AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot recommend businesses they can find through their search systems and that multiple trusted sources describe consistently. To improve your chances: let AI search crawlers access your site, publish clear answer-first pages for each service, add structured data that identifies your business and people, keep your name, address, phone and services identical across directories and profiles, earn genuine reviews and third-party mentions, and make sure your site is indexed by both Google and Bing.
How AI assistants pick businesses to recommend
When someone asks an AI assistant for a recommendation, most assistants run a live web search, read a handful of pages, and write an answer from what they find. The businesses that get named are usually the ones that are:
- Findable: indexed by the search system the assistant uses (Google for Gemini and AI Overviews; Bing and OpenAI's own crawler for ChatGPT search; several sources for Perplexity and others).
- Readable: the key facts are in plain HTML text, not hidden in images, PDFs or scripts.
- Corroborated: the same facts appear on independent sites such as directories, review platforms, professional registers and press.
- Specific: a page that clearly answers the exact question ("emergency dentist open Saturday in Salford") beats a generic homepage.
Google has said there is no special markup required to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and that normal SEO best practices apply. In practice, the businesses that do well in AI answers tend to be the ones that do the fundamentals thoroughly.
Step 1: Let the right crawlers in
Check your robots.txt and any bot protection (Cloudflare, security plugins, hosting firewalls). The crawlers that matter for appearing in AI answers include:
| Crawler | Operator | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Googlebot | Search index used by AI Overviews and AI Mode | |
| Bingbot | Microsoft | Bing index used by Copilot and widely used by other AI search tools |
| OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI | Surfacing sites in ChatGPT search. OpenAI says opted-out sites won't appear in ChatGPT search answers |
| ChatGPT-User | OpenAI | Fetches pages when a user asks ChatGPT to look something up |
| Claude-SearchBot / Claude-User | Anthropic | Search indexing and user-requested fetches for Claude |
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity | Indexing for Perplexity answers |
Training crawlers (such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and Google-Extended) are a separate decision. Blocking them affects whether your content is used to train future models, not whether you can be found in live search answers.
Step 2: Publish answer-first pages
For each service you want to be recommended for, have one page that:
- Answers the core question in the first paragraph, in plain language.
- States facts AI can quote: prices or price ranges, locations served, opening hours, timescales, credentials.
- Names the people behind the work, with qualifications.
- Ends with a short FAQ using the questions customers actually ask.
Step 3: Add structured data
Schema.org markup in JSON-LD helps machines understand exactly what your business is. At minimum: Organization or LocalBusiness (name, address, phone, URL, logo, sameAs links to your official profiles), Service for each service, Person for key people, and BreadcrumbList. Google no longer shows FAQ rich results, but FAQ markup is still valid schema and may still be read by other systems.
Step 4: Make your details consistent everywhere
AI systems cross-check. Make sure your business name, address, phone number, website and description match exactly across your site, Companies House, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, industry directories and professional registers. Small differences, like an old address or a different trading name, weaken the signal.
Step 5: Earn evidence from other sites
- Steady, genuine reviews on Google and a relevant independent platform.
- Listings in reputable industry directories and associations.
- Mentions by suppliers, partners, local press and industry publications.
- Case studies with named clients (with permission) on your own site.
Step 6: Get indexed in Bing as well as Google
Set up Bing Webmaster Tools (you can import from Google Search Console), submit your sitemap, and use IndexNow to tell Bing about new and updated pages quickly. Many businesses never check Bing, and it matters more now that so many AI tools draw on it.
Step 7: Measure honestly
AI answers vary between runs and users, so one screenshot proves little. Track a fixed set of 20–40 buyer questions monthly across engines, record how often you're named, and watch referral traffic from AI platforms in GA4. Most importantly, ask new enquiries how they found you.
What doesn't work
- Stuffing pages with keywords or invented FAQs.
- Fake reviews. They breach consumer law (the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans fake reviews) and platforms remove them.
- Relying on llms.txt alone. It's a cheap addition, but no major AI engine has confirmed it uses llms.txt for citations.
Sources: OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers; Anthropic, Anthropic's crawlers; Google Search Central, AI features and your website. Crawler names and policies change; check the operators' documentation before editing robots.txt.