How ChatGPT chooses which local businesses to name
Seven steps, the sources OpenAI documents and a prompt test you can run yourself: getting recommended by ChatGPT.
AI SEO services in Kansas City
AI Visibility Audit: 20 buyer prompts, 4 AI engines, $299. This AI search engine optimization service tests whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews name your business when Kansas City customers ask for a provider. You get a citation report of every source each answer used, plus a ranked fix list. Order the audit today; monthly citation tracking comes in the $599 Local SEO plan.
- Run by the ownersBikash Roy and Fredrick Francises
- Overland Park office12022 Blue Valley Pkwy, Overland Park, KS 66213
- Month-to-monthNo long contract on any plan
One-time · fixed price
AI Visibility Audit
$299one-time
- 20 buyer prompts written for your trade and city
- 4 AI engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews
- Citation report with every cited source
- Ranked fix list
- 20-minute walkthrough call
- Report in
- 5 business days
Sample format
| Prompt (typed as a customer) | Engine | Your business named? | Position in answer | Competitors named | Sources the answer cited | Date checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| best plumber in Olathe KS | ChatGPT (search on) | No | — | Competitor A, Competitor B, Competitor C | a Yelp category page; a BBB profile; Competitor A's service page | YYYY-MM-DD |
| emergency plumber near Overland Park | Perplexity | Yes | 2 of 4 | Competitor A, Competitor D | your /emergency-plumbing/ page; a Google review snippet | YYYY-MM-DD |
| who is the most trusted plumber in Johnson County | Gemini | No | — | Competitor B | a local news "best of" list | YYYY-MM-DD |
| water heater replacement cost Kansas City | Google AI Overviews | Cited (link) | source 3 of 5 | Competitor C | your /water-heater-cost/ page | YYYY-MM-DD |
| plumber open Sunday Lenexa | ChatGPT (search on) | Yes | 1 of 3 | Competitor A, Competitor D | your Google Business Profile hours; a Bing Places listing | YYYY-MM-DD |
Definition
What is AI SEO?
AI SEO is search engine optimization aimed at AI answer engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. It changes a business's website, listings, reviews and third-party mentions so those engines name the business, and cite its pages, when customers ask for a local provider.
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the research name for this work, and answer engine optimization (AEO) is the older name for formatting pages as direct answers. ChatGPT search, Perplexity and Gemini are AI assistants that search the web before they answer; Google AI Overviews is the AI summary at the top of a Google results page. An AI citation is a source link or a named mention inside one of those answers.
The service sits on the same foundation as local SEO: a crawlable website, a complete Google Business Profile, consistent listings and recent reviews. AI SEO is part of every plan listed with our published SEO prices.
The product
What is an AI visibility audit?
An AI visibility audit is a fixed-price test of 20 buyer prompts in 4 AI engines. It records whether each answer names your business, which competitors appear and which sources the engine cited, then ranks the fixes that close each gap.
The audit delivers 5 items:
- Prompt set: 20 buyer prompts written for your trade and cities, such as "plumber open Sunday Lenexa".
- Answer log: 80 answers, 20 prompts in each of the 4 engines, captured with the date.
- Citation report: every source each answer used, with competitor names.
- Fix list: the changes ranked by the number of answers each one affects.
- Walkthrough call: 20 minutes with Bikash or Fredrick after delivery.
What does the citation report show?
The citation report has 7 columns, shown in the sample format beside the offer. The prompt column holds the exact wording a customer types. The engine column names ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google AI Overviews. The next 2 columns record whether the answer names your business and at what position. The competitor column lists every other business named. The sources column lists the pages the engine cited, such as a Yelp category page or a local news list, and those sources set the fix list. The date column fixes each result in time, because answers change between sessions.
Price
How much does AI SEO cost?
$299 buys the one-time AI Visibility Audit at Kansas City SEO Pros. Monthly prompt tracking is included in the $599 Local SEO plan, and AI-visibility optimization work is included in the $999 Local SEO + AI plan. Every plan runs month-to-month.
| Option | Price | AI work included |
|---|---|---|
| AI Visibility Audit | $299 one-time | 20 prompts × 4 engines, citation report, fix list |
| Local SEO | $599/mo | Monthly AI-citation tracking |
| Local SEO + AI | $999/mo | Tracking of 20 prompts + AI-visibility optimization |
| Growth / multi-location | from $1,499/mo | Custom prompt sets per location |
Month-to-month plans: tracking stops when you cancel with 30 days' notice.
What we change
How does AI SEO work?
AI SEO works by strengthening the 6 sources AI engines read: crawler access, business listings, reviews, third-party citations, on-page answers and structured data. Each engine searches the web in real time, so consistent facts across those sources raise the chance of a mention.
- Crawler access: robots.txt allows OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Googlebot and Bingbot. OAI-SearchBot is OpenAI's search crawler, and OpenAI states that sites blocking it "will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers".
- Business listings: Google Business Profile, Bing Places for Business, Apple Business Connect, Yelp and BBB carry the same name, address, phone, categories and hours.
- Reviews: a steady flow of recent Google reviews with replies. 74% of consumers prioritize reviews from the last 3 months (BrightLocal 2026).
- Third-party citations: mentions on local directories, chamber listings and Kansas City media pages that AI engines cite.
- On-page answers: service pages that answer each buyer prompt in about 40 words, with statistics and named sources. The KDD 2024 GEO study measured visibility gains of up to 40% from those additions.
- Structured data: Organization and LocalBusiness markup with
sameAslinks that tie the business to one entity. Structured data is code that labels facts for machines.
Google AI Overviews and Gemini draw local facts from the Google Business Profile, and ChatGPT search sends its queries to Bing, so both listings carry equal weight. Kansas City SEO Pros sells Business Profile setup and optimization as a $399 one-time order for profiles that start incomplete.
Measurement
How do you track AI visibility?
AI visibility is tracked by re-running the same fixed prompt set in each AI engine every month. Each run logs whether the business is named, its position in the answer, the competitors named and the cited sources, so month-to-month change is measurable.
| Month | Prompts named (of 20) per engine | Change vs last month | New sources cited | Actions taken |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sample row format | __ | __ | __ | __ |
Evidence
Is AI SEO worth it for a small business?
Yes. 45% of consumers used AI tools to find local businesses in 2026, up from 6% in 2025, and ChatGPT names only 1.2% of local business locations. A small business that is named competes with very few rivals inside that answer.
- 45% of consumers used AI tools to find a local business in 2026 (BrightLocal, n=1,002).
- 1.2% of local business locations are recommended by ChatGPT, vs 35.9% visible in Google's 3-pack (SOCi 2026). Gemini recommends 11% and Perplexity 7.4%.
- 2–5× the click-through rate for brands cited inside a Google AI Overview (Seer Interactive, 2026).
AI SEO and traditional SEO share one foundation and differ in the result they chase.
AI SEO vs SEO
Is AI SEO different from traditional SEO?
Yes, in the target, not the foundation. Traditional SEO ranks pages in a list of links; AI SEO earns a mention inside one generated answer. Both depend on crawlable pages, accurate listings, reviews and authoritative links, so one plan serves both.
A ranked link earns a click from a results page; a mention earns trust inside the answer itself, often with no click. The work on this page adds prompt testing and citation sources on top of the local SEO plan the business already needs.
Questions
Questions Kansas City owners ask about AI SEO
Plumbers · HVAC · Roofers · Contractors · Dentists · Med spas · Law firms · Restaurants
Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend my business?
No. No agency controls ChatGPT's answers, and answers change between sessions. Kansas City SEO Pros guarantees the audit scope, the monthly tracking report and the listed fixes, and shows every prompt result so progress is visible.
Do you offer AI SEO for plumbers, roofers and law firms?
Yes. AI SEO covers plumbers, HVAC companies, roofers, contractors, dentists, med spas, law firms and restaurants across the Kansas City metro. Each audit uses the prompts customers type for that trade, such as "emergency plumber near Olathe".
Is there an AI SEO agency near me in Kansas City?
Yes. Kansas City SEO Pros works from 12022 Blue Valley Pkwy, Overland Park, KS 66213, and serves Johnson, Wyandotte, Leavenworth, Miami, Jackson, Clay, Platte and Cass counties. Call 913-995-3659 or request the free audit online.
How long does an AI visibility audit take?
5 business days from order to report. The report arrives with a 20-minute walkthrough call, and every question receives a reply within 1 business day.
Guide
Where can I learn how ChatGPT picks local businesses?
The Kansas City SEO Pros guide to ChatGPT recommendations explains how one engine picks local businesses from web search results, listings and review sites. It covers the sources OpenAI documents and a prompt test any owner runs without paid tools.
Contact
Find out what AI engines say about you
Order the $299 AI Visibility Audit above, or send the form for a free SEO audit. Bikash or Fredrick replies within 1 business day.
Kansas City SEO Pros12022 Blue Valley Pkwy, Overland Park, KS 66213913-995-3659 · info@kansascityseopros.comMonday–Saturday 9 AM–5 PM, Sunday closedDirections to the Overland Park office open in Google Maps, so no map script loads on this page.
Free audit