How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT & Google AI

ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews recommend businesses they can find, verify and quote. To get recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI, make your business a clear entity with consistent details everywhere, earn reviews that mention your services and locality, publish answer-first pages with real numbers, and make sure AI search crawlers can read your site.

This is often called generative engine optimisation (GEO), AI SEO or answer engine optimisation (AEO). The names are new; most of the work is not. For a definition of GEO and how it compares with SEO and AEO, see GEO vs SEO. Below we explain how AI assistants pick businesses, why it matters in India right now, and the seven steps — summarised as a 12-point checklist at the end — that make your business easier to cite.

How businesses get recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI

AI answers are not pulled from thin air. When someone asks "best web design agency in New Delhi" or "how much does SEO cost in India", the assistant searches the web, reads the pages it finds and writes a summary with links. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode may use "query fan-out": running several related searches across subtopics to find supporting pages. ChatGPT search uses OpenAI's own crawler, OAI-SearchBot, to find sites.

From what these systems cite, three things consistently matter:

1. Entity data — a business that exists clearly and consistently: name, address, phone, category, website, profiles.
2. Third-party evidence — reviews, directory listings, articles and mentions that confirm what you say about yourself.
3. Quotable pages — content that answers the exact question with specific facts, prices and sources.

Why this matters in India now

• India had about 100 million weekly ChatGPT users in February 2026, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — the second-largest user base after the US.
• Google's AI Overviews had 2 billion monthly users by July 2025, and AI Mode had over 100 million monthly users across the US and India.
• 44% of Indian internet users have already used AI features such as voice search, image search and chatbots (IAMAI–Kantar, 2025).

The click is changing too. Pew Research found users clicked a traditional result on 8% of visits with an AI summary, against 15% without, and Ahrefs measured a 58% lower click-through rate for position one when an AI Overview appears. But brands that are cited win: Seer Interactive found cited brands earned about 35% higher organic CTR than uncited ones. Being the source matters more than ever.

SEO vs AEO vs GEO: what's actually different?

In practice they overlap. Google says AI features draw on pages that are indexed and eligible for a snippet, and that "there are no additional technical requirements". Strong SEO is the entry ticket; GEO is how you stand out once you are in. Our SEO services cover all three.

Step 1: Make your business an entity

AI systems need to be sure who you are before they recommend you.

• Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. Pick the most accurate primary category, list every service in plain words, add photos, hours and your website.
• Keep NAP identical everywhere. The same business name, address and phone number on your site, Google, directories and social profiles.
• Write one entity sentence and use it everywhere: who you are, what you do, where. For us: "Elgrith is a full-service digital and IT company headquartered in New Delhi, India, offering website design, app development, UI/UX design, CRM development, cloud deployment, SEO and social media marketing."
• Link your profiles with sameAs in your Organization schema: Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, Instagram, Clutch and other directories.

Step 2: Earn reviews that mention services and locality

Reviews are evidence an AI can quote. Ask clients to describe what you did and where: "They built our clinic's booking website in Gachibowli" is far more useful than "Great service!". Spread reviews across platforms — in BrightLocal's 2025 survey, 74% of consumers use two or more review sites before choosing a local business, and 96% said they are open to writing a review. Reply to every review, good or bad. Our local SEO work builds this into a monthly routine.

Step 3: Publish answer-first pages with real numbers

AI answers to cost and "how to" questions quote pages that answer immediately, with specifics. Each important page should:

• Open with a two- or three-sentence direct answer, including a ₹ figure, timeline or number where relevant.
• Use question-style headings that match how people ask.
• Include tables of prices, tiers or comparisons.
• Show prices or typical cost ranges if you can, so an assistant has a figure to quote.
• Carry a visible "last updated" date and a named author.

Our cost guides follow this format: see website cost in India, app development cost and SEO cost.

Step 4: Add statistics, citations and quotes

This is the step with the strongest research behind it. In the paper that coined the term, researchers found that GEO methods can boost visibility in generative engine responses by up to 40% (Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024). The tactics they tested include adding statistics, citing sources and quoting experts.

In practice: replace vague claims ("most businesses…") with sourced numbers, link to the original source, and add short expert quotes. Your own first-party data — project counts, average timelines, survey results — is the most valuable kind, because only you can be cited for it.

Step 5: Use structured data — with realistic expectations

Structured data helps search engines understand your business and content. Add:

• Organization and LocalBusiness (or ProfessionalService), with address, phone, geo, opening hours and sameAs links
• Service on each service page
• Article with a named author on blog posts
• FAQPage on pages with genuine FAQs
• BreadcrumbList site-wide

Be realistic about what it does. Google says there is "no special schema.org structured data" needed for AI features, and that structured data must match the visible text on the page. Schema will not make a weak page citable; it makes a strong page easier to understand.

Step 6: Let AI crawlers in

If crawlers cannot read your site, nothing else matters.

• Check robots.txt. OpenAI states that sites that block OAI-SearchBot "will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers". GPTBot is separate: it collects training data, and you can block it without leaving ChatGPT search.
• Render content on the server. Key text, prices and FAQs should be in the HTML, not loaded only by JavaScript or hidden in carousels. Frameworks such as Next.js do this well.
• Keep it fast and mobile-friendly. Google recommends a good page experience for its AI features too.
• Treat llms.txt as optional. It is a simple, low-cost file some AI tools read, but Google says you do not need new machine-readable or "AI text" files to appear in its AI features.

A minimal robots.txt that welcomes search and AI search crawlers looks like this:

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: Googlebot
Allow: /

User-agent: Bingbot
Allow: /

Sitemap: https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

Our technical SEO audits check crawler access, rendering and schema together.

Step 7: Get mentioned on third-party sites

AI systems trust what others say about you more than what you say about yourself.

• Directories: complete identical profiles on Clutch, GoodFirms, DesignRush, JustDial and similar platforms, and ask clients for verified reviews.
• Listicles: ask to be included in reputable "top agencies in your city" roundups — on merit, with evidence.
• Communities: answer real questions on Reddit and Quora where your expertise genuinely helps, and disclose who you are.
• LinkedIn and social: publish useful posts and articles under named experts. A consistent social media presence makes these mentions easier to earn.
• Press and partners: case studies on client and partner sites, local business news, podcasts.

How to measure AI visibility

There is no Search Console for ChatGPT yet, so track it by hand once a month. Pick 10–20 prompts your buyers would ask, run them in each assistant, and log what you see.

Use a signed-out or private session where possible, note the date, and watch the trend rather than any single result. Pair it with Search Console impressions for the same topics.

What Google AI Mode cited for a local agency query

When we asked Google AI Mode which is the best web design agency in a major Indian city in October 2026, every agency it named came from Google Business Profile data. The descriptions were built from review counts, neighbourhoods, themes repeated in reviews ("fast turnaround", "patient communication"), specialisms — and, for one agency, the fact that it publishes its package prices. AI Mode also grouped agencies by use case, such as full-service versus budget-friendly.

The lesson for any local business: your Google Business Profile, your reviews and a clear, published offer are what the AI reads first. Website content matters most for cost and how-to questions; profiles and reviews matter most for "best near me" questions.

Common mistakes that keep businesses out of AI answers

• Hiding prices. "Contact us for pricing" gives an AI nothing to quote. Even a "starting from" figure helps.
• Inconsistent details. An old address on one directory and a different phone number on another makes your business harder to verify.
• Thin service pages. A heading and two lines of text cannot answer anyone's question. Each service page should explain what you do, for whom, how long it takes and roughly what it costs.
• Blocking crawlers by accident. Security plugins and CDN bot rules sometimes block AI search crawlers. Check your server logs and robots.txt after any change.
• Writing for keywords instead of questions. Pages stuffed with "best agency in New Delhi" rarely get quoted; pages that answer "how much does a website cost in India?" do.
• Ignoring reviews. In local queries, review themes are often the description an AI repeats about you.

How Elgrith helps

We build AI search visibility into our SEO services: entity and profile set-up, review programmes, answer-first content, structured data and monthly prompt tracking. Start with a free SEO audit, see how we quote on our pricing page, or get in touch through our contact page.

The 12-point checklist

1. Google Business Profile claimed, categorised and complete
2. Identical name, address and phone on every platform
3. One entity sentence used everywhere
4. Organization and LocalBusiness schema with sameAs links
5. A steady flow of reviews that mention services and locality
6. Answer-first pages for your top buyer questions
7. Real ₹ prices, timelines and numbers published
8. Statistics and sources cited on key pages
9. Article, FAQPage and Service schema that matches visible text
10. OAI-SearchBot, Googlebot and Bingbot allowed; content server-rendered
11. Profiles and mentions on directories, listicles, LinkedIn and communities
12. Monthly prompt tracking across ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode