How AI answers pick a business
When someone asks ChatGPT or Google for a business like yours near them, the answer is not random. Both systems search the web, read pages they are allowed to read, and summarize what they find, with links to the sources. If your business is hard to find, hard to read or inconsistent, someone else gets named.
Google says there are no extra requirements and no special optimizations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. To be shown as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet, according to Google's guide to AI features. In other words, normal good SEO is the foundation.
ChatGPT search works in a similar way. OpenAI says any public website can appear in ChatGPT search, that it sometimes works with third-party search providers, and that for local questions it can use your approximate location. OpenAI also says placement is not guaranteed and that results are ranked on multiple factors. Nobody can promise you a spot, but you can make your business easy to pick.
Step 1: Let the right crawlers in
An AI system can't recommend a site it isn't allowed to read. Your robots.txt file, and sometimes your hosting firewall, decide which bots get in. The names matter, because each bot does a different job.
- OAI-SearchBot is the crawler that surfaces websites in ChatGPT search. OpenAI's crawler documentation says sites that block it won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers. Allow it.
- GPTBot collects content that may be used to train OpenAI's models. It is controlled separately, so blocking GPTBot does not remove you from ChatGPT search. Whether to allow it is your choice.
- ChatGPT-User visits a page when a person in ChatGPT asks about it. OpenAI says it is not used to decide what appears in search.
- Google-Extended controls whether Google can use your content for Gemini training and grounding. Google's crawler documentation says it does not affect inclusion in Google Search and is not a ranking signal. AI Overviews come from regular Google Search crawling, so Googlebot is what matters there.
If you want to keep a page out of AI Overviews, Google's controls are the same as for normal snippets: nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet or noindex. For most local businesses the goal is the opposite, so check that nothing is blocked by mistake. Some security and CDN settings block AI bots by default, and OpenAI asks sites to allow its published IP ranges.
Step 2: Complete your Google Business Profile
For local searches, your Google Business Profile carries a lot of weight. Google's guide to optimizing for generative AI says a Business Profile can help local businesses be visible in AI responses as well as regular results. Google's local ranking tips explain that local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and that you can't pay for a better local ranking.
- Use your real business name, with no added keywords or cities.
- Pick the main category that says what you are, like dentist, plumber or hair salon.
- Set your real service area, hours, phone number and website.
- Add real photos of your work, your team and your location.
- Reply to reviews, good and bad.
Breaking the profile rules can get it suspended, which removes you from Maps entirely. Our guide on why Google suspends Business Profiles covers the rules that catch local businesses most often.
Step 3: Publish clear service and area pages
AI answers quote pages that answer the question directly. A homepage that says "quality work since day one" tells a machine very little. A page called "Emergency plumbing in Plano, TX" that explains what you do, what is included, how fast you respond and how to book or get a quote tells it a lot.
- One page per main service, such as cleanings and implants for a dental office, or brake repair and oil changes for an auto shop.
- Pages for the main towns or counties you serve, but only with real, specific content for each. Copy-paste pages with the city name swapped help nobody.
- Your business name, phone and service area in plain text on every page, not only inside an image.
- Who does the work: licenses or certifications, years of experience and the kind of customers you serve.
This is what Google calls helpful, people-first content: written for the customer, showing real experience, and easy to trust.
Step 4: Answer real customer questions
People ask AI tools full questions: how long an appointment takes, whether you take walk-ins, what a service includes. Write those questions on your pages and answer each one in the first sentence or two, then add detail. Use the questions you hear on the phone every week. Put the answers in normal page text so every crawler can read them.
Step 5: Add structured data
Structured data is code that labels your business details for machines. Google says it isn't required for generative AI search, and there is no special markup for AI. It still helps search engines read your name, address, phone, hours and service area without guessing. Google's LocalBusiness structured data guide recommends the most specific business type, such as Dentist, Plumber or AutoRepair, and the details must match what is visible on the page.
One warning: Google doesn't show review stars for reviews a business collects about itself on its own site. Don't add rating markup to your homepage hoping for stars.
Step 6: Earn honest reviews
Reviews are one of the few signals customers and machines both read. Google's local ranking tips say more reviews and positive ratings can help. Ask every customer for an honest review after you've served them, make it easy with a direct link, and reply to every review.
What not to do
- Don't buy reviews, pay for them or offer discounts for them. Google's Maps policy bans it, and the FTC's rule on fake reviews, in effect since October 2024, bans buying and selling them.
- Don't stuff keywords or city names into your business name, page titles or text.
- Don't publish hundreds of near-identical city pages.
- Don't chase AI tricks or fake mentions. Google's guidance is to build helpful, accurate content for people, not to game AI answers.
- Don't block OAI-SearchBot or Googlebot by accident while trying to block training bots.
Your checklist
- robots.txt allows OAI-SearchBot and Googlebot, and your firewall doesn't block them.
- Your site is indexed in Google. Check it in Search Console.
- Google Business Profile complete, verified and following the guidelines.
- The same business name, phone and address on your site, profile and directories.
- One clear page per main service, with the areas you serve.
- Real customer questions answered on your pages.
- LocalBusiness structured data that matches the visible page.
- A simple routine for asking every customer for an honest review.
- ChatGPT traffic tracked in analytics. OpenAI adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to its links.
This is the work we do in our SEO & AEO service for small and local businesses, starting from a site built to be read by people and machines.
Sources
- Overview of OpenAI Crawlers, OpenAI
- Publishers and Developers FAQ, OpenAI Help Center
- Searching the web with ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center
- AI features and your website, Google Search Central
- Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search, Google Search Central
- Google's common crawlers, Google Search Central
- Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data, Google Search Central
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, Google Search Central
- Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, Google Business Profile Help
- Prohibited & restricted content, Maps User Contributed Content Policy Help
- Consumer Review Rule: Questions and Answers, Federal Trade Commission