How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews & Perplexity

Last updated: October 2026 · By Sajjad, founder of 8Sonics

To get your business recommended by ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity, you need three things: AI crawlers must be able to read your site, your business facts must match everywhere online, and other trusted sites must mention you. There is no paid placement and no secret file. AI tools recommend the businesses they can verify. This guide shows you how to test where you stand in 10 minutes, then fix the gaps in 7 steps.

This is the hub of our SEO and AI search content. If you’d rather have us run the test for you, book a free strategy call.

Why AI recommendations matter for small businesses now

AI answers now sit between your customers and your website, so being named inside the answer matters as much as ranking below it. Three numbers explain why:

• Customers have switched. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US consumers, 45% said they now use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% the year before, and 40% said they trust AI platforms for business recommendations. (BrightLocal)
• Fewer people click. Pew Research found Google users clicked a regular search result in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, versus 15% when it didn’t. (Pew Research Center, 2025) Ahrefs measured a 58% lower click-through rate for the #1 result when an AI Overview is present. (Ahrefs, 2026)
• Being cited pays. Seer Interactive found brands cited inside an AI Overview earned 35% more organic clicks than brands that weren’t. (Seer Interactive, 2025)

The scale is large too: OpenAI reported more than 800 million weekly ChatGPT users in October 2025 (TechCrunch). For a plumber, dentist or bakery, the question is no longer only “do I rank on Google?” It’s “when someone asks an AI who to call, does it say my name?”

How ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity choose which businesses to mention

All three engines search the web, read a handful of trusted pages, then summarize. You get recommended when those pages agree that you’re a good answer. The difference is where each one looks.

ChatGPT

When ChatGPT searches the web, it uses OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot crawler and search partners, with Bing playing a big role. OpenAI says sites must allow OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt to appear in ChatGPT search results. (OpenAI docs) For local questions it also leans on review and directory sites to confirm what it finds. That’s why being on Bing and listed consistently matters.

Google AI Overviews and AI Mode

Google uses its normal search index and ranking systems. It states “there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.” (Google Search Central) Google also says your Google Business Profile “can help your products and services to be visible in both AI responses and other Google Search results.” (Google Search Central, 2026) Our step-by-step guide covers how to show up in Google AI Overviews as a small business.

Perplexity

Perplexity uses its own PerplexityBot, which “is designed to surface and link websites in search results.” (Perplexity docs) It cites fresh pages and community sites heavily. Vendor research from Profound found Reddit accounts for a large share of Perplexity’s citations. (Profound, 2025)

Side-by-side comparison

Step 1: Run the 10-minute AI visibility test

Before you change anything, ask the AI tools about your business the way a customer would and score the answers. Use a private or logged-out browser window so your history doesn’t skew results. Run each prompt in ChatGPT (with search on), Perplexity and Google AI Mode.

Replace the brackets with your details:

1. “Who are the best [service] companies in [city, state]?”
2. “I need [service] in [neighborhood or zip code] for [specific problem]. Who do you recommend and why?”
3. “What do customers say about [your business name] in [city]?”
4. “[Your business name] vs [main competitor]: which should I choose?”
5. “How much does [service] cost in [city] and who offers it?”
6. “Is [your business name] open on Saturdays and what’s their phone number?”
7. “Best [service] near me that [key feature, e.g. offers same-day appointments]”
8. “Who should I call for [urgent problem] in [city] tonight?”

Score each answer:

8 prompts × 3 engines × 3 points = 72 points max. Write down your score and which competitors appear. Those competitors show you what the AI currently trusts. Re-run the same prompts every month to track progress. Answers vary from run to run, so look at trends, not one result.

Step 2: Let the AI crawlers in

If AI crawlers are blocked, nothing else on this list matters. Check your robots.txt file by visiting yoursite.com/robots.txt. A safe setup for most small businesses looks like this:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /wp-admin/

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml

Three things to check:

• Security tools. Firewalls and services like Cloudflare can block AI crawlers by default. Check your bot settings.
• Bing indexing. Add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools and submit your sitemap. It’s free and feeds ChatGPT and Copilot.
• Timing. OpenAI says robots.txt changes can take about 24 hours to take effect.

