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Remember the time when SEO was all about fighting for the first position on Google and SERPs? Those days are far gone. While the core idea of ranking at the top remains the same, the battlefield has expanded considerably, with many new players bursting onto the scene. One such player is Chat GPT and other AI tools.
ChatGPT now has over 800 million weekly active users. Many of these users are on the platform to search for businesses like yours. You’ll see people typing in queries like ‘who’s the best accounting firm in Manchester?’, ‘Best digital marketing agency for SEO’, and ‘Website design for small businesses in New York.’
This audience won’t usually go to Google or any other search engine to get results for the same query. ChatGPT does that for them. It also means that if your business isn’t mentioned by ChatGPT, this audience wouldn’t even know you exist. That’s why more and more businesses are putting emphasis on getting mentioned by AI tools.
I often get this question from my clients, “How do I get my business in ChatGPT?” Truth be told, the answer is simple and tricky at the same time. I’ll explain.
You can’t just submit your business to ChatGPT like you would with Google Business Profile. There’s no form, directory listing, or paid placement option (at least not yet). So, how do you actually get your business in ChatGPT? You’ve got to convince the algorithms to see your website and content as a trusted source of information, and get them to mention you when users search for any relevant query.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through how ChatGPT finds business information and what steps you can implement to ensure it fetches your business.
First, let’s make the difference between search engines and ChatGPT clear. ChatGPT isn’t a search engine, but a recommendation engine. Look at it this way: when someone searches on Google, they get a list of options, often a mix of business details and informative content. When someone asks the same question on ChatGPT, they’ll get a shortlist of two or three businesses presented as trustworthy options. The AI algorithm isn’t ranking stuff based on some parameters. Rather, it’s presenting a curated endorsement list based on the query.
I’m sure all of you know about the traditional buyer journey with the awareness, consideration, and decision phases. When ChatGPT recommends your business, you skip the entire consideration phase.
While search engines require users to click through multiple results, compare options, and form their own conclusions, AI tools compress that journey into seconds. The user asks a question, ChatGPT answers, and your business is positioned as a credible option then and there. In the latter case, users aren’t evaluating you against nine other search results; they’re seeing you as a business they can trust. That perception directly translates into higher conversion rates and shorter sales cycles.
Plus, there’s also the competitive angle. ChatGPT typically mentions only two or three businesses per query. If your business shows up there, you’re already ahead of 99% of your competitors who don’t get mentioned.
Don’t just take my word for it. Look at the numbers. 92% of Fortune 500 companies were already using ChatGPT and other AI tools internally, as early as late 2023. It’s common knowledge that consumer adoption follows enterprise adoption, meaning that the businesses that establish AI visibility now will own this channel when a majority of consumers land up here for their queries. Those who wait now will spend years trying to catch up while their competitors enjoy the inflow of leads and new customers.
Understanding how ChatGPT sources business information is the first step in making your business appear in its recommendations. AI tools like ChatGPT don’t work like Google, and their true mechanics explain why most businesses remain invisible on these platforms. Let’s dive into it.
Here's something most business owners don't know: ChatGPT Search relies on Bing's indexing system. If your website isn't indexed by Bing, it won't appear in ChatGPT's search results. Full stop.
This means that while you've been obsessing over Google rankings (fair enough, they still own 89% of traditional search), you may have completely ignored the search engine that actually powers AI recommendations.
ChatGPT uses Microsoft's Prometheus technology to combine Bing's search index with its language models. When you ask ChatGPT a question requiring current information, it formulates a query, searches Bing's index, and synthesizes the results into a response.
ChatGPT operates in two modes. Its base knowledge comes from training data with a cutoff date. But when it needs current information like local business recommendations, it searches the web in real time.
This is good news. It means you don't need to wait for ChatGPT's next training cycle to appear in its answers. You need to be visible on the sources it searches right now.
I get asked this constantly: "Can I submit my business to ChatGPT?" No. There's no submission form. No directory. No way to pay for placement in ChatGPT's organic answers.
ChatGPT pulls from what it finds across the web. Your visibility depends on your digital footprint and how often your business appears on authoritative sources, how consistent your information is across platforms, and how well your content answers the questions people ask. You earn your way in without any submissions.
Let’s move on to the main topic at hand: How to show up in ChatGPT search results. LLM SEO requires you to take a slightly different approach than traditional SEO. Below are some easily implementable strategies I suggest for your business to show up in ChatGPT easily.
Start here. Bing Places is Microsoft's equivalent of Google Business Profile, and it's directly connected to ChatGPT's search capabilities.
Claim your listing if you haven't already. Fill out every field. Add photos, business hours, service descriptions, and your complete service area. Keep it updated.
Most businesses treat Bing Places as an afterthought. That's a mistake. While your competitors focus exclusively on Google, you can gain an advantage on the platform that actually feeds ChatGPT.
ChatGPT cross-references information from multiple sources. If your business name, address, and phone number differ across platforms, that inconsistency signals unreliability.
Audit your listings on Yelp, Apple Maps, TripAdvisor, Yellow Pages, Foursquare, and Facebook. Ensure your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information matches exactly across every platform.
This isn't glamorous work. But it's the foundation that AI systems use to determine whether your business is legitimate and trustworthy.
AI systems rely heavily on external validation. When building high-quality backlinks, you're not just helping your Google rankings but creating signals that ChatGPT uses to evaluate your authority.
