Will ChatGPT recommend your business? How to check, and what to fix

AI tools name the businesses they can read, can describe in one sentence, and can see other people talking about.

Quick answer. Make sure your website lets the AI crawlers in, get indexed by Bing as well as Google, describe what you do the same way everywhere, and answer real customer questions plainly. Then ask ChatGPT the question your customer would ask, and see who it names.

I've spent this week talking about AI, and one question keeps coming back. If my next customer asks ChatGPT who to call, will it say my name?

It's a fair question. Plenty of people looking for a physio, a bookkeeper or a dance teacher no longer scroll through ten blue links. They ask an AI assistant and work from the shortlist it gives them. If you're not on that list, you never get the chance to compete.

The flip side is the good bit. Someone who arrives because an AI recommended you is already half sold. The AI has told them why you fit before they've even seen your website.

When I checked 100 Eastern Suburbs service businesses in August, 62 weren't named when I asked Google's AI the question a customer would ask. (Here's the full study. I ran those checks logged in to my own Google account, so treat them as a snapshot, not a ranking.) Most of those businesses weren't doing anything wrong. They just hadn't given the AI enough to work with.

Here's how I'd approach it, in the order I'd do it.

Start by asking the AI yourself

Before you fix anything, find out where you stand. Open ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude and ask the question your customer would ask. Something like "Who's the best [what you do] for [who you help] in [your suburb]?"

Write down who gets named, and which websites the AI points to as its sources. That's your baseline, and those source sites tell you where your competitors are being talked about.

Can the AI actually get into your website?

This is the one that catches people out. ChatGPT uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot to find websites for its search answers. OpenAI says sites that block it won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers.

To check, type your web address followed by /robots.txt into your browser. If you see "Disallow: /" under OAI-SearchBot, or under "User-agent: *", the door is shut.

Two things worth knowing.

• OpenAI has a separate crawler, GPTBot, for training its models. You can block GPTBot and still allow OAI-SearchBot, so you can opt out of training without disappearing from search answers.
• Your robots.txt can be perfect and you can still be blocked by a security setting. If your site sits behind Cloudflare or a security plugin, look for an option to block AI bots.

OpenAI says it can take around 24 hours for a robots.txt change to register.

Does Bing know you exist?

Most founders set up Google Search Console and stop there. OpenAI says ChatGPT can also find pages through third-party search providers, so it's worth being properly indexed by Bing too.

Bing Webmaster Tools is free, and it lets you import your site straight from Google Search Console. Submit your sitemap while you're there.

Can the AI describe you in one sentence?

If your website says one thing, your Google Business Profile says another and your Instagram bio says something else again, the AI has to guess. It usually guesses someone clearer.

Write one plain sentence about who you help and what you do, and use it everywhere. Website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and any directories you're listed in. Same business name, same suburb, same description.

Do you answer the questions customers actually ask?

AI assistants are trying to answer a question. Make it easy for them to quote you.

• Use the real question as a heading. "How much does a bathroom renovation cost in Sydney?" beats "Pricing".
• Answer it in the first two sentences, then explain.
• Add a short FAQ section to your key pages, using questions from your actual enquiries.
• Ask whoever looks after your site to add schema markup, a small block of code that labels your business, services and FAQs for machines.

Is there anything on your site only you could have written?

Generic copy gives an AI nothing to quote. If your services page reads like every other services page in your category, there's no reason to name you over anyone else.

Publish the things only you know. How you actually work. Typical price ranges and timeframes. Your opinions on what people in your industry get wrong. Real examples, with permission.

Is anyone else vouching for you?

Telling the AI you're good is one thing. Other people saying it is what makes it believable.

Google reviews are the quickest win, so ask every happy customer. After that, look at local directories, industry associations, podcast guest spots, local press and partner businesses who'd happily link to you.

How do you know it's working?

OpenAI says ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to the links it sends, so you can see those visits in Google Analytics. In GA4, go to Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic acquisition. Change the dimension to Session source / medium and search for chatgpt.

Then run your baseline test again every month. You're looking for your name to start appearing, and for the source sites to start including yours.

What I did on my own site

I went through this on humantheory.com.au. I added schema markup for the business, services and FAQs, built a local page for Bondi and the Eastern Suburbs, verified my Google Business Profile and added an llms.txt file.

One honest note on llms.txt. It's a proposed standard for giving AI tools a simple map of your site, and adding one does no harm. But OpenAI's published guidance focuses on letting OAI-SearchBot in, so I'd do everything above first.

Want to know where you stand?

AI Discoverability is one of the ten growth channels scored in the free HALO™ Leakage Map. It uses real data from your website, Instagram and public listings, and shows you where you're losing work you already earned.

If you would rather just jump on a quick call, to chat through what's holding your business back: grab a time here

FAQs

Should I block GPTBot?
That's your call. GPTBot collects content that may be used to train OpenAI's models. OAI-SearchBot decides whether you can appear in ChatGPT search answers. OpenAI treats them separately, so you can block one and allow the other.

Do I need an llms.txt file?
It's optional. It does no harm, but OpenAI's own guidance for appearing in ChatGPT search is about allowing OAI-SearchBot, so start there.

How long until ChatGPT starts recommending me?
There's no fixed timeline. OpenAI says robots.txt changes take around 24 hours to register. Indexing can take days or weeks, and building a reputation on your topic takes months of consistent publishing.

Is this just about ChatGPT?
No. Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews all answer customer questions too. The basics here are good practice for all of them, though each works a little differently.

Sources. OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI Crawlers. OpenAI, Publishers and Developers FAQ. Human Theory, 100 Eastern Suburbs businesses AI visibility study.