How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI

When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity for a recommendation, the answer is built from pages the assistant can read and sources it trusts. Showing up there is called generative engine optimisation, or GEO. The good news: it rewards the same fundamentals as good SEO, done carefully.

1. Make sure AI crawlers can actually read your site

Many hosting companies now block unknown bots by default, and that often includes AI crawlers and even social media previews. Check your hosting security settings and your robots.txt, and confirm that pages load as plain HTML rather than only after heavy JavaScript runs.

2. Answer specific questions in plain language

Assistants quote pages that answer a question directly. For every service, write short paragraphs that answer what it is, who it is for, how long it takes and what it costs. A clear "from $499" beats a page full of adjectives.

3. Describe your business with structured data

Schema markup tells machines who you are without guessing: your name, services, branches, phone numbers, opening hours, founder and reviews. Add Organization and LocalBusiness data for every branch, FAQPage for your questions and Article for your guides.

4. Keep your details identical everywhere

Your name, address and phone number should match exactly on your website, every Google Business Profile, Facebook, LinkedIn and directories. Inconsistent details make it harder for search engines and assistants to be confident about you.

5. Earn real reviews and mentions

AI answers lean heavily on what others say about you. Ask happy clients for Google reviews that mention the service and the area, and aim to be mentioned in articles, lists and interviews in your industry.

6. Add an llms.txt file

An llms.txt file at the root of your site gives AI tools a clean summary of who you are and links to your most important pages. It takes an hour to write and makes their job easier.

A quick checklist

• AI and social crawlers are allowed by your hosting and robots.txt
• Every service page answers what, who, how long and how much
• Structured data for your organisation, branches, FAQs and articles
• Identical name, address and phone everywhere
• A steady flow of genuine reviews
• An up-to-date llms.txt and sitemap

None of this is a trick. It is simply making your business easy to understand, for people and for machines.