US guide
Why doesn’t ChatGPT recommend my business?
The short answer
AI assistants recommend businesses they can find clear, consistent evidence about. If your details are thin, inconsistent or only on your own website, an assistant has little to go on and names someone better documented. You can improve the evidence; you cannot control the answer.
The likely causes
- 1
There is too little written about you
Assistants build answers from sources they can read: your website, your Business Profile, directories like Yelp, Angi and Thumbtack, local news and reviews. A business that exists mainly as a phone number and a van is hard to describe, so it gets left out.
- 2
Your details disagree between sources
If one site says you cover three towns and another says ten, or your old trading name still appears, an assistant has conflicting evidence and may choose a business that is easier to describe accurately.
- 3
Your site doesn’t say plainly what you do
Sentences like “We are a licensed HVAC contractor serving Austin, Round Rock and Pflugerville” are easy for software to use. Clever slogans are not.
- 4
Some assistants cannot read your site
If your robots.txt blocks search crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot, or your content only appears after scripts run, some assistants may not be able to use your pages at all.
How to check it yourself
No tools to buy. Most of this takes a few minutes.
- 1
Ask the assistants directly
Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the question a customer would: “Who is a reliable HVAC company in Austin, TX?” Repeat it on different days. Note who is named and which sources are cited.
- 2
Read your own website as a stranger
Could someone who has never heard of you say, from the text alone, what you do, where and for whom?
- 3
Check your robots.txt
Open yourdomain/robots.txt and make sure you are not blocking Googlebot, Bingbot or OAI-SearchBot.
- 4
Check Bing and Apple, not just Google
Bing Places and Apple Business Connect feed other maps and assistants. Make sure you are listed and correct on both.
What can realistically be improved
- Plain, factual descriptions of your services and areas on your website
- Complete and consistent listings on Google, Bing, Apple, Yelp and Angi
- Specific, recent reviews that describe real jobs
- Structured data that states your business type, services and area
- Making sure search and answer crawlers are allowed to read your site
What nobody can promise
AI answers change from one day to the next and between assistants. Nobody can guarantee a mention, and anyone who promises to get you “ranked in ChatGPT” is overselling. What you can do is make the evidence about you clear, accurate and easy to find.