How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT in 2025

‍How AI Chooses Businesses

At its heart, ChatGPT figures out which businesses to recommend by looking at three main things:

1. The Internet Index: ChatGPT uses Bing's index, not Google's. Microsoft's early investment in OpenAI means Bing is the go-to for ChatGPT's web searches.
2. High-Trust Databases: It pulls information from reliable sources like Reddit, Wikipedia, and Crunchbase.
3. Public Reviews: AI reads and understands what people are saying about businesses online.

Basically, ChatGPT is doing what Google has done for years: trying to figure out if a business is trustworthy based on the information available online. The core idea, similar to Google's PageRank from way back in 1999, is that if trusted sources point to you, you're likely trustworthy too.

ChatGPT vs. Google Search

While Google processes billions of searches daily, ChatGPT handles around 2.5 billion prompts. It's not about AI killing Google; it's about how people use them differently. Users often ask ChatGPT for specific recommendations and then use Google to double-check. Showing up high on Google is a trust signal, and so is being recommended by ChatGPT. When you're visible in both, you've got a powerful advantage.

Here’s what we’ve noticed in client testing: people ask ChatGPT for specific recommendations — “Which marketing agency is best for local SEO?” — then hop over to Google to verify that brand’s credibility. Showing up on both platforms builds a two-way trust loop: ChatGPT introduces you, Google confirms you.

Younger generations are adopting ChatGPT faster, but interestingly, ChatGPT's recommendations often align closely with Bing search results. This means ranking higher on Bing can boost your chances with ChatGPT.

Structuring Content for AI

AI systems, like ChatGPT, prefer content that sounds like a human expert explaining things. Studies show that well-organized, authoritative content gets featured more often in AI answers. 

This means:

• Break content into clear sections. Logical flow helps AI parse meaning.
• Use structured elements. Lists, tables, and FAQs are easily understood by LLMs.
• Write conversationally. Explain as if you’re teaching — not lecturing.
• Show real expertise. Add author names, credentials, and personal observations.
• Cite trusted sources. Link to known sites and recent studies.
• Use question-based subheadings

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E-E-A-T Still Rules

Google’s Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness framework still applies — and now doubles as the foundation for AI relevance. Profiles tied to real people, brands mentioned on reputable sites, and transparent sourcing all make AI systems more confident recommending you.

Framing Subheadings as Questions: Instead of "Best Running Shoes," use "What are the best running shoes for marathon training?" Answer directly and conversationally in the first sentence, repeating the question. Share firsthand experiences, case studies, and statistics. Always link to reputable third-party sources.

Think in Semantic Networks, Not Keywords: Don't just repeat keywords. Use related terms to create a rich web of information around your topic. For example, for Star Wars content, use terms like "lightsaber," "Darth Vader," and "Luke Skywalker" alongside "Star Wars."

Building External Trust Signals

AI doesn’t just read your website — it cross-checks what the rest of the internet says about you.

From our own audits, the businesses that dominate AI recommendations have one thing in common: strong external validation. These are the digital equivalents of “word-of-mouth” credibility

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1. Reviews: The Strongest AI Signal

Unlike Google, where reviews play a supporting role, ChatGPT leans heavily on them to decide who’s trustworthy. It reads not only your Google and Yelp reviews but also discussions on Reddit, Facebook, and niche forums.

Actionable Steps:

• Get reviews on at least three platforms: Google, Facebook, and Yelp (or an industry-specific site).
• Keep your Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) consistent across all listings.
• Ask customers to mention specific services or outcomes - it helps AI associate your brand with those topics.
• Reply to every review, good or bad. Your responses give AI more context about what you do and how you handle customers.
  
  

Example: Instead of replying “Thanks for your review,” try:
“Thanks, Jamie! Glad our same-day AC repair helped before the weekend heat kicked in.”

2. Citations: The Unsung Trust Builders

Citations — listings of your business across the web — are one of the quiet signals that AI uses to confirm your legitimacy.
When your NAP data is inconsistent, AI models treat those mismatches as uncertainty.

Actionable Steps:

• Run a citation scan with BrightLocal, Whitespark, or Moz Local to find mismatches.
• Fix every inconsistency — even small ones like “Ste.” vs. “Suite.”
• Add your business to 30–50 high-authority directories, but prioritize quality over quantity.

In our experience, correcting inconsistent NAP data can lift a business’s local visibility by up to 20% within a few weeks.

3. High-Trust Website Mentions

ChatGPT favors brands mentioned on credible, verifiable sites — what SEO pros call “entity validation.”

Actionable Steps:

• Get listed on:
  
  • Local Chamber of Commerce or city business directories
  • Better Business Bureau (BBB)
  • LinkedIn Company Page
  • Wikidata (structured entity recognition)
  • Industry-specific directories (e.g., Angi, TripAdvisor, Avvo)

Even a few of these authoritative mentions make a measurable difference.
In one internal test, we added a single BBB listing to a client profile - ChatGPT started citing them in “top HVAC contractors” queries within three weeks

4. Local Sponsorships & PR Mentions

AI values real-world credibility, and local sponsorships create exactly that.
Sponsoring a youth sports team, local event, or charity often earns backlinks from city websites and media coverage — both signals of authenticity.

Actionable Steps:

• Partner with one community event each quarter.
• Request a website mention or logo placement linking back to your homepage.
• Repurpose photos or press mentions as content on your own site to reinforce visibility.

Technical SEO for AI: Schema and Robots.txt

AI crawlers need structured signals to understand what your business is and does.

Schema Markup

Schema is structured data that acts as a translator between your website and AI systems.
In plain terms: it labels your content so search engines — and now ChatGPT — can confidently recommend you.

Priority Schema Types:

• Organization Schema — defines your business entity.
  
• Local Business Schema — connects your location, reviews, and hours (add to your GBP landing page).
  
• Article Schema — for blog posts and resources.
  
• Author Schema — reinforces expertise and authenticity.
  
• FAQ Schema — helps AI pull quick, relevant answers.
  
  

Best Practices:

• Use JSON-LD format.
  
• Validate every implementation with Google’s Rich Results Test and Schema.org validator.
  
• Update schema whenever your NAP, team, or service list changes.
  
  

Robots.txt & AI Crawlers

Blocking AI bots means you’re locking yourself out of recommendations.

Actionable Steps:

• Make sure your robots.txt file allows crawling by: GPTBot (OpenAI), Googlebot, Bingbot
• you can test accessibility with tools like Robots.txt Checker.
  

If GPTBot or Bingbot can’t read your pages, ChatGPT can’t recommend you - it’s that simple.

Understanding Customer Questions (Prompt Engineering)

AI search is conversational. Instead of "plumber Houston," customers ask, "I have a leaking water heater in Houston. Who should I call?" To optimize for this:

1. Use AI Prompts: Ask ChatGPT what questions people are asking about your services in your city.
2. Check Online Forums: Look at Reddit, Quora, and Facebook groups for how people discuss local businesses.
3. Analyze Google's "People Also Ask" Section: These questions often convert well into AI prompts.
4. Create Variations: Develop a list of 10-20 customer query variations.
5. Test and Adapt: Test these queries in ChatGPT where your business appears and identify gaps. Then, update your website content, FAQs, and schema to match this language.

Bringing It All Together

AI search isn’t a passing trend,  it’s already shaping how people discover and trust businesses. The companies showing up inside ChatGPT’s answers today are the same ones that invested early in real credibility: verified listings, authentic reviews, consistent data, and content written for humans first.

Stay consistent, keep testing your AI visibility, and you’ll see the compounding effect: more mentions, more recommendations, more customers who find you first.