How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT

To get your business recommended by ChatGPT, make your own website the clearest, most specific source of information about what you do, where, and for whom, and make sure AI search crawlers can read it. Then earn mentions on the lists, reviews and local articles that AI assistants also draw from.

There's no shortcut and no guarantee. Here's how to get recommended by ChatGPT based on the evidence available so far, rather than guesswork.

Where does ChatGPT get its recommendations?

AI assistants pull from a mix of sources, and for ChatGPT your own website is the biggest one. One analysis of citations found ChatGPT cited brand websites 68.8% of the time, with lists, comparisons and reviews at 13.9% and editorial at 11.9%.

Other assistants lean more on third parties. The same analysis put Perplexity at 35.4% brand sites, 34.4% lists and reviews and 25.2% editorial, and Google AI Mode at 37.9%, 33.1% and 23.8%.

The practical read: your website matters most for ChatGPT, but what others say about you still counts.

Step 1: Make your website answer real questions

AI assistants quote pages that answer questions plainly. A homepage that says "Quality you can trust" gives them nothing to work with.

For each service, your site should state:

• What the service is, in plain words
• Who it's for and which towns you serve
• Starting prices, if you can share them
• How to book or get a quote
• Common questions, with direct answers

Put the answer in the first sentence or two of each page. That's the part most likely to be quoted.

Step 2: Get indexed in Bing

Being in Bing's index appears to matter for ChatGPT, but it isn't enough on its own. One study claimed an 87% overlap between ChatGPT citations and Bing results; a 400-query replication found 27.4% and called Bing indexing "necessary but not sufficient."

So submit your sitemap through Bing Webmaster Tools, confirm your pages are indexed, then keep going.

Step 3: Let AI search crawlers in

Plenty of sites block AI crawlers without the owner knowing. Check your robots.txt and your hosting settings.

Cloudflare now lets sites allow or block AI crawlers by type: Search, Agent and Training. New domains added from September 15, 2026 block Training and Agent bots by default on pages with ads.

The category that matters most for being recommended is Search. If search crawlers can't read your pages, assistants can't cite them.

Step 4: Add structure machines can read

Schema markup tells search engines and AI systems your business name, address, hours, services and service area in a standard format. A sitemap lists every page you want found.

An llms.txt file is a newer, plain-text summary of your site aimed at AI tools. It's cheap to add and doesn't hurt.

Step 5: Earn mentions elsewhere

Lists, comparisons, reviews and editorial make up a real share of AI citations, especially outside ChatGPT. In practice:

• Keep your Google Business Profile complete and current
• Ask happy customers for reviews in their own words
• Get listed in local directories and industry associations
• Say yes when a local publication or partner wants to mention you

None of this is new. It's the same reputation work that has always helped local businesses, now read by a new audience.

Step 6: Don't mass-produce content

Pumping out dozens of AI-written pages is a risk, not a shortcut. Google's September 2026 spam update, which began September 24, 2026, targets unedited AI-generated content pipelines, while AI-assisted content with real human editing is fine.

Write fewer pages, make each one specific to your business, and have a person check every one before it goes live.

What can't you control?

No one can promise you'll be recommended by ChatGPT. The models change, the sources shift, and the studies above are snapshots, not rules.

What you can control is being the clearest, most accurate source about your own business. That tends to help with Google, with AI assistants and with the people reading your site.

Where Papaya fits

Every website we build includes schema markup, a sitemap, an llms.txt file and a robots.txt that allows AI search crawlers. Ongoing SEO and AI-search work, such as new content, Google Business Profile posts and reporting, is quoted per scope; the details are on our SEO page. For a fixed quote, use the contact form.

Common questions

Does my business need to be on Bing to show up in ChatGPT?

Bing indexing appears to be necessary but not sufficient for ChatGPT visibility. Submit your sitemap in Bing Webmaster Tools, then keep working on clear website content and outside mentions.

Should I block AI crawlers on my website?

If you want AI assistants to recommend you, allow AI search crawlers. Cloudflare lets sites allow or block AI crawlers separately by Search, Agent and Training, so you can allow search and decide on the others yourself.

Does AI-written content hurt my chances of being recommended?

Unedited, mass-produced AI content is a risk, and Google's September 2026 spam update targets those pipelines. AI-assisted content that a person has properly edited is fine.