How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT: A Step-by-Step Guide

To get your business recommended by ChatGPT, make sure the sources it reads describe you accurately and well: the review sites and directories in your category, local best-of lists, your Google Business Profile and your own website. Then check the answers repeatedly, because ChatGPT's recommendations change from one run to the next.

That is the short answer. The steps below are ordered for a local or small business with limited time. They draw on our Tampa Bay AI search study, in which we asked ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Mode 12 local buying questions twice each and recorded what every answer named and linked. For the background on how AI search works, read what answer engine optimization is.

How does ChatGPT decide which businesses to recommend?

OpenAI does not publish a formula for local recommendations. What you can see is where an answer came from. With web search on, ChatGPT searches the web, reads some of the results and writes its answer from them, usually linking the pages it used.

In our study, 75% of the domains ChatGPT linked were directories, review sites and marketplaces such as Angi, Thumbtack, Healthgrades and Super Lawyers. Business websites made up 15%. For a local business, that makes the third-party sites in your category the first place to work.

One limit to keep in mind: we queried ChatGPT through its API with web search on. The consumer app can use a different model, memory and location, and may answer differently.

Step 1: Which questions do your buyers actually ask?

Write down five to ten questions a customer would type, in their own words, with your city in them. "Best dentist in St. Petersburg FL" is one. So are narrower versions: an emergency dentist open on Saturday, a dentist who takes a particular insurance, a family dentist near a named neighborhood.

Narrow questions matter because they are where a smaller business has a realistic chance. A broad "best" question tends to pull from the same large directories and roundups every time.

Step 2: What does ChatGPT say about you today?

Ask each question in ChatGPT and record the date, the businesses named and the sources linked. Then ask again, later the same day or the next.

Do not judge from one answer. In our study, ChatGPT's two answers to the same question, asked seconds apart, shared on average 11% of the businesses they named. On 6 of the 12 questions they shared none. A single screenshot, good or bad, tells you very little.

Run the same questions in Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Mode while you are at it. The engines rarely agree: of the 320 businesses named across our 12 questions, 257 were named by only one engine.

Step 3: Which directories does your category depend on?

Look at the sources linked in the answers you collected. Those are the sites the answer was built from, and they vary by trade. In our study the pattern looked like this:

Claim or create your profile on each site that appears for your questions. Fill in services, service area, hours and photos, and make the business name, address and phone number match your Google Business Profile exactly.

Step 4: How do you earn reviews where they get read?

Reviews on the sites an answer reads are the ones that can shape the answer. Ask customers to review you on the platforms that show up in your category's sources, not only on Google.

Keep it honest. Ask every customer rather than only the ones you expect to be happy, and never pay for reviews or write them yourself. A steady trickle of genuine reviews is worth more than a burst.

If you already send an automated follow-up after each job, the review request can go out as part of it. That is one of the sequences we build under AI lead nurturing.

Step 5: Is your Google Business Profile complete?

ChatGPT did not lean on Google listings much in our study, but Google's own AI Mode did. Google Maps and Business Profile links made up almost half its sources, and across both runs it named 19 of the 30 businesses in the local 3-pack. A buyer who checks Google after asking ChatGPT will see that profile too.

Check the primary and secondary categories, hours, services, service area, photos and recent reviews. Answer the questions people have left on the profile, and reply to reviews.

Step 6: Can you get into local best-of lists?

Roundups and local media are another source the engines read. In our study, Gemini in particular linked local roundups and magazines, including Tampa Magazines and WTSP, along with neighborhood food blogs. Tampa Magazines was linked in 9 of the 96 answers.

These lists are written by people. Find the ones that cover your trade and your city, and pitch the writer something true and useful: a genuine specialty, a local angle, or an expert comment on a question their readers have. Skip paid placements that nobody reads.

Step 7: Does your website give ChatGPT something to quote?

Your site is the minimum, not the edge. Of the 101 named businesses we matched to a Google Maps listing, 100 listed a website. What sets a site apart is whether it states clear, specific facts that a model can use.

For each main service page, check that it says:

Put a short direct answer near the top of the page, then the detail. Make sure the site loads for automated visitors as well as people: of the 100 business websites in our study, 4 blocked our automated check. A site that turns away automated requests may not be readable by the tools that fetch pages for AI answers.

Step 8: Are your business details the same everywhere?

Use one version of your business name, address, phone number and service list on your website, Google Business Profile, directories and social profiles. Consistent details help search systems and AI engines connect every mention to one business rather than splitting them.

If you have moved, rebranded or changed phone numbers, search for the old details and update them wherever they still appear.

Step 9: How do you know whether it is working?

Rerun the same questions on a schedule, weekly or monthly, and count the share of answers that name you, engine by engine. Because answers change between runs, a trend over several weeks is the only signal worth acting on.

A spreadsheet works: question, engine, date, named or not, and the sources linked. If you would rather not do it by hand, our tool Cited runs these checks across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude and records the names and sources for you.

What should you not bother with?

How much time does this take a small business?

The first pass is mostly admin: listing your questions and checking the answers, claiming and fixing profiles, updating your main service pages and starting to ask for reviews. It can be spread over a few weeks alongside normal work. Results take longer and are not guaranteed, which is why the tracking in step 9 matters.

If you would rather hand it off, our generative engine optimization service runs this program, starting from a measured baseline. SEO and AI search visibility are part of the Growth Engine plan at $4,997 per month; see pricing for the details.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get ChatGPT to mention my business?

Make the sources it reads describe you well: the directories and review sites in your category, local best-of lists, your Google Business Profile and clear service pages on your own site. Then track the answers over several weeks.

Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor and not me?

Usually because your competitor appears in the sources that answer drew from, such as a directory profile with more reviews or a local roundup. Check the sources linked in the answer, and ask again, since the list changes between runs.

Does ChatGPT give the same recommendations every time?

No. In our Tampa Bay study, two ChatGPT answers to the same question, asked seconds apart, shared on average 11% of the businesses they named.

Do I need a new website to be recommended by ChatGPT?

Usually not. Almost every business the engines named in our study already had a website. Clear, specific service pages matter more than a redesign.