ChatGPT SEO: How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT

ChatGPT doesn't rank websites the way Google does. When someone asks it for a recommendation, it usually searches the web, reads a handful of sources, and names the businesses those sources agree on. Getting recommended comes down to six things: ChatGPT can read your site, it's clear what you do and where, the sites it trusts mention you, your details match everywhere, your reviews back it up, and your pages answer the questions people ask.

How ChatGPT decides who to recommend

For questions about local businesses and things to buy, ChatGPT normally looks things up instead of relying only on what it learned in training. It reads what it finds, writes an answer, and often links the sources it used. So two things decide whether you're named: whether you're in those sources, and whether they say the right things about you.

Answers also vary. Ask the same question twice and you may get different businesses. That's why being recommended is measured as how often you're named across many asks, not as one position.

1. Make sure ChatGPT can read your site

ChatGPT reads websites through two crawlers: OAI-SearchBot, which builds its search index, and ChatGPT-User, which opens pages when someone asks. If your robots.txt or firewall blocks them, ChatGPT can't read or cite your site. GPTBot is different: it only collects pages to train OpenAI's models, and blocking it doesn't keep you out of ChatGPT's answers. Groow's free AI crawler checker shows all three in about 15 seconds.

2. Say clearly what you do, and where

ChatGPT repeats what it can find stated plainly. The first sentence of your home page and each service page should say what you do, where and for whom, in words a customer would use. For example: “Northbeam Heating & Air repairs and installs furnaces and air conditioners in Des Moines and the surrounding suburbs, with same-day service.” Say the same thing the same way on your Google Business Profile and your listings.

3. Get onto the sites ChatGPT cites

Ask ChatGPT the questions your customers ask and look at the sources it links: directories, review sites, best-of lists, local news, trade associations, Reddit threads. Those are the sites it trusts for your kind of business. Where they name your competitors and not you, get listed or earn a genuine mention. Never post fake reviews or pretend to be a customer.

4. Keep your details the same everywhere

Your business name, address, phone number, hours, services and service area should match on your website, Google, Bing, Apple Maps, Yelp and the directories in your industry. When sources disagree, AI is less sure about you, and it may repeat the wrong one.

5. Earn reviews, and reply to them

Recent, specific reviews give ChatGPT something concrete to say about you, like same-day service or fair pricing. Ask every customer, make it one tap, reply to every review, and never offer anything in exchange for one.

6. Answer the questions people ask ChatGPT

People ask ChatGPT fuller questions than they type into Google: what it costs, how fast you can come, whether you offer financing, which areas you cover. Answer those on your pages, with real numbers where you can, each answer in its first sentence. A short FAQ on each service page is a good start.

What doesn't work

• Stuffing pages with keywords or city names. It reads badly and doesn't make you more quotable.
• Fake reviews or paid reviews. They break Google's rules and the FTC's, and can get your profile penalized.
• An llms.txt file on its own. It's free and can't hurt, but no major AI company has said it uses llms.txt to choose recommendations.
• Anyone who guarantees a ChatGPT recommendation. Nobody controls its answers.

How long does it take?

ChatGPT usually picks up changes over a few weeks, some faster: a fixed crawler block can show up quickly, while new listings and reviews take longer to add up. Ask the same set of questions every week and track how often you're named, so you can see what's moving.

How Groow helps

Groow's Get recommended by ChatGPT play turns these steps into a checklist with a scoreboard: how often ChatGPT names and recommends you against where you started, with checkpoints at weeks 4 and 8. Groow asks ChatGPT your customers' questions every week, shows the sites it cites that leave you out, and drafts the page fixes for you to approve.