Step 3: Lock down your business facts

AI tools recommend businesses whose name, address, phone, hours and services are identical everywhere. Conflicting details make an AI less confident, so it picks a competitor it can verify.

• Google Business Profile: complete every field, pick the most specific primary category, add services, hours, photos and a clear description.
• Bing Places for Business: often forgotten, and it matters for ChatGPT and Copilot.
• Apple Business Connect: feeds Apple Maps and Siri, which many US iPhone users rely on.
• Key US directories: Yelp, BBB, Angi, Nextdoor and your industry’s main directory.
• Your website: put the same name, address and phone in your footer and on your contact page, written exactly the same way.

Step 4: Build reviews that AI can summarize

Reviews are the evidence an AI uses to say “customers like this business.” BrightLocal found 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses and 82% read AI-generated review summaries. Google is still the main review source, but its share fell from 83% to 71% as people used more platforms. (BrightLocal, 2026)

• Ask every happy customer, every time, with a direct review link.
• Collect reviews on Google first, then on one or two other sites that matter in your industry (Yelp, Angi, Healthgrades and so on).
• Reply to every review. Replies add context (“we fixed their water heater the same day”) that AI can quote.
• Never buy reviews or offer rewards for positive ones. It breaks Google’s rules and the FTC’s 2024 rule on fake reviews.

Step 5: Create pages that answer what buyers ask

AI tools quote pages that answer a specific question clearly, so your site needs a page for each service and each question buyers ask before they call.

• One page per service. “Water heater repair,” not just “Plumbing services.”
• Answer first. Start each page and section with a one- or two-sentence answer, then explain.
• Be specific. Price ranges, service areas, response times, warranties, licenses. “Most repairs cost $150–$450” is quotable. “Affordable rates” is not.
• Add an FAQ section with the real questions customers ask on the phone.
• Show who’s behind it. Owner name, credentials, years in business and real photos build trust with people and AI alike.

The Princeton and IIT Delhi study that coined “generative engine optimization” found that adding statistics, quotations and cited sources improved visibility in AI answers, while keyword stuffing did not. (Aggarwal et al., 2024) Learn more in our guide: What is GEO?

Step 6: Earn mentions on other trusted sites

AI tools trust what other sites say about you more than what you say about yourself. Each independent mention is another vote of confidence.

• Local press and blogs: community news, chamber of commerce pages, local “best of” roundups.
• Industry directories and associations with a profile page that links to you.
• Reddit and community forums: genuinely helpful answers in your city or industry subreddit, not ads. Perplexity in particular cites Reddit often.
• “Best [service] in [city]” lists: find the lists that AI tools already cite in your test from Step 1, and ask to be considered.
• Partnerships: suppliers, sponsors and complementary businesses that list you as a partner.

Step 7: Add helpful structured data and skip the myths

Structured data (schema markup) helps search engines read your business details, but Google says it “isn’t required” for AI features. Add it because it’s easy and helps classic search too:

• LocalBusiness (or a specific type like Plumber or Dentist) with your name, address, phone and hours
• Organization with your logo and social profiles
• FAQPage on pages with real FAQs
• Service on your service pages

What you can skip, according to Google’s 2026 guidance: special AI text files or Markdown versions of your pages, and breaking your content into “tiny pieces.” (Google Search Central) An llms.txt file is harmless, but don’t expect it to get you recommended.

How to measure your AI search results

Track three things monthly: your prompt-test score, AI referral traffic and AI citations.

• Prompt-test score: re-run the 8 prompts from Step 1 on the same day each month.
• Google Analytics 4: look under Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition for referrals from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, copilot.microsoft.com and gemini.google.com.
• Google Search Console: clicks and impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode are included in the Performance report under “Web.”
• Bing Webmaster Tools: its free AI Performance report shows how often your pages are cited in Copilot and Bing AI answers. (Search Engine Land)
• Ask new customers “How did you find us?” and add “ChatGPT or AI” as an option on your forms.

