How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT and other AI assistants?

AI assistants recommend businesses they can find on the web and understand. Let their search crawlers read your website, and say plainly on it what you do and where you do it. Keep your Google Business Profile up to date as well. Google says its AI answers rest on ordinary search ranking, so good SEO still counts.

How assistants find a business

When someone asks an assistant for a local business, it usually searches the web first. Each company sends its own search crawler to read pages, the way Google does.

• ChatGPT uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI says sites that block it won't be shown in ChatGPT's search answers.
• Claude uses Claude-SearchBot, and Perplexity uses PerplexityBot. Both companies say blocking these keeps you out of their search results.
• Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode use Google's normal index. Google says any page that can appear in Search with a snippet can be used. There's no extra step.
• Microsoft Copilot draws on Bing. Microsoft says Bing also powers other AI tools, including ChatGPT.

Some crawlers do a different job. GPTBot and ClaudeBot collect pages for training AI models. You can block those and still appear in search answers.

Check it yourself: open yourbusiness.com/robots.txt in a browser. Look for Disallow: / under OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot or User-agent: *. Any of those tells that assistant to stay out. A firewall or security setting can block crawlers too, so ask whoever runs your hosting.

Say what you do, in words

An assistant can only recommend you for what your website actually says. Put these on the page as plain text:

• the services you offer, named the way customers ask for them
• the town or area you cover
• your opening hours, phone number and address

"Boiler repairs and servicing in [your town]" gives an assistant something to match. "Quality you can trust since 1998" doesn't. A menu or price list saved as a photo is harder for a crawler to read than page text.

Structured data describes your business in a format machines read, such as your name, address and hours. Google says it isn't required for AI answers. It still helps Google show your details correctly in Search and Maps.

Your profile and your reviews

Google says a Business Profile can help your services show up in its AI answers. Keep your name, address, phone number and hours the same on your profile and your website.

Reviews matter for local results. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. Ask happy customers soon after the job, and reply to reviews, good and bad.

What doesn't help

• Paying for a promised place. Nobody can guarantee a mention in an AI answer. Google says even a page that follows every guideline may not be shown.
• Fake mentions. Google says chasing inauthentic mentions across the web isn't as helpful as it might seem.
• Special AI files or markup. Google says Search doesn't use them, and there's no special markup to add for its AI features.

Common questions

Does ChatGPT use Google or Bing?

OpenAI names its own search crawler, OAI-SearchBot. Microsoft says Bing also powers AI tools like ChatGPT. So it's worth adding your site to Bing Webmaster Tools as well as Google Search Console. Both are free.

Should I block AI crawlers?

Only the ones you don't want. You can block the training crawlers, like GPTBot and ClaudeBot, if you'd rather your pages weren't used for training. Leave the search crawlers open if you want assistants to recommend you: OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot and PerplexityBot.

Do I need an llms.txt file?

It isn't needed. An llms.txt file is a proposed summary of a site for AI tools. Google says Search doesn't use it. In June 2025, a Google search advocate said no AI system was using it. Having one does no harm.

How do I find out whether AI assistants mention my business?

Ask them what a customer would ask. For example: "Who does boiler repairs near [your town]?" Try a few assistants and note who they name. Google Search Console now reports how often your pages appear in Google's AI features. Bing Webmaster Tools has a similar report for Copilot.

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Sitecomb checks whether AI assistants can read and explain your website, as one of its six areas. It looks at your AI crawler rules, structured data and link previews. It also checks the site describes the business in plain words. The full report costs €9.99.