How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT and other AI assistants?

"Who is the best electrician near me?" used to be typed into Google. More and more, it is asked to ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot, and the answer is a short list of names rather than ten blue links. If your business is not on that list, you are not in the running. This guide explains how those tools decide, lets you test where you stand today, and covers what actually helps. It is the AI side of the local SEO and AI search work we do, written so you can start on it yourself.

How AI assistants choose who to recommend

When you ask an AI assistant for a local business, it usually searches the web there and then, reads what it finds, and writes an answer from it. None of the companies publish exactly how they pick names, but the pattern is consistent. They favour businesses that are:

• easy to read, with a website whose words arrive with the page and are not blocked;
• clearly described, so the tool can match what you do and where to the question;
• consistent, with the same name, address, phone number and services everywhere;
• confirmed by others, through reviews, directories, local news and other websites that mention them.

In short, AI assistants behave like a careful person doing research: they trust what they can read clearly and see backed up elsewhere.

Eight steps that make a difference

1. Make sure AI tools can read your site. If your words are built in the visitor's browser, or your robots.txt blocks AI crawlers, most assistants see very little. Our guide on whether AI can read your website has a two-minute test for both.
2. Give each service its own page. A page about "boiler servicing in Canterbury" can be matched to that question. A page listing twelve services cannot be matched to any of them well.
3. Say what you do, where and for whom, near the top. In plain words, the way a customer would put it. AI tools are less forgiving of vague pages than people are.
4. Keep your details identical everywhere. Your business name, address, phone number and opening hours should match on your website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Facebook and directories.
5. Collect genuine reviews on more than one platform. Google reviews matter most, but reviews on sites like Trustpilot, Checkatrade, Yell or Facebook give AI tools more independent evidence. Our guide to ranking higher on Google Maps shows how many reviews you need to catch the business at the top.
6. Get mentioned by other local sources. Trade bodies, local news, suppliers, community groups and business directories. Each genuine mention is another place confirming you exist and what you do.
7. Answer the questions customers ask. Prices, timings, areas covered, what happens on a visit. Written answers in your own words give AI tools something to quote.
8. Do not forget Bing. Microsoft Copilot draws on Bing, so claim your free Bing Places listing and add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools.

Being named is not the same as being linked

What to avoid

• Fake or bought reviews. Apart from being easy to spot, they have been illegal in the UK since 6 April 2025 under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.
• Calling yourself "the best" everywhere. Claims on your own site carry little weight. What others say about you carries much more.
• Paying for a "guaranteed AI listing". There is no way to buy a place in ChatGPT's ordinary recommendations.
• Copy-and-paste town pages. Pages that only swap the town name add nothing for people or AI tools, and can count against you on Google.

How long it takes

Some changes can show up within weeks, especially fixing a site AI tools could not read, or correcting details that were wrong. Building the reviews and mentions that make you the obvious recommendation takes longer, usually a few months of steady work. Run the test above now, keep your results, and repeat it every month or two to see the change.