How to show up when your customers ask ChatGPT
More people now open ChatGPT and ask "who's the best [x] near me" than reach for Google. ChatGPT names a few businesses and quietly skips the rest. "ChatGPT SEO" is the work of becoming one it names — and it's mostly not what a decade of SEO taught us. Here's what actually decides it, and how to see where you stand in about 60 seconds.
Check free: does ChatGPT recommend you? →What is ChatGPT SEO?
ChatGPT SEO — also called GEO (generative engine optimization) or AEO (answer engine optimization) — is making your business the one AI assistants name when a customer asks them for a recommendation. It isn't about ranking in a list of ten blue links. It's about being inside the single answer ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google's AI hand back.
How ChatGPT decides who to recommend
The surprise for most owners: it's mostly off your own website. The 2026 data is consistent on what moves it:
- You're a recognised entity. ChatGPT can tell you're a real, distinct business — via Wikipedia / Wikidata, Google's Knowledge Graph, and consistent details everywhere it looks.
- Other sites mention you. Branded web mentions correlate roughly three times more strongly than backlinks with showing up in AI answers (Ahrefs, 75,000 brands).
- Third parties cite you. Around 75 to 90% of what AI cites is other people's sites, not yours — and businesses with profiles on review platforms earn about three times more ChatGPT citations.
- You're quotable. Clear, factual, answer-shaped content ChatGPT can lift a clean sentence straight out of.
The on-page keyword work most "SEO" is sold on barely moves it.
How to show up in ChatGPT
- Be findable as an entity: consistent name, address and details; an Organization schema with sameAs links to your real profiles; ideally a Wikidata entry.
- Earn mentions and reviews: get listed and reviewed where AI reads — for a local business that's Google Business Profile, your industry directories, and review platforms.
- Write quotable answers: answer the exact questions customers ask, lead with the conclusion, and back it with specifics.
- Let AI in: make sure your robots.txt allows AI crawlers and your pages aren't set to noindex.
Local business? ChatGPT reads different sources
If you serve a town or suburb, how each engine sources local answers matters. Google's AI reads your Google Business Profile directly; ChatGPT pulls local business citations largely from directories and Bing. So GBP completeness, consistent details across Australian directories, and review depth are what drive local AI recommendations — exactly the signals a generic global "AI rank tracker" never checks, and where an Australian-focused audit pays off.
See where you stand — free
Run your site through the scanner. It asks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google's AI the questions your customers actually use, then shows whether you're named, who's named instead, and the fixes that close the gap. About 60 seconds, no signup.
Run a free scan →ChatGPT SEO — common questions
What is SEO for ChatGPT called?
It's usually called GEO (generative engine optimization) or AEO (answer engine optimization): optimising so an AI assistant names your business inside its answer, rather than ranking you in a list of links.
Can you use ChatGPT for SEO?
Two different things share the name. ChatGPT can help you research and draft content, and separately you can optimise so ChatGPT itself recommends your business when customers ask. This guide is about the second.
Will ChatGPT replace SEO?
It's reshaping it, not replacing it. Traditional ranking still matters, but a growing share of customers get a two or three name shortlist straight from ChatGPT and never click. You now have to win both.
How do I get my business to show up in ChatGPT?
Be a recognised entity, earn third-party mentions and reviews, publish quotable answer-shaped content, and let AI crawlers in. The fastest start is to check where you stand free, then fix the gaps it surfaces.