Worked example: a home services business in Texas

This is an illustrative example to show how the steps fit together, not a real client result.

An HVAC company in Plano, Texas runs the 10-minute test and scores 9 out of 72. ChatGPT recommends three competitors and doesn’t mention them. Perplexity lists them once but shows an old phone number. Here’s how they would work through it:

1. Access: their security plugin blocks unknown bots. They allow OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot and submit their site to Bing Webmaster Tools.
2. Facts: they fix the old phone number on Yelp and two directories, claim Bing Places and Apple Business Connect.
3. Reviews: they text a review link after every job and reply to all reviews.
4. Pages: they split “HVAC services” into AC repair, furnace repair and installation pages, each with price ranges, service areas and an FAQ.
5. Mentions: they join the local chamber of commerce and answer questions in the city subreddit.

They re-test every month and track which prompts improve first. For a real example of the local groundwork behind this (Google Business Profile, consistent listings, reviews and location content), see our local SEO case study for a home services company.

Realistic timeline and what to skip

Expect fixes like crawler access and listings to show results in weeks, and reviews, content and mentions to build over three to six months. AI answers change often, so steady monthly work beats one big push.

Skip anything that promises guaranteed placement in ChatGPT, paid “AI listings,” or tricks like hidden text for AI. None of them work, and some can hurt your site.

The AI visibility checklist

Score 1 point for each item you’ve done. 20+ is strong, 12–19 is a good start, under 12 means you’re likely invisible to AI tools.

Access

• ☐ robots.txt allows Googlebot, Bingbot, OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot
• ☐ Security or CDN settings don’t block AI crawlers
• ☐ Site verified in Google Search Console with a sitemap submitted
• ☐ Site verified in Bing Webmaster Tools with a sitemap submitted
• ☐ Pages load fast on mobile

Business facts

• ☐ Google Business Profile fully completed
• ☐ Bing Places claimed
• ☐ Apple Business Connect claimed
• ☐ Name, address and phone identical on your site and top 10 directories
• ☐ Hours and services up to date everywhere

Reviews

• ☐ You ask every customer for a review
• ☐ You reply to every review
• ☐ You have recent reviews from the last 30 days
• ☐ You have reviews on at least one site besides Google
• ☐ Your average rating is 4.5 or higher

Pages

• ☐ One page for each main service
• ☐ Each page answers the main question in the first two sentences
• ☐ Price ranges or clear pricing guidance
• ☐ FAQ section on key pages
• ☐ LocalBusiness and FAQ schema added

Mentions

• ☐ Listed in your industry’s main directory
• ☐ Mentioned in at least one local news or community site
• ☐ Helpful presence in a relevant Reddit or community forum
• ☐ Included in at least one “best of” list in your city
• ☐ You re-run the 10-minute AI test every month

FAQ

How do I get my business listed on ChatGPT?

There’s no sign-up form. ChatGPT finds businesses through web search, so make sure OAI-SearchBot can crawl your site, your site is indexed in Bing, and your business details and reviews are consistent across Google, Bing Places, Yelp and other directories.

Can you pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?

Be careful with anyone selling guaranteed ChatGPT placement. Recommendations come from what the AI finds and trusts on the web, so the reliable path is the work in this guide: access, consistent facts, reviews, helpful pages and outside mentions.

How long does it take to show up in AI search?

Technical fixes can show up within weeks once crawlers revisit your site. Reviews, content and mentions usually take three to six months to change how often you’re recommended. Track progress with a monthly prompt test.

Does Google Business Profile affect AI Overviews?

Yes. Google says Business Profiles can help your services be visible in AI responses and other Google Search results. For local businesses, a complete, active profile with recent reviews is one of the most important steps.

Do I need an llms.txt file?

No. Google says you don’t need special AI text files to appear in its AI features. An llms.txt file won’t hurt, but spend your time on crawler access, listings, reviews and clear pages first.

Related: How ChatGPT decides which local businesses to recommend · How to check if your business shows up in ChatGPT