How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT and AI Assistants

More buyers now ask an AI assistant “who is a good agency for…” or “what’s the best tool for…” before they ever click a search result. If your business isn’t in those answers, you’re invisible at the moment of decision. The good news: there is no secret trick. The assistants use search indexes and public information, so the steps below are clear, and most of them also help your Google rankings.

This is the practical follow-up to our explainer AEO and GEO explained. Everything here is based on the official documentation from OpenAI, Google and Microsoft, checked in October 2026.

AI recommendation

An AI recommendation is when an assistant such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews or Microsoft Copilot names or links your business in its answer. Assistants usually build these answers from pages they find in a search index, and often show those pages as citations.

Where do AI assistants get their answers?

Step 1: Let the right crawlers in

OpenAI runs separate crawlers for separate jobs. OAI-SearchBot finds pages for ChatGPT search. GPTBot collects content that may be used to train OpenAI’s models. ChatGPT-User visits a page when a user asks ChatGPT to, and OpenAI says it is not used to decide what appears in search. Each setting is independent, so you can allow search while blocking training.

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: GPTBot
Disallow: /

Whether to block GPTBot is a business choice: blocking it doesn’t remove you from ChatGPT search. OpenAI notes that robots.txt changes can take about 24 hours to apply. Also check that your hosting firewall or CDN doesn’t block these bots. Our guide on controlling AI crawlers with robots.txt and llms.txt covers the other AI bots too.

Step 2: Get indexed in Google and Bing

Google’s documentation on AI features is clear: to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page must be indexed and eligible to show in Search with a snippet. Google states there are no additional requirements, no special optimizations and no special schema.org markup needed.

Bing matters because Microsoft Copilot answers are grounded in Bing’s index. Many sites set up Google Search Console and forget Bing. Do both:

• Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools (you can import it from Google Search Console in a few minutes) and submit your sitemap.
• Use IndexNow to tell Bing and other participating search engines the moment a page is added or updated.
• Fix pages that are excluded or show errors in both tools before writing anything new.

Step 3: Answer the questions buyers actually ask

Assistants quote pages that answer a question clearly. Look at what customers ask you on calls and by email, and what your Search Console shows under queries, then give each important question a direct answer:

• Put the answer in the first one or two sentences under a heading phrased as the question.
• Be specific: who you serve, where, what is included, how long it takes and how pricing works.
• Add a short FAQ to each service page with the questions buyers ask before they hire you.
• Keep the text visible on the page. Google notes that structured data should match the visible text.

Step 4: Make your business facts consistent everywhere

Assistants compare what different sources say. If your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn page and directory listings disagree about your name, services or location, an assistant has less reason to be confident about you. Use the same business name, description, services and contact details on every profile. For local businesses, our Google Business Profile checklist covers the details.

Step 5: Earn mentions on other trusted sites

When someone asks for “the best” provider, assistants lean on what others say: review platforms, industry directories, comparison articles and news coverage. This is the slowest step and the one you can’t fake:

• Ask happy clients for reviews on the platforms your buyers check.
• Create complete profiles on reputable directories in your industry.
• Offer expert quotes to journalists and write for industry publications.
• Publish something genuinely useful (a free tool, original data or a detailed guide) that others want to link to.

Step 6: Measure your AI visibility

• Bing Webmaster Tools AI Performance report: shows how often your pages are cited in Copilot and Bing AI answers, which pages, and the grounding queries behind them (it doesn’t show clicks).
• Google Search Console: watch impressions and clicks for the questions you wrote answers for.
• Ask the assistants yourself: every month, ask ChatGPT, Copilot and Google the questions your buyers ask and note whether you’re named and which page is cited.
• Ask new leads how they found you, and add “AI assistant” as an option on your contact form.

A checklist to start this week

• robots.txt allows OAI-SearchBot (and Googlebot and Bingbot).
• Site verified in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, sitemap submitted in both.
• IndexNow set up so new pages reach Bing quickly.
• Each service page opens with a direct answer and has a buyer FAQ.
• Business name, description and contact details identical on every profile.
• A plan to collect real reviews and directory listings this month.
• A monthly check of AI answers for your top five buyer questions.

Want help with this? Our SEO service covers Google, Bing and AI search together, from technical fixes to the content and mentions that get businesses cited.