How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI

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A few years ago, getting found online meant ranking on the first page of Google. You optimised your website, built some backlinks, and hoped to appear before your competitors when someone searched for what you offer.

That is still relevant. But a growing number of people now start their search differently. Instead of typing keywords into a search box and clicking through links, they ask a question in ChatGPT, use Google's AI overview, or search through Perplexity. And instead of a list of links, they get a direct answer, including specific business recommendations.

If your website is not set up to be understood by these tools, you are invisible to anyone who searches that way.

How AI tools decide what to recommend

When someone asks ChatGPT "who is the best physiotherapist in [city]" or asks Google AI "which accountant is best for freelancers in [area]", the AI is not just searching the web. It is reading and interpreting the content on pages it has indexed, trying to understand what each business does, who they serve, and how credible they appear to be.

The pages that get recommended are the ones that give AI tools the clearest, most direct answers to those underlying questions. The pages that get ignored are the ones where the important information is vague, buried in generic copy, or missing entirely.

What makes a page visible to AI search

There are five things that make the biggest difference:

• Clear, direct answers to the questions your customers ask. If someone searches for "how much does a dental crown cost in [city]", and your page has a clear section that answers that question, AI tools are more likely to surface it. If your pricing is vague or hidden, you will not be recommended.
• Structured data. This is a behind-the-scenes label on your page that tells search engines and AI tools exactly what type of business you are, what you offer, and where you are located. Pages without structured data require AI tools to guess, and guesses are less reliable than direct labels.
• Your business clearly identified. AI tools need to understand who you are as an entity. Your business name, location, what you do, and who you do it for should be stated clearly on your page, not hidden in vague marketing language.
• Structured content with headings and lists. AI tools find it much easier to extract information from pages that use clear headings and organised content. A wall of unbroken text is harder to parse than a page with distinct sections.
• Evidence of credibility. Testimonials, qualifications, years in business, and specific outcomes you have delivered all help AI tools decide that your business is worth recommending rather than a competitor.

This is not just about big businesses

There is a common assumption that AI recommendations favour large, well-known brands. In practice, local and niche businesses with clear, well-structured websites often do better in AI search than large generalist businesses, because their pages answer specific questions more directly.

A small physiotherapy clinic with a page that clearly states its location, specialties, pricing, and patient outcomes has a better chance of being recommended to someone asking about sports injury treatment in that area than a large hospital with a vague, hard-to-read services page.

How to find out how your page scores for AI visibility

The places to start are structured data, content clarity, and the specificity of your copy. Run a free scan of your page and look at the On-page AI Readiness Score, it shows you how well your page is set up to be understood and recommended by AI tools, with specific fixes for the signals that are missing.

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AI search is still early, but the businesses building for it now are the ones that will benefit most as it grows. The good news is that the improvements are the same ones that also help with traditional search and with conversions, clearer copy, better structure, and more specific information.