing Places and industry directories. Inconsistent details make AI less confident, and less likely to recommend you.
The playbook
Structured data
Label your business, services, reviews and articles with schema.org markup.
Answer real questions
Lead with the direct answer, use the question as a heading, add specifics.
Reviews and mentions
Detailed reviews, local press and directories act as independent proof.
Let the crawlers in
Submit to Bing Webmaster Tools and make sure robots.txt isn't blocking AI search bots.
Keep your site fast and readable
AI crawlers, like Google, struggle with content that only appears after heavy JavaScript runs. Server-rendered pages with real text are easier to read and quote.
An llms.txt file is a cheap optional extra, but it's still an emerging proposal. A fast, well-structured site does far more for you.
How to check where you stand
Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Mode what your customers would ask, like "best web designer in Santa Cruz." Note who gets named and which sources are cited.
Then ask each tool what your business does, check that your listings match, and test your structured data. Repeat every few months and track trends, not single answers.