How to Get Your Business Cited by ChatGPT and AI Search

People are asking ChatGPT to recommend a solicitor. A dentist. A web design agency. A plumber. And ChatGPT is answering with specific business names.

The businesses it recommends are getting calls from people who never visited their website, never saw a Google result and never read a review. They just asked an AI tool and made a decision based on what it said.

If your business is not being cited — someone else's is.

Here is what actually determines whether AI tools mention you.

It Is Not the Same as Google SEO — But It Is Not That Different Either

Google ranks pages. AI tools answer questions.

When someone types into Google they get a list of results and choose one. When someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity they get a single answer — sometimes with a business name in it, sometimes without.

That single answer is worth more than any ranking position. It is the whole result.

Getting into it requires the same foundations as good SEO — but applied differently.

What AI Tools Are Actually Looking For

AI tools do not have access to a secret database of trusted businesses. They learn from everything that has been written about you across the internet — your website, your reviews, your mentions in other publications, your Google Business Profile, directories you appear in and the language real clients use when describing what you do.

The businesses that appear most consistently in AI-generated answers share the same characteristics.

Their website answers specific questions. Not "we offer physiotherapy services." But — what does physiotherapy actually involve, who is it for, how long does it take, what conditions does it treat. AI tools look for content that answers the question someone is asking. Keyword-targeted pages without real depth get ignored.

They are mentioned by sources other than themselves. ChatGPT trusts what other people say about a business more than what the business says about itself. Industry directories, professional body listings, press mentions, detailed client reviews — these are all signals that tell AI tools your business is real, active and worth recommending.

Their information is consistent everywhere. Name, address, phone number, services, opening hours — consistent across your website, your Google Business Profile and every directory you appear in. Inconsistency confuses AI models the same way it confuses Google. This is the core of local SEO done properly.

They have a strong, recent review profile. A 4.8 rating with 120 detailed recent reviews is a credible citation. An 11-review profile with a 3.6 rating is not. The language inside those reviews — clients describing specific treatments, outcomes, services — also gives AI tools additional signals about what your business actually does.

The Practical Steps

Rewrite your service pages around questions, not keywords.

The shift from Google search to AI SEO is a shift from keywords to questions. "Dentist Islington" becomes "who is the best dentist in Islington for invisible braces?" Your service pages need to answer those questions directly — not hint at answers while optimising for a keyword.

Start each service page with a direct answer to the question that page addresses. Then build around it with depth, specificity and genuine expertise.

Get your business mentioned by sources that are not you.

Ask yourself honestly — if someone searched for information about your industry or your area, would your business name appear anywhere other than your own website?

If not, that is the problem to solve. Get listed in relevant directories. Earn mentions in local or industry publications. Make sure your Google Business Profile is fully built out. Build the kind of presence that tells AI tools your business exists and is credible — before they are asked about it.

Add schema markup to your website.

Schema markup is code that tells AI tools and search engines exactly what your business is — type, location, services, hours, reviews. Without it, they are guessing. With it, you are telling them directly.

If your website does not have correct schema markup implemented, that is a straightforward technical fix that makes an immediate difference to how AI tools understand and reference your business. It is one of the first things we check in a technical SEO audit.

Generate more detailed reviews.

Not just more stars — more words. A client who writes "Julian is an exceptional PT who helped me lose 12kg in three months through a structured strength programme" gives AI tools far more to work with than "Great service, 5 stars."

Ask clients to describe the specific problem they came to you with and the specific outcome they achieved. Those descriptions are content — and they work for you in AI search, Google search and reputation simultaneously.

The Honest Reality

AI search visibility is not a hack. There is no single thing you do this week that gets you cited by ChatGPT next week.

What it is — is an authority strategy. Businesses that are genuinely authoritative in their sector, consistently mentioned across credible sources, well-reviewed and clearly structured online are the ones AI tools recommend. That takes time to build. But it compounds.

The practical starting point is understanding exactly where you stand — which signals you have in place, which are missing and what the gap looks like compared to the businesses already being cited in your sector.

That is what a proper SEO audit tells you. Not just how your website performs — but how the full picture of your online presence looks to the AI tools that are increasingly deciding which businesses get recommended.

If you want a clear answer on where your business stands today, start with a free website review.