How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT and Google

For ChatGPT, Gemini and Google to recommend your business, they need to find information about you, understand it and trust it. Below are 7 steps that make that happen. You can check most of them in an evening, even without a developer.

Where do ChatGPT and Google get their recommendations?

An AI assistant doesn’t “know” your business on its own. When someone asks “recommend a renovation company in Tallinn”, the assistant searches the web and builds its answer from the sources it finds.

• Google AI Overviews and AI Mode rely on Google’s regular search index. Google’s documentation says there are “no additional requirements” for them, meaning the same SEO fundamentals apply.
• ChatGPT searches through its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot, and search partners. If your site blocks that crawler, it won’t appear in ChatGPT search answers.
• For local searches, map data and business profiles matter: address, opening hours, reviews.

The takeaway is simple: if you’re not in search, you’re almost certainly not in AI answers either.

Step 1. Let AI crawlers read your website

Open your-site.com/robots.txt and check that it doesn’t block these crawlers:

Crawler	Owner	What it’s for
OAI-SearchBot	OpenAI	ChatGPT search: this is how your site gets into answers
ChatGPT-User	OpenAI	Opens a page when a user asks ChatGPT to read it
GPTBot	OpenAI	Collects data for training models
Googlebot	Google	Regular Google Search, including AI Overviews
Google-Extended	Google	Use of content for Gemini (doesn’t affect Google Search)
PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot	Perplexity, Anthropic	Search and answers in these assistants

An important detail for JavaScript websites: many AI crawlers don’t run scripts. If your text only appears after JavaScript loads, the crawler sees an empty page. To check, open a page, choose “View page source” (Ctrl+U) and search for your main heading. If it isn’t there, you have a problem.

Step 2. Make sure your site is in Google and Bing

• Connect Google Search Console and submit your sitemap (sitemap.xml).
• Check the “Page indexing” report: are all important pages indexed?
• Add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing is used not only by people but also by a number of AI services.

Step 3. Say plainly who you are, what you do, where and for whom

AI quotes text where the answer comes first and is specific. Compare:

“We create innovative solutions for your comfort”

“Turnkey apartment renovation in Tallinn and Harju County. We speak Estonian, Russian and English, free quote, 2-year warranty”

AI can retell and recommend the second one. Not the first. What helps:

• The first paragraph of every page is the answer. What it is, for whom, where, what it costs.
• Headings as your clients’ questions: “How much does a bathroom renovation cost?”, “How long does installation take?”.
• One page, one topic. A separate page for each service, not everything on the homepage.
• Facts and numbers: “from” prices, timelines, areas, languages, number of completed jobs.
• Short blocks, lists and tables instead of a long wall of text.

Step 4. Add structured data (JSON-LD)

Structured data is a machine-readable description of a page that visitors don’t see: company name, address, services, prices, questions and answers.

To be honest: Google says it isn’t required for its AI features. But it removes ambiguity, enables rich results in search and helps other systems connect your name, address and services correctly. The main rule: the data must match the visible text on the page.

A minimum set for a small business: Organization or LocalBusiness, Service for services, FAQPage for questions and Article for blog posts.

Step 5. Complete your Google Business Profile

For a local business this may be the most underrated step. Sometimes AI recommends a company not from regular results but straight from the map.

• Choose an exact primary category and add your services.
• Add opening hours, service area, phone number and website.
• Upload real photos: your work, your team, your premises.
• Ask clients for reviews and reply to every one. Specific reviews work best: what was done, where and how fast.

Step 6. Collect mentions of you on other websites

AI trusts what several independent sources confirm. What helps:

• business directories and industry portals with the same name, address and phone number everywhere;
• partners and clients who link to you;
• LinkedIn, articles, interviews, talks;
• your own blog with your own data and conclusions. Mention your brand next to numbers and facts so it’s easier to quote.

Step 7. Check the results every month

1. Make a list of 5–10 questions your clients ask: “best … in Tallinn”, “how much does … cost in Estonia”.
2. Ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google these questions once a month.
3. Log in a spreadsheet: are you mentioned, who is recommended instead of you, and which sources are cited.
4. Check Google Search Console to see which queries you appear for.

The sources AI cites are a ready-made list of places where you should be present.

What not to do

• Don’t buy fake reviews or mentions. It breaks platform rules and undermines trust.
• Don’t stuff your copy with keywords “for AI”. AI understands plain human language well, and keyword stuffing puts readers off.
• Don’t waste time on “secret” files and tricks. Google says plainly it doesn’t need special AI markup or files.

In short: checklist

• AI crawlers aren’t blocked in robots.txt
• Text is visible in the page source, not only after JavaScript
• Site added to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
• The first paragraph of every page is a direct answer
• A separate page for each service
• JSON-LD: company, services, FAQ
• Completed Google Business Profile and fresh reviews
• Monthly check of your queries in ChatGPT and Google

If you’d like this done for you, in the Google and AI visibility service I audit your site and fix everything on this list. My promise: within 3 months after the work, your site will move up in search or appear there, provided Google can index it. And if you’re only planning a website, see how much a website costs in Estonia.