How to Get ChatGPT to Recommend Your Business

Can you pay or sign up to get recommended?

No. There is no submission form for ChatGPT's regular answers (more on why ChatGPT doesn't mention your business). OpenAI's help page says ChatGPT "ranks search results using multiple factors intended to help users find relevant, reliable information. Placement is not guaranteed." Google says the same thing about its own local results: "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google."

So anyone who promises you a spot in ChatGPT's answers is promising something the platform itself won't promise. What you control is whether you're eligible and whether the information about you is clear and consistent.

How does ChatGPT find a contractor when someone asks for one?

When a question needs current information, ChatGPT may search the web. OpenAI explains that it rewrites the question into one or more targeted search queries, sometimes sends them to partner search providers (Microsoft is listed among them), and can use an approximate location based on the person's IP address. OpenAI's own example: "good restaurants near me" can become "top restaurants San Francisco."

That matters for you. A homeowner types "roofer near me," but the search that actually runs probably looks more like "roofer Daytona Beach." If your website never says Daytona Beach in plain words, you're harder to match.

Before and after: a homeowner types roofer near me, and the search that probably runs looks more like roofer Daytona Beach. — OpenAI says ChatGPT rewrites a question into search queries and can use an approximate location, so the town ends up in the search.
If your website never says Daytona Beach in plain words, you're harder to match.

OpenAI also says ChatGPT may share location with "trusted third-party providers that help provide more local information, such as nearby business listings." Your listings are part of the picture, not just your website (more on where ChatGPT, Claude and Grok get local business info).

Is your website open to ChatGPT's search crawler?

This is the first thing to check, because it's the most common silent blocker. OpenAI uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot for search. Its documentation says sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot "will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though can still appear as navigational links."

Three things to look at:

robots.txt. Make sure it doesn't block OAI-SearchBot. After you change it, OpenAI says it "can take ~24 hours" for its systems to adjust.
Your host, CDN or firewall. Some security settings block bots before robots.txt even matters. OpenAI asks site owners to allow its published IP ranges (listed at openai.com/searchbot.json).
GPTBot is a separate switch. GPTBot is OpenAI's training crawler. OpenAI documents the two settings as independent, so you can block training and still allow search. Blocking OAI-SearchBot is the one that hides you from search answers.

Two cards: opt out of OAI-SearchBot and you're left out of ChatGPT search answers; GPTBot is a separate training switch. Changes take about 24 hours. — OAI-SearchBot decides whether ChatGPT can show you in search answers; GPTBot is OpenAI's training crawler, and you can block it alone.
Check the search one first. It's the most common silent blocker.

Getting found on Google and in AI answers

Claude works the same way through Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User, which Anthropic says follow robots.txt. xAI doesn't document a crawler for Grok, so there's no Grok line to add.

What should your service pages say?

Write the things a homeowner would ask you on the phone, as plain text on the page:

What you do, one page per service (roof replacement, roof repair, AC install, and so on)
The towns and counties you actually serve, written in sentences
Your state license number, so people can check it. In Florida that's the DBPR public license search.
Insurance, permits you pull, warranty terms, and how long a typical job takes
How to reach you and what happens after someone calls

Checklist: what you do, the towns and counties you serve, your license number, insurance, permits and warranty, and how to reach you. — Services, towns, license number, insurance and warranty, and how to reach you, all written out so a search system can read them.
As plain text on the page.

Google's guidance for its AI features says to make sure "important content is available in textual form" and that any structured data "matches the visible text on the page." A photo gallery with no words around it doesn't tell a search system much.

Structured data helps as hygiene. schema.org has a HomeAndConstructionBusiness type with fields like areaServed and hasCredential. But Google says there's "no special schema.org structured data that you need to add" for its AI features, so treat markup as the label on the box, not the thing in it.

Do your listings and reviews tell the same story?

A search system checking you out will find your Google Business Profile, Bing Places listing, Yelp, BBB, Angi, and whatever trade directories you're on. If your phone number or service area differs between them, you look less certain.

Google Business Profile. Google says businesses with "complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results." If you work out of your house and go to customers, Google's rules say to hide your address and set a service area. Don't stuff "Best Roofer Daytona" into your business name. Google says that "could result in the suspension" of your profile.
Bing Places. Bing says registering helps keep your address, hours, and contact information "current and eligible for inclusion in AI-generated responses." OpenAI names Microsoft among its search partners, so this listing is worth setting up.
Reviews. Google lists reviews as part of prominence. In BrightLocal's survey of 1,002 US adults (published 02/11/2026), 45% said they used ChatGPT or other AI tools for local business recommendations, and 47% said they won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews. Ask every customer, and answer every review. Never buy or fake them: the FTC's rule on consumer reviews bans fake reviews and testimonials.

45% of 1,002 US adults in BrightLocal's survey used ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations; 47% won't use a business under 20 reviews. — BrightLocal's survey ties AI use to reviews: almost half of the adults it asked won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews.
said they used ChatGPT or other AI tools for local business recommendations.

What should you skip?

Keyword stuffing. Google calls it a spam policy violation. In the original research paper on "generative engine optimization," keyword stuffing gave little to no improvement in AI answer visibility.
Special AI files as a shortcut. Google says you don't need "new machine readable files, AI text files, or markup" to appear in its AI features (see SEO vs AEO vs GEO). OpenAI's and Anthropic's crawler pages don't mention llms.txt, and xAI documents no crawler. Don't treat an llms.txt file as the lever.
Anyone selling guaranteed AI placement. See the first section, and whether you can pay to be recommended by ChatGPT.

How do you check whether ChatGPT, Claude or Grok recommends you today?

Open a new chat, make sure web search is on, and ask the way a homeowner would: "Who's a good roofer in [your town]?" Then click Sources and see which sites ChatGPT pulled from. Try a few wordings and try again another day, because answers change (more on how long it takes before AI assistants mention a business). OpenAI itself warns that search results "can be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect."

Then run the same question in Claude with web search on and in Grok, and click their citations. Anthropic says Claude's web search is on every plan, including Free, and that "Every response includes citations." xAI says Grok searches the web and X live, with "Live citations from primary sources across the web."

If you show up, check that what it says is right (more on what an AI visibility audit checks). If you don't, the sources tell you where to look: the directories and sites it trusted for your town are the ones to get accurate on first.

How 3Fold Labs helps

This is the work I do as SEO, AEO and GEO: clear service pages, crawler access, and business details that match across your site and listings. I review what's there, fix what you control, and use the search data available to see whether it's helping. No one can guarantee ChatGPT will name you, including me.

Here's my Getting found on Google and in AI answers.

FAQ

Does my Google Business Profile affect ChatGPT?

OpenAI doesn't publish a list of which listings it uses. It does say ChatGPT may use third-party providers for local business listings, and Google says an up-to-date Business Profile matters for Google's own AI features. Keep it complete and accurate either way.

If I block GPTBot, will ChatGPT stop recommending me?

Not by itself. GPTBot is for training and OAI-SearchBot is for search. OpenAI documents them as separate settings. Blocking OAI-SearchBot is what keeps you out of search answers.

How long does it take to show up after I fix things?

Nobody can give you a fair number. OpenAI says robots.txt changes take about 24 hours to register, but that's only eligibility. Google says some changes show up in hours and others take months.

Do I need a separate strategy for Claude, Grok and Google AI Mode?

Mostly no. For Claude, allow Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User. xAI documents no crawler for Grok, so there's nothing extra to add. Google says its normal SEO best practices apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode.