More of your customers are asking ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews and Perplexity for recommendations instead of scrolling through blue links. When someone types “best boiler engineer near me” into an AI tool and gets three names back, you are either one of them or you do not exist for that question. There is no page two in an AI answer.
This post explains, in plain terms, how to get your business found in ChatGPT and AI search without falling for the hype. Most of what you will read online makes this sound like a mysterious new science. It is not. It builds on the same local SEO foundations that already work, with a few specific additions.
If you run a small or local business, this is worth an hour of your attention now, because your competitors mostly have not caught on yet.
What is actually changing
For years, being found meant ranking in Google’s ten blue links. That still matters, but a growing share of searches now get answered by AI before anyone clicks anything. Industry estimates suggest AI features already touch well over half of searches, and the overlap between Google’s top ten and what AI tools actually cite has dropped sharply.
That means two things. Ranking on Google no longer guarantees you get mentioned in the AI answer sitting above it. And the businesses AI tools recommend are often not the ones with the flashiest websites, but the ones whose information is clearest, most consistent and easiest for a machine to trust.
People have started calling this GEO, or generative engine optimisation. Ignore the jargon. The real question is simple: when an AI is deciding who to recommend, does it have a clear, trustworthy picture of your business? Your job is to make that a yes.
Answer real questions clearly on your website
AI tools pull answers from content that states things plainly and directly. The single most useful thing you can add to your site is genuine, well-written answers to the questions your customers actually ask.
Front-load the answer. If a page is about emergency call-out charges, the first sentence should say what you charge and how it works, not build up to it after three paragraphs of preamble. AI models extract the clearest, most direct answer to a specific question, so the page that answers plainly wins the mention.
An FAQ section is the highest-value place to do this. A dedicated FAQ page, plus FAQ blocks inside your service pages, gives AI tools tidy question-and-answer pairs they can lift straight into a response. This is exactly the kind of content that ends up quoted in AI Overviews and ChatGPT answers.
Add structured data so machines understand you
Structured data, also called schema markup, is a bit of code that tells a machine exactly what your business is, where it is and what each page covers. It removes ambiguity, so an AI can be confident about your name, location, services and hours rather than guessing.
The practical ones for a local business are LocalBusiness schema on your site, and FAQPage schema on your FAQ content. You do not need to hand-code it. Most decent website builds and SEO plugins can add it, and it is a standard part of how we build sites. The point is that clean, well-structured pages are easier for AI to read and quote than a pretty site with no underlying markup.
If your current website was not built with this in mind, that is often the gap. A properly built, SEO-ready website bakes this in from the start rather than bolting it on later.
Your Google Business Profile still does the heavy lifting
Here is the part the hype merchants skip: for local recommendations, AI tools lean heavily on the sources they already trust, and near the top of that list is your Google Business Profile plus consistent listings across the web.
So the local SEO work you should be doing anyway is also your AI search strategy:
- Claim and fully complete your Google Business Profile, with the right primary category and real photos.
- Keep your name, address and phone number identical everywhere they appear.
- Build a steady flow of genuine reviews and reply to them.
- Get listed on the directories and review sites that fit your trade, with matching details.
When your details line up across Google, your website and the directories, an AI tool has a consistent, confident picture of you and is far more likely to name you. When they conflict, it hedges or picks someone clearer. Solid local SEO is the foundation the AI visibility sits on.
Keep your content fresh
Freshness works as a tie-breaker. When several businesses could answer a question equally well, AI tools tend to favour the more recently updated source. A page last touched in 2022 looks stale next to one updated this quarter.
You do not need to publish constantly. Revisit your key service pages and top blog posts every few months, add a recent example or an updated figure, and keep your Google Business Profile active with posts and photos. That steady maintenance signals that your business is live and current, which is exactly what an AI wants to recommend.
What to ignore
Two things get oversold. First, chasing every new AI tool individually. You cannot game them one by one, and you do not need to. Get your fundamentals right and you show up across all of them. Second, anyone promising guaranteed placement in ChatGPT for a fee. Nobody controls that. The honest route is clear content, clean structured data, a strong Google Business Profile and consistent citations, given a couple of months to take hold.
FAQs
How do I get my business to show up in ChatGPT?
There is no direct submission or paid placement. ChatGPT recommends businesses it can find clearly across trusted sources, so the route is a complete Google Business Profile, consistent details everywhere, plain-English content that answers real questions, and structured data on your site. Get those right and give it a couple of months. Businesses with strong local SEO tend to start appearing first.
Is AI search optimisation different from normal SEO?
It builds on normal SEO rather than replacing it. The foundations are the same: clear content, a strong Google Business Profile, consistent listings and a well-structured site. The differences are emphasis. AI tools reward content that answers questions directly, front-loads the answer, and uses schema markup so machines can read it confidently. Do the fundamentals well and you cover both traditional and AI search at once.
How long does it take to appear in AI Overviews?
Most small businesses see meaningful movement within sixty to ninety days of doing the work consistently, though a strong existing profile can shorten that. It is not instant. AI tools need time to pick up your updated content, structured data and consistent citations, then start trusting you enough to cite you. Treat it as a steady programme, not a one-off task.
Do I need to be on Reddit or forums for AI search?
It can help but it is not essential. Some AI tools cite community sources like Reddit heavily, so genuinely helping people in relevant forums can get your name into answers. For most local businesses, though, the bigger wins are a complete Google Business Profile, consistent citations and clear website content. Do those first, and treat forum activity as a bonus rather than the priority.
Will AI search replace Google for local businesses?
Not entirely, and not yet. Google’s normal results and map pack still drive a lot of local enquiries, and AI answers often pull from those same sources. The sensible approach is not to abandon what works but to strengthen the fundamentals so you appear in both. The businesses that win are the ones found clearly across search, Maps and AI answers alike.
Ready to be the business AI recommends?
Getting found in ChatGPT and AI search is not a gimmick, it is the same clear, well-structured, well-marked-up groundwork that has always helped local businesses get found, pointed at a new set of tools. If you would like us to check whether your site and profile are set up to be picked up by AI, book a free discovery call. We will show you where the gaps are and what it would take to close them.