How to get ChatGPT and other AI to recommend your business, from law firms to restaurants

ChatGPT recommends the businesses it can find, read and trust at the moment someone asks. When a question needs current or local information, ChatGPT searches the web, rewrites the question into searches it sends to partners such as Microsoft, reads the pages and listings that come back, and names the firms that best fit. If your business isn’t in those results, or your website blocks the bots that collect them, it can’t be recommended, however good your work is.

Most of what decides it is in your hands. Here’s how it works, why a business goes missing and what to fix, with tips for law firms, clinics, restaurants, trades, hotels, shops and software firms.

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How does ChatGPT decide which businesses to recommend?

There are two ways a business can turn up in an AI answer. The first is what the model already learned in training, which is why big, long-established names come up even without a search. The second, and the one that matters for most businesses, is a live web search. OpenAI says ChatGPT searches automatically when a question would benefit from current information, and that it can use an approximate location from the person’s IP address, or their device location if they share it, to find nearby businesses.

When it searches, ChatGPT “typically rewrites your query into one or more targeted queries” and sends them to search partners. OpenAI names Microsoft and Shopify, and says it may also use “trusted third-party providers” for things like nearby business listings. For restaurants it can show live tables from OpenTable (worldwide), Resy (US) and Yelp (US and Canada). For products, OpenAI says it weighs structured product data from merchants and third parties, price, availability and reviews from public websites, and that product results “are not ads”.

Google works the same way. Its guide to generative AI search says AI Overviews and AI Mode retrieve pages from Google’s normal search index and use “query fan-out”, firing off several related searches at once. The firms that come up across those searches, with clear and consistent details, are the ones that get named.

Why is my business not showing up on ChatGPT?

The usual reasons, from most to least common:

• Your site blocks AI search bots. Some web hosts, security plugins and firewalls block AI crawlers by default. OpenAI says sites that block OAI-SearchBot “will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers”. Blocking GPTBot, which collects training data, is a separate choice and doesn’t hide you from search. Our guide to blocking AI bots explains which is which.
• Search engines barely know you. If your site doesn’t show up in Google or Bing for your own services and town, AI search won’t find it either.
• Your website doesn’t say what you do. A homepage of slogans and stock photos gives an AI nothing to match. “Family law, wills and probate in Denver” does.
• Your listings are missing or don’t match. Different addresses, phone numbers or opening hours across Google, Bing, Apple Maps and directories make you harder to trust.
• Nobody else mentions you. AI answers lean on what the wider web says: reviews, directories, local press, trade bodies. A business with 12 years of happy clients but almost no online footprint looks invisible.

How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT and AI

1. Let the search bots in. Check your robots.txt (yourdomain.com/robots.txt) and any firewall or hosting setting. Allow OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT), Googlebot, Bingbot, PerplexityBot and Claude-SearchBot. OpenAI says changes take about 24 hours to register.
2. Claim your free listings. Set up and verify a Google Business Profile, Bing Places and Apple Business Connect, with the same name, address, phone number and hours everywhere. Google says local results are based on “relevance, distance, and popularity”, and that complete, accurate profiles are more likely to show up. Google also says there’s no way to pay for a better local ranking.
3. Add your site to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Both are free. They show whether your pages are indexed, and Search Console now has a Generative AI performance report showing how people find you through AI Overviews and AI Mode.
4. Write one clear page per service. Say what you do, for whom, where and roughly what it costs, in plain words a customer would use. A page on “contested wills” or “emergency plumber in Toronto” can match a question in a way a generic services page can’t.
5. Show real experience. Google says the content that does best in AI search is “non-commodity” and gives a “unique point of view”: first-hand answers, real examples, named experts with their credentials. Recycled “7 tips” posts don’t help.
6. Collect genuine reviews and reply to them. Ask happy clients to review you on Google and on the sites that matter in your industry. Reviews feed the “popularity” signal in local search, and AI answers often summarise what reviewers say.
7. Get mentioned in the right places. Trade bodies, professional directories, local news, “best of” lists by real publications and partner websites all tell AI systems you exist and are trusted.

ChatGPT vs Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Claude

Each AI search tool has its own crawler and its own sources, but the basics overlap.

Sources: OpenAI, Google, Perplexity and Anthropic help pages. Last checked October 6, 2026.

Perplexity says firewalls often block its bot by mistake and publishes IP lists to allow. Anthropic says blocking Claude-SearchBot or Claude-User “may reduce your site’s visibility” in Claude’s search answers.

Tips for law firms, restaurants, trades, shops and more

Law firms and accountants. Give each practice area its own page (divorce, child arrangements, wills, probate, conveyancing, tax returns) and name the towns you serve. Add lawyer profiles with qualifications and admissions, and keep your entries current on your regulator’s register and the legal directories that matter where you practise. Check your bar or regulator’s rules before asking clients for reviews or testimonials.

