How do I get my business showing up in ChatGPT and AI search?
Mostly the same things that get you found on Google, done properly. AI tools like ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode do not have some separate ranking system you can hack. They lean on the same signals search has always rewarded: a well-ranked website, genuine reviews, and other people online talking about you by name. A handful of technical tricks doing the rounds right now, like adding an llms.txt file or piling on extra schema markup, make barely any difference. The businesses actually showing up worked on the fundamentals, not the shortcuts.
That is good news if you have already been doing the basics right. It is also why there is no quick fix if you have not.
The nine-step checklist
1. Check whether you already rank for the searches that matter
AI Overviews and AI Mode mostly pull from pages that are already ranking well in normal search. If your site is not on page one for "your service in your town", it is very unlikely to be pulled into an AI answer for that same search.
What to do: Search your key services in Google and see where you land. Anything outside the top ten is the real priority, not the AI layer on top.
2. Sort your Google Business Profile before anything else
For local searches, AI answers lean heavily on the same map-pack data as normal search. A missing, thin or unclaimed profile is a bigger gap than any AI-specific fix.
What to do: Claim it if you have not, fill in every field, add real photos, and pick accurate categories.
3. Get genuine reviews, and keep them coming
Businesses with more reviews and higher ratings get cited more often, both in AI answers and in normal local results. A steady flow beats a one-off push.
What to do: Ask every happy customer. Send the direct link. Do not stop once you hit ten.
4. Write pages that actually answer the question
AI tools favour content that clearly and directly answers a real question, the way a knowledgeable person would explain it face to face. Thin pages that exist purely to target a keyword tend to get skipped.
What to do: For each service, write the page as if you are answering the question a customer actually asked you last week.
5. Get mentioned on other websites, by name
This is the one most business owners miss. AI tools give real weight to your business being talked about elsewhere: local directories, press coverage, other business owners recommending you, "best of" style roundups. It matters more than backlinks in the traditional SEO sense.
What to do: Get properly listed on the local directories and citation sites that matter for your area. Ask happy customers or other local businesses to mention you if the opportunity is genuine.
6. Try to land in a "best of" or "top X in [town]" list
A meaningful share of AI answers for "best plumber in Sutton Coldfield" style questions are built from exactly these roundup articles. Being in one is one of the strongest single things you can do.
What to do: Look for local blogs, local papers or community sites that publish these lists, and ask to be included or write a case for why you should be.
7. Keep your name, address and phone number identical everywhere
AI tools, like search engines, are more confident recommending a business when the details line up consistently across your website, your Business Profile and every directory.
What to do: Pick one format and make sure it matches, word for word, everywhere you appear.
8. Do not bother chasing schema markup or an llms.txt file for this
Both get talked about a lot online right now. The evidence does not back either one up as something that moves the needle for AI citations. Schema is still worth having for other reasons, mainly helping search engines understand your pages properly, but it will not get you cited more often.
What to do: If a developer has already added these, leave them. Do not pay extra for either as an "AI visibility" fix.
9. Be patient, and keep the basics strong
AI search is still a small slice of how people find businesses, well under one per cent of search traffic today. It is worth doing properly because it is only going to grow, but it should never come at the expense of the things that already bring in most of your enquiries.
What to do: Treat this as a long-term layer on top of solid SEO and a strong Business Profile, not a separate project.
Showing up in a normal search and being mentioned by an AI tool are not quite the same thing
This is the bit that trips people up.
Ranking in Google search results
This is the traditional game: your page needs to be relevant, well-built, and trusted enough to appear on page one. You can check this yourself any time by searching your own services.
Being mentioned in an AI answer
This depends on all of the above, plus whether AI tools can find your business talked about independently elsewhere: reviews, directories, roundups, other people's websites. You cannot fully control this the way you can control your own site, which is exactly why the mentions matter so much.
A business can rank perfectly well in normal search and still get missed by an AI answer, usually because nobody else online is talking about them. That gap is what steps 5 and 6 above are for.
What you can fix yourself, and what needs help
You can do this yourself
- Claiming and completing your Google Business Profile
- Asking customers for reviews
- Making sure your name, address and phone number match everywhere
- Reaching out about local "best of" roundups and directory listings
Worth getting help with
- Writing service pages that genuinely answer the question, rather than just targeting a keyword
- Working out why you are not ranking for searches you should win
- Building the kind of website that ranks well enough to be considered for AI answers in the first place
If you would rather someone just looked at it for you
Everything above is doable on your own, and if you work through it you will probably find the improvement. If you would rather not, we will check where you currently stand in both normal search and AI answers, and send you a short written review of what is worth doing first. No charge, no obligation, and no sales call unless you ask for one.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pay to appear in ChatGPT or Google's AI answers?
No. There is no paid product for this today. Anyone offering to sell you guaranteed AI visibility is selling something that does not exist yet.
Does adding schema markup help me get mentioned by AI tools?
Not in any way the evidence currently supports. It is still worth having for other reasons, but treat it as good practice, not an AI fix.
Is llms.txt worth setting up?
No. Independent research checking well over 100,000 sites found almost none of them got any traffic from it, and nothing fetched most of them at all. Skip it.
Will AI search replace normal Google search for finding local businesses?
Not yet, and not soon. AI answers currently make up a small fraction of how people search. The map pack and normal search results still do the vast majority of the work for local businesses.
Why does a competitor with a worse website get mentioned by AI tools and I don't?
Almost always reviews, directory listings, or other websites talking about them. It is rarely about their website being technically better than yours.