How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT

When someone asks ChatGPT for the best accountant in Auckland or a good furniture store in Wellington, it recommends a handful of businesses by name. There is no way to pay for that spot. You earn it by making your business easy for AI tools to find, understand and trust.

Here is a practical checklist.

1. Make sure AI tools can read your website

ChatGPT search uses its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot, to find and cite pages. Other assistants use their own crawlers or rely on search engine indexes. Check your robots.txt file and website security settings do not block them, and make sure your key pages load quickly without needing a login.

Submitting your site to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools also helps, because several AI assistants draw on search engine indexes when they answer.

2. Describe your business the same way everywhere

AI tools are more confident recommending a business when the facts line up across sources. Use the same business name, services, location and contact details on your website, Google Business Profile, directories and social profiles.

On your own site, state the basics in plain sentences: what you do, who it is for, where you operate and what makes you different. Marketing slogans are hard for AI tools to interpret; plain facts are easy.

3. Build genuine reviews

Reviews on Google and relevant industry platforms are one of the clearest public signals of reputation. Ask every satisfied customer, reply to every review, and never buy or incentivise them.

4. Get mentioned on other trusted websites

AI assistants weigh what others say about you, not just what you say about yourself. Useful sources include:

• New Zealand directories such as Finda and Yellow
• Industry associations and accreditation bodies
• Local and trade media, including expert comment pieces
• Partner, supplier and client websites
• Comparison and "best of" articles in your category

5. Publish answers, not just pages

Write content that answers the exact questions your customers ask an AI tool: how much something costs, how long it takes, which option suits which situation. Put the answer in the first sentence, then explain. FAQ sections on service pages work well for this.

6. Add structured data

Schema markup labels the facts on your pages in a format machines read reliably. Organization or LocalBusiness schema on your homepage and FAQ schema on service pages are a good start.

7. Test and track

Keep a list of 10 to 20 questions a potential customer might ask. Every month, ask them in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google, and record whether you are mentioned, how you are described and which sources are cited. When an AI tool gets something wrong, fix the source it is likely drawing on.

The takeaway

ChatGPT recommends businesses it can describe confidently. Be crawlable, be consistent, earn reviews and mentions, and publish clear answers. For the bigger picture, read what generative engine optimisation is.

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