How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT
ChatGPT recommends a local business when the web results and listings it searches show that business with consistent details, recent reviews and a page that answers the exact request. OpenAI documents that ChatGPT search sends queries to Bing and reads sites through its OAI-SearchBot crawler. Follow the 7 steps below, then run the 10-prompt test to see whether ChatGPT names your business.
| # | Prompt template | Named? | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | best [service] in [city] | — | — |
| 2 | [service] near [suburb] | — | — |
| 3 | most trusted [service] in [county] county | — | — |
How do I get my business to show up in ChatGPT?
You get your business into ChatGPT in 7 steps: allow OAI-SearchBot, complete Bing Places for Business, match your listing details, collect recent reviews, answer each buyer question on its own page, earn local mentions, and test the same prompts monthly.
Kansas City SEO Pros runs these 7 steps as part of its AI search optimization in Kansas City.
7 steps to a ChatGPT recommendation
Step 1: Allow OAI-SearchBot in your robots.txt file
OAI-SearchBot is OpenAI's search crawler. OpenAI states that sites which block it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, and that robots.txt changes take about 24 hours to apply. GPTBot is a different crawler used for model training; blocking GPTBot does not remove a site from ChatGPT search.
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /
User-agent: Bingbot
Allow: /Minimum rules for ChatGPT search access. Keep your existing Disallow lines for admin and cart paths.
Step 2: Claim and complete your Bing Places for Business listing
Bing Places for Business is Microsoft's free business listing service. OpenAI documents that ChatGPT search sends queries to Bing, and a 2025 Seer Interactive study found 87% of ChatGPT search citations in Bing's top 20 results.
Step 3: Match your business details on every listing
Use the same business name, street address, phone number, primary category and hours on Google Business Profile, Bing Places for Business, Apple Business Connect, Yelp and the BBB.
Step 4: Collect recent reviews on Google and Yelp
74% of consumers prioritize reviews from the last 3 months (BrightLocal 2026). Reply to every review; replies add service and city words to the review page.
Step 5: Answer each buyer question on its own page
Create one page per service and one per served city, each answering the customer's question in about 40 words with a price range, service area and hours.
Step 6: Earn mentions on Kansas City lists and media
Kansas City sources ChatGPT cites include local news lists, chamber of commerce directories, trade associations and neighborhood guides. Ask for a listing where a real relationship exists.
Step 7: Test the same prompts every month
Re-run the 10-prompt test on the same day each month and compare the log.
Where does ChatGPT get local business information?
ChatGPT search gets local business information from web searches it sends to Bing, from third-party providers that supply nearby business listings, and from pages its OAI-SearchBot crawler reads. Restaurant availability comes from OpenTable, Resy or Yelp.
The standard record other directories copy is Google Business Profile optimization, even though OpenAI's own pages do not name Google Business Profile as a ChatGPT source.
Documented by OpenAI
- Bing web results (queries shared without account details)
- Third-party providers of nearby business listings
- OAI-SearchBot crawl of your pages
- OpenTable, Resy or Yelp for restaurant availability
Measured by third parties
- 87% of ChatGPT search citations appeared in Bing's top 20 organic results (Seer Interactive, February 2025, 500+ citations).
- Foursquare accounted for near 0% and Yelp for approximately 96% of structured business-card groundings in ChatGPT’s local answers, in an August 2026 study of 2,880 prompts across 12 US cities.
How do I check if ChatGPT recommends my business?
Check by typing 10 buyer prompts into ChatGPT with search turned on, in a Temporary Chat so saved memory does not shape the answer. Log whether your business is named, its position, the competitors named and the sources shown, then repeat monthly.
- Turn search on.
- Open a Temporary Chat.
- Type each prompt exactly, with your trade and city.
- Record the date and every business named.
| # | Prompt template |
|---|---|
| 1 | best [service] in [city] |
| 2 | [service] near [suburb] |
| 3 | most trusted [service] in [county] county |
| 4 | [service] open now in [city] |
| 5 | affordable [service] in [city] |
| 6 | [service] with the best reviews in [city] |
| 7 | emergency [service] in [city] |
| 8 | how much does [job] cost in [city] |
| 9 | recommend a [service] for [specific job] in [city] |
| 10 | [your business name] reviews |
Log columns: Prompt · Named? (Yes/No) · Position · Competitors named · Sources shown · Date.
Why is my business not showing up in ChatGPT?
A business is missing from ChatGPT for 5 common reasons: robots.txt blocks OAI-SearchBot, the Bing Places listing is absent, listing details conflict, reviews are few or old, or no page answers the exact service and city the customer typed.
- Crawler block
robots.txt disallows OAI-SearchBot.
- Missing Bing listing
No Bing Places for Business profile.
- Conflicting details
Different phone, address or hours across listings.
- Thin reviews
Few reviews, or none from the last 3 months.
- Missing answer page
No page for the exact service and city.
What does AI visibility mean for a local business?
AI visibility is how often AI engines name or cite a business in their answers. It matters locally because 45% of consumers used AI tools to find local businesses in 2026, while ChatGPT recommended only 1.2% of local business locations.
What is the difference between being cited and being mentioned in ChatGPT?
A mention names your business in ChatGPT's answer text; a citation links to your web page as a source. A mention brings calls from people who search your name next; a citation sends a click to your site and shows which page ChatGPT trusted.
Read what GEO means for how citation-focused content earns that link across every AI engine, not only ChatGPT.
| Mention | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| Form | Business name in the answer text | Link to your page as a source |
| Result | Branded search and calls | A click and a trusted-page signal |
Do not
ChatGPT search access cannot be bought. No provider guarantees a recommendation on a set date, and claims naming exact map-vendor market shares that OpenAI has not published are left off this page.
Questions about ChatGPT recommendations
Does llms.txt help ChatGPT recommend my business?
No evidence shows that it does. OpenAI’s crawler documentation controls ChatGPT search access through robots.txt rules for OAI-SearchBot, and Google’s AI features guide names no special file. llms.txt remains a proposed standard with unproven effect.
Does Google Business Profile matter for ChatGPT?
Yes, as the reference record. OpenAI's help pages do not name Google Business Profile as a ChatGPT source, but its name, address, phone, categories and hours set the standard that Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and Yelp must match, so no source conflicts.
How long does it take to show up in ChatGPT?
A robots.txt change reaches OpenAI’s systems in about 24 hours, according to OpenAI. Listing, review and page changes take weeks to appear in the sources ChatGPT searches, and no provider guarantees a recommendation on a set date.
A ChatGPT mention names your business; what AEO changes on a page covers the question headings and 40-word answers that turn a mention into a citation.
Free help
Test 20 prompts in 4 AI engines, not 10 in one
The AI Visibility Audit runs 20 buyer prompts in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, logs every source cited and ranks the fixes. $299.