Dentists, doctors, vets and clinics. List every treatment, whether you take new patients, which insurers or public health schemes you work with, prices where you can, and how to book. People ask AI very specific questions (“emergency dentist open Saturday near me”), so opening hours and services need to be right everywhere.

Restaurants, cafés and bars. Keep your menu on your own site as text, not just a PDF or photo. Set up a booking page with OpenTable, Resy or Yelp where they operate, since ChatGPT can show live tables from all three. Dietary options (vegan, gluten-free, halal) are among the details people ask about.

Plumbers, electricians, builders and other trades. Write a page for each service and list the areas you cover by name. Show licences, insurance and trade memberships, and get reviewed on the trade directories customers use in your country.

Hotels, B&Bs and holiday lets. Your own site should spell out the facts AI gets asked about: parking, pets, accessibility, distance to landmarks, check-in times. Keep the same details on booking sites and your Google profile.

Online shops. OpenAI says Shopify product data already reaches ChatGPT through Shopify Catalog, with “no additional work” needed. Other merchants can apply to send ChatGPT a direct product feed. For Google, keep your Merchant Center feed accurate. Paid ChatGPT ads are separate from these product results.

Software and B2B companies. Publish clear pricing, comparison and use-case pages, plus documentation that answers real questions. Reviews on the software review sites your buyers read, and case studies with named customers, help AI tools describe what you do.

What not to waste money on

A whole industry now sells “AEO” (answer engine optimisation) and “GEO” (generative engine optimisation). Google’s own guide says that, for its AI search, this is still just SEO, and lists things you can ignore:

• llms.txt files and special “AI markup”. Google says its search doesn’t use them. They won’t hurt, but they won’t help in Google.
• Chopping pages into tiny chunks or rewriting everything “for AI”. Google says its systems understand synonyms and long pages fine.
• Buying mentions or fake reviews. Google calls inauthentic mentions less helpful than they seem, and its spam systems target them. Fake reviews can also break consumer law in many countries.
• Tools that promise rankings. Google says no third-party tool has access to its internal ranking or AI systems.

How to check if AI recommends your business

Ask the questions your customers ask, in their words, with your town: “best wills lawyer in Manchester”, “emergency plumber near Parramatta”, “vegan brunch in Austin”. Try ChatGPT with search on, Google’s AI Mode, Perplexity and Claude, and open the sources each one cites. Those sources show you where the AI looked. If a competitor keeps appearing, see which directories, reviews and pages it is cited from, and make sure you’re in the same places. Answers change from person to person and day to day, so check every few weeks rather than chasing one result.

Last checked: October 6, 2026, against OpenAI’s ChatGPT search, shopping and crawler pages, Google’s generative AI search and Business Profile guides, Perplexity’s bot page and Anthropic’s crawler page.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business?

Make sure ChatGPT’s search bot (OAI-SearchBot) isn’t blocked, claim and complete your free listings (Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect), write a clear page for each service and area you cover, collect genuine reviews, and get listed in the directories and trade bodies for your industry. ChatGPT names businesses it can find and trust in a live web search.

How does ChatGPT decide which businesses to recommend?

For local and current questions it searches the web, using partners such as Microsoft and third-party business listing providers, plus your approximate location. It then names the businesses whose pages, listings and reviews best match the question. Big brands can also come up from what the model learned in training.

Why is my business not showing up on ChatGPT?

Most often your website blocks AI search bots, search engines barely index it, it doesn’t clearly say what you do and where, your listings are missing or inconsistent, or few other sites mention you. Check your robots.txt for OAI-SearchBot first.

Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?

No. OpenAI says ChatGPT’s product results are not ads and aren’t influenced by partnerships. ChatGPT does show labelled ads separately, and Google says there’s no way to pay for a better local ranking.

Does ChatGPT use Google reviews?

OpenAI doesn’t say which review sites it reads for local businesses. It says it uses third-party listing providers and summarises reviews from public websites for products. Genuine reviews on Google and the main sites in your industry all add to what the web says about you.

How do I get my business in Google AI Overviews?

Google says there are no extra requirements: a page needs to be indexed and eligible for a snippet in normal Google Search. Keep your Google Business Profile and Merchant Center details up to date and follow normal SEO basics.

Do I need an llms.txt file to show up in AI search?

Not for Google, which says its search ignores llms.txt and other special AI files. They don’t hurt, but allowing the AI search bots and having clear pages matters far more.

Can a small business compete with big names in AI search?

Yes, especially for local questions. AI answers to “near me” and town-based questions draw on local listings, reviews and service pages, where a well-described small firm can beat a national brand.

How long does it take to show up in ChatGPT?

OpenAI says robots.txt changes take about 24 hours to register. New listings, pages and reviews can take weeks to be indexed and picked up by search partners, so check every few weeks.

Sources: OpenAI (ChatGPT search), OpenAI (shopping results), OpenAI (crawlers), Google (optimising for generative AI search), Google (AI features and your website), Google Business Profile Help, Perplexity, Anthropic.