How do I get my business mentioned in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and other AI answers?
AI answers are built from search indexes. Google AI Overviews and AI Mode use Google's index, ChatGPT search and Copilot lean on Bing, and Perplexity searches the web live. To be cited, be indexed on Google and Bing, answer specific questions clearly on your own site, publish original numbers, and get mentioned on trusted third-party sites like reviews, directories and articles.
Where each AI gets its answers
| Platform | Main source | What helps most |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | Google's search index | Ranking well, clear answers, original data, YouTube and forum mentions |
| ChatGPT search | Bing's index | Bing indexing, Wikipedia-style facts, review site profiles |
| Microsoft Copilot | Bing | Bing Webmaster Tools, IndexNow, clear structure |
| Perplexity | Live web search | Fresh content, Reddit and review mentions |
| Siri, Safari and Spotlight | Applebot crawler | Never blocking Applebot |
What to do on your website
- Write pages that answer one real question each, with the answer in the first two or three sentences.
- Use your own numbers: prices, timelines, results from real projects. AI tools prefer facts they cannot find elsewhere.
- Name the author and show their experience.
- Add structured data so your business name, services, locations and reviews are clear to machines.
- Keep pages fast, crawlable and up to date, and allow search and AI crawlers in robots.txt.
What to do off your website
Being mentioned elsewhere matters as much as your own pages. AI answers summarise what the web says about you, so build reviews on Google and industry sites, keep directory listings consistent, appear in comparison articles and local press, post on LinkedIn and YouTube, and answer questions in relevant forums.
Why this matters now
AI summaries now appear on a large share of Google searches, and studies from Ahrefs and Seer Interactive show the top organic result losing more than half its clicks when one appears. Brands that are cited inside the summary keep roughly twice the clicks of brands that are not, so being the source matters more than being the first blue link.
Related questions
- Do I need an llms.txt file?
- Google has said it does not use llms.txt for Search. It is cheap to add and some other AI tools read it, so treat it as optional.
- Can I pay to be included in AI Overviews?
- Not as an organic citation. Ads can appear above or below AI Overviews, but citations are earned through the normal search index.
Want this done for your business?
Founder of Luceds, with 7+ years in paid search, SEO and web projects. Runs Google Ads, SEO and website projects for service businesses and online stores in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India.
More about Shivam Singh