Get mentioned in industry publications. Appear on "best of" lists in your sector. Contribute guest articles to relevant blogs. Earn coverage in local news outlets.
Each mention acts as a vote of confidence. The more credible sources reference your business, the more likely ChatGPT is to recommend you.
Schema markup tells search engines and AI systems exactly what your content means and not just what it says. When you implement LocalBusiness schema, FAQ schema, and Review schema on your website, you're providing structured data that AI systems can easily parse and cite. Google and Microsoft have both confirmed that schema markup helps their AI features understand content more accurately.
Think of schema as a translation layer between your website and AI. Without it, systems have to guess at your business details. With it, they know exactly what you offer, where you're located, and what makes you credible.
ChatGPT responds to questions. So your website needs content that directly answers the questions your potential customers ask.
This is where understanding search intent becomes critical. What are people actually asking when they search for businesses like yours? What problems are they trying to solve?
Create FAQ pages, how-to guides, and comparison content that addresses these questions clearly. Use natural language: the way real people speak, rather than keyword-stuffed slop.
Research from Princeton and Georgia Tech found that content with specific statistics and clear citations can improve AI visibility by up to 40%. Adding concrete data points makes your content more citable and authoritative.
LLMs tend to recommend businesses with strong, recent, and numerous reviews. This isn't surprising. After all, reviews serve as trust signals that AI systems use as shortcuts to determine quality.
When ChatGPT provides local recommendations, it often mentions "highly rated" or "top-reviewed" businesses. That language comes directly from the structured review data it pulls from platforms like Google, Yelp, and industry-specific directories.
Focus on generating authentic reviews consistently. Respond to them professionally. A business with 200 detailed five-star reviews from the past year signals reliability in a way that 50 old reviews cannot.
AI systems evaluate whether your website demonstrates genuine expertise. A single blog post won't establish authority. A comprehensive content library that covers your topic from multiple angles will.
This means building topic clusters, maintaining strong internal linking structures, and publishing regularly on subjects within your expertise.
The goal of this entire thing is semantic depth: content that proves you understand your industry thoroughly, not just surface-level information that anyone could produce.
Your website remains your most important digital asset even in an AI-driven search landscape. But optimising it for ChatGPT requires a slightly different approach than traditional SEO.
ChatGPT doesn't read your website as a human does. It scans for structured information that it can easily extract and synthesize into answers. This means your content needs clear hierarchies, descriptive headings, and self-contained sections that make sense even when pulled out of context.
Each major section of your page should be able to stand alone. If ChatGPT extracts a single paragraph about your services, that paragraph should communicate value without requiring the surrounding context.
When someone asks ChatGPT about businesses in your industry, it's looking for content that directly addresses their query. Structure your pages around the questions your customers actually ask.
Use question-based headings. Provide clear, concise answers in the first sentence or two, then expand with supporting detail. This format aligns perfectly with how AI systems retrieve and present information.
AI systems factor in user experience signals when determining which sources to trust. A slow-loading website or poor mobile experience doesn't just hurt your bounce rate—it signals lower quality to the systems evaluating your content.
Run your site through Google's PageSpeed Insights and address the critical issues. Ensure your mobile experience mirrors your desktop quality.
Outdated content undermines trust. If your website still references 2022 statistics or discontinued services, AI systems may deprioritize you in favour of competitors with fresher information.
Audit your key pages quarterly. Update statistics, refresh examples, and ensure your service descriptions reflect what you actually offer today. ChatGPT's real-time search capabilities mean it can access your current content; just make sure that the content is worth accessing.
Months of effort can go down the drain with a single mistake. Here’s what you absolutely shouldn’t do when trying to get your business to show up in ChatGPT.
I've mentioned this already, but it bears repeating. Inconsistent business information across directories confuses AI systems and lowers your trust signals. Even small discrepancies, such as "Street" vs. "St." or different phone number formats, can create problems.
Run an audit. Fix the inconsistencies. Maintain a master document with your exact business details for future listings.
AI systems aren't impressed by pages that exist just to rank for keywords. They're looking for content that demonstrates real understanding.
If your service pages are 200 words of generic text, they won't help you appear in AI recommendations. Each page should thoroughly address its topic with specific details, examples, and genuine insight.
This is the most common mistake I see. Businesses pour resources into Google optimization while treating Bing as irrelevant.
Given ChatGPT's reliance on Bing's index, this approach leaves visibility on the table. Submit your sitemap to Bing Webmaster Tools. Monitor your Bing indexing status. Treat Bing optimization as a genuine priority, not an afterthought.
ChatGPT isn’t about gaming an algorithm. Far from it, it’s actually about building digital authority that makes AI models confident in recommending you to their users.
The way to achieve this? Get the basics right: consistent information across platforms, strong review profiles, content that genuinely answers questions, and technical foundations like schema markup that help machines understand your business.
The businesses that invest in these fundamentals now will dominate AI recommendations as this channel grows. Those who wait will find themselves invisible to an increasingly important audience.
Optimizing your website and content for AI tools can be tricky if not done right. If you’re not sure about taking on this task yourself, working with an expert AI SEO agency can better your results significantly. Have questions about the specific situation you’re stuck in? Give us a call at ViralChilly, and our team would be happy to help you through them.
