Is ChatGPT recommending your business? Here's how to find out and what to do about it.
- Kristen Noelle
- Jun 15
- 6 min read
This article is a guest post from: Kristen Noelle- Chief Marketing Strategist, Venture to Bloom
When was the last time you Googled a restaurant recommendation? Or searched “best accountant near me” and actually scrolled through a list of websites?
For most of us, that habit has started to shift. More and more, people are skipping the search results page altogether. They’re typing questions directly into ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity, or pulling from Google’s AI Overview and getting an answer back before they ever even click on anything.
I noticed it in my own life first. Recently, my fiance purchased a laptop straight from a ChatGPT exchange. He told Chat his budget and needs, then went right to Best Buy to grab what it recommended. Then a day later, while we were in Philadelphia for a workshop, he wanted a Philly cheesesteak. He told it where we were (outside of the city), and again ChatGPT gave him a recommendation. He went there. That was it.
Buying a new laptop used to be a decision that would have taken hours of tab-hopping… Instead it took maybe twenty minutes.
This is one of the patterns that’s emerging in this AI era. And if your potential clients are doing the same thing, the question becomes: when they ask ChatGPT or some other AI who can help them with their business, is your name part of the answer?
You want to make sure you’re being mentioned by AI.
What is GEO and why does it matter now?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It's the practice of making sure your business shows up when AI tools generate recommendations and answers, not just when people search on Google.
You've probably heard of SEO, which is all about getting your website to rank on page one of Google. GEO builds on that same foundation, but the game is a little different.
Instead of competing for a spot on a list of links, you're competing to be the answer. AI tools don't show ten results and let the user decide.
They synthesize information from multiple sources and give one cohesive response. If your business is part of what those tools are pulling from, you can end up being directly recommended. If you're not, you're invisible to anyone who searched that way.
And this isn't hypothetical. More than half of Google searches now end without a single click to a website because AI overviews are answering the question right there on the page.
People are doing their research differently, and the businesses that understand this early have a real advantage.
Step one: find out where you stand right now
The good news is that the audit is simple and you can do it in the next five minutes.
Open ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Google and ask the questions your ideal clients would ask. Be specific. Think about the exact words someone would use when they need what you offer.
Some examples to get you started:
"Who are the best [your profession] in [your city]?"
"What should I look for when hiring a [your service]?"
"How do I [problem you solve]?"
"What's the best way to [outcome you deliver]?"
Look at what comes back. Are you mentioned? Are your competitors? Does the AI pull from your website, your LinkedIn, your Google reviews? Or does it cite sources that have nothing to do with you?
Do this across a few different tools because they each pull from different places. ChatGPT and Perplexity tend to lean on websites, blogs, and LinkedIn. Google AI Overviews pull heavily from Google Business Profiles, reviews, and indexed web content. What you find will tell you a lot about where your gaps are.
Why some businesses show up in ChatGPT and others don't
AI tools are not random about who they recommend. There's a logic to it, and once you understand it, you can work with it.
They reward content that answers questions directly.
AI engines pull from the opening of a page, not the middle or the bottom. If your website buries what you do and who you serve under a lot of beautiful but vague language, the AI may not pull it at all. The businesses that show up tend to get to the point fast.
They look for consistency across platforms.
Here's something most people don't know: AI cross-references your name and your claims across multiple sources. If your website says one thing, your LinkedIn says something slightly different, and your Google Business Profile is barely filled out, that inconsistency creates noise. The businesses AI trusts tend to show up the same way everywhere.
They trust what other sources say about you.
AI is not just reading your own content. It's reading what other people say about you. Reviews, press mentions, podcast appearances, guest blog posts, directory listings. When third-party sources confirm your expertise, AI gives your business more credibility as a recommendation source. This is why simply having a website is not enough.
They favor content that's been updated recently.
AI has a strong preference for fresh content. A blog post from 2021 may have been great, but it's losing citation power. Businesses that publish consistently, even just quarterly, stay more visible in AI search than those who put something out once and left it alone.
What to do about your AI visibility starting now
Now that you know where you stand, here's where to focus your energy. You don't have to do all of this at once. Start with what you can act on this week and build from there.
Rewrite your website opening to lead with a direct answer.
Your homepage, your about page, your services page — each one should answer a core question within the first two or three sentences. Who you help, what you do for them, and what result they can expect. Not "welcome to my business" and not a list of buzzwords. A direct, specific answer.
Fill out your Google Business Profile (GBP) completely.
This is one of the highest-leverage moves for local service businesses. Add your services with keyword-rich descriptions, post updates regularly, and respond to every review. Google's AI Overview pulls heavily from active, complete GBP listings.
Make your LinkedIn say something.
Your LinkedIn profile and your company page should clearly describe your expertise, who you serve, and what you help them accomplish. AI indexes LinkedIn heavily. A sparse or vague profile is a missed opportunity.
Start collecting third-party mentions.
Think about where your name could show up that isn't your own platform. A guest blog post. A podcast interview. A feature in a local business publication. Getting listed in industry directories. Every time a source that isn't you mentions your name in connection with your expertise, you're building AI credibility.
Use the language your clients use, not the language you use.
This one is subtle but important. If your clients search for "help getting clients as a life coach" and your website only says "transformational coaching services," there's a mismatch. AI is matching intent to language. The closer your content mirrors the actual words your clients use to describe their problem, the more likely you are to show up when they search.
The bottom line
AI search is not replacing everything you've already built. It's a new layer on top of it. The businesses that show up in AI recommendations aren't necessarily the biggest or the most established. They're the clearest, the most consistent, and the most present across the places AI is looking.
I've been thinking about this a lot because I lead GEO visibility strategy at my full-time job and I'm building it into everything we do at my content studio, Venture to Bloom. And what I keep coming back to is this: if your expertise is real and your results are real, the work is just making sure the places AI looks can actually find you.
Go do that audit right now. Ask ChatGPT who the best person in your field is in your area. See what it says. Then decide what you want to do about it.
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