I’ve started noticing a shift in how people are searching for things online. And that’s that people are increasingly asking AI questions instead of going to Google first. Claude, ChatGPT, and other AI tools are seemingly faster and responding very well. So, it’s natural that people would start using these tools to search for things. It really does do a lot of the research for you.
For example, my husband searched for a plumber in our area. We’ve recently had a really bad experience with another plumber, and we’ve learned our lesson. He asked ChatGPT a series of questions that ended up finding a remarkable plumber for us who helped us with exactly what we needed and in an honest way.
I know we aren’t the only ones who are searching for things similarly and using AI to do it. Because of that, businesses now have another place where they can potentially be discovered. Let me be clear though: There is no magic button that is going to MAKE ChatGPT recommend your business. But you CAN work to make it easier for AI systems to find, understand, verify, and reference your business online.
And I’m going to talk about how.
First, What Exactly Is AI Search?
AI search can be explained as platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Claude, and others. Instead of simply returning a page of links like Google does, these systems can assemble an answer using information that is retrieved from multiple sources.
More and more, visibility isn’t only about ranking as a traditional blue link on the front page. Your website can also contribute information and be cited inside an AI-generated answer. And your goal with this new technology is not to trick it. It’s to make your business extremely easy to understand.
Here’s how.
1. Make It Obvious What Your Business Does
Start by visiting the homepage of your website and ask yourself whether a stranger could determine what you do, who you help, and what products or services you offer. Can they tell this within seconds? Can they tell where you operate your business, if location matters?
You don’t want AI, Google, or even humans to have to decipher clever marketing language. Make sure the pages on your website or blog are strong. Specifically, pages like About, Services, Product, Contact, and any location pages that you have. For example, if you’re a professional organizer, instead of saying “Helping you live your best life,” you might say, “Professional home organization and unpacking services for busy families in Austin, TX.”
Being specific beats being mysterious.
2. Create Content That Answers the Questions Your Customers Actually Ask
You don’t want to just blog about things because someone told you that every business needs to have a blog. Use the text on your website or blog to answer the questions people are asking prior to hiring you or buying from you. This is where understanding how to figure out what your target audience is searching for online comes in.
If you’re a mobile dog groomer, you might ask questions like:
- How does mobile dog grooming work?
- Is mobile grooming better for anxious dogs?
- How often should a Goldendoodle be groomed?
A meal prep company might ask questions like:
- How long do prepared meals last?
- Can meal prep services accommodate allergies?
- Is meal prep cheaper than takeout?
AI systems need useful information to retrieve. And more and more, searches are becoming more conversational. Your content should answer real questions in a conversational tone too.
3. Give AI Something That Generic Content Can’t Provide
AI can already summarize basic and generic information. The goal is to add MORE so you are the standout choice. And your advantage here is to share what you actually know. Firsthand experiences, original examples, and specific processes do really well. Case studies, photos, comparisons, and data collected are helpful. Questions that your customers are repeatedly asking are very important, like I mentioned. And your opinions based on professional experience are great too!
A wedding planner who has coordinated 300 weddings can explain what ACTUALLY causes wedding timelines to run late. That’s considerably more useful than another generic article called “10 Tips for Planning the Perfect Wedding.” No one is clicking that.
Your experience and advice are searchable information too.
4. Make Sure Your Business Is Consistent Across the Internet
I struggle with this one, not gonna lie. But it’s important to remember that AI doesn’t exist inside your website alone. Work to keep your business information accurate across your website, Google Business Profile, social media, review platforms, or any relevant industry directories.
Things like your business name, services, location, website, hours, and other core information shouldn’t contradict one another. Anytime you have independent mentions, reviews, links, or reputable citations, they can also help to establish that your business exists beyond what even you say about yourself.
I’m in the weeds a bit; thanks for hanging in there with me. You want all the text and verbiage about your business to be the same and not confusing. Make it easier in this way for AI to find you.
5. Don’t Forget the Boring Technical Stuff
I’m going to keep this part brief because not everyone geeks out on this stuff like me. You’re here though, so maybe you do! Basically, great content can’t be surfaced if systems can’t properly access it. Your important pages should be indexable. Use clear titles and headings. Make sure to use structured data when appropriate. And make sure your website isn’t accidentally blocking search crawlers.
There’s also now a very concrete ChatGPT-specific check. If you want your public website eligible to appear in ChatGPT Search, OpenAI says you should allow OAI-SearchBot to crawl it. OAI-SearchBot controls search discovery separately from GPTBot, which is associated with potential model training.
ChatGPT helped me to learn that. I did not know that on my own. But it’s a GREAT piece of info that you should tuck away for later.
6. Keep Your Information Current
AI doesn’t need the hours you were open in 2023. It doesn’t want your discontinued services or an old pricing page. Make sure to update important pages anytime you have changes that happen in your business. Refresh older articles when information has become outdated.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. You can geek out over how to do this and exactly why. Basically, you just need to make sure that your information is current so it gives AI the right information to send to the customer who is actively searching for what you offer.
7. Track Whether AI Is Actually Finding You
The key is to stop optimizing blindly. Look for ChatGPT referral traffic in analytics. Use Google Search Console to monitor your overall Google Search performance, including traffic from Google’s AI search experiences. Periodically search the questions your customers are searching, but don’t get stuck if it looks like you’re not ranking. It means you just have more work to do.
You can’t improve if you aren’t paying attention to the analytics. Paying attention will show you what’s working and what’s not. So, stop burying your head in the sand about it because it truly is useful information.
The Content Maven Takeaway
You don’t need to throw away everything you’ve learned about SEO and start only focusing on AI marketing. A lot of this is still that you need to be clear, useful, credible, and crawlable.
Traditional search functions still matter, and they will for a while. What’s changing is where and how that information can be surfaced. Don’t let your goal be only to make sure that ChatGPT recommends you. A better question to ask is: Have you given the internet enough clear, useful, trustworthy information to understand exactly who your business is? And to understand what you’re good at? If the answer is no, then that’s where you start.
Do you want to make your business easier to find online? That’s exactly what I teach here at The Content Maven. Subscribe to The Daily Pour for practical search, content, platform, and creator-industry updates that you can actually use, without spending your entire day trying to keep up!
FAQ
Can I make my business show up in ChatGPT?
There is no way to guarantee that ChatGPT will recommend or cite a specific business. However, OpenAI says public websites can appear in ChatGPT Search, and allowing OAI-SearchBot helps make your website eligible to be discovered and surfaced in search results. OpenAI Help Center
Do I need SEO to show up in AI search?
SEO still matters. Search engines and AI systems need to discover, crawl, understand, and evaluate your website before they can effectively surface its information. Strong technical SEO, useful content, clear business information, and authority across the web all remain valuable.
What kind of content works well for AI search?
Content that directly answers real questions, demonstrates firsthand expertise, provides specific information, and is easy to understand can be particularly useful. The goal isn’t to write “for robots,” but to create information that’s genuinely useful and unambiguous.
Does my business need a blog to show up in AI search?
Not necessarily. Strong service pages, product pages, business listings, reviews, About pages, and other sources can all help establish information about a business. However, a blog gives you more opportunities to answer the specific questions potential customers are searching and asking AI tools about.
What is GEO?
Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, generally refers to improving how content participates in AI-generated search experiences. Bing now uses the term in its own AI-search guidance and describes visibility as including how content contributes to answers, citations, and grounding.
