AI SEO: how to get your business mentioned by ChatGPT
To show up in ChatGPT, your website has to be readable, clear and useful. You can check all three yourself this week, without a specialist.
RomAIxAn AI agency6 min read
On this page
- What is AI SEO, and is it different from normal SEO?
- How do I get my business mentioned by ChatGPT?
- Can ChatGPT read your website?
- Does your homepage say plainly what you do, for whom and where?
- Are your customers’ questions answered on your website?
- Do you need llms.txt or special code for AI search?
- What does the free AI-visibility scan check?
- How do you know whether ChatGPT mentions you?
- Common questions
- Make sure ChatGPT and other AI tools are allowed to read your website.
- Say plainly on your homepage what you do, for whom and where.
- Answer your customers' real questions on your pages.
- Nobody can promise a mention, but these steps remove the usual reasons you get skipped.
To get your business mentioned by ChatGPT, your website needs to be easy for AI tools to read and easy to quote. That is what people mean by AI SEO, or SEO for AI. This guide shows the three things to check, and you can do them all yourself.
What is AI SEO, and is it different from normal SEO?
AI SEO is making sure tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI answers can find and name your business. GEO means the same thing.
With normal Google search, people see a list of links and pick one. With ChatGPT, people ask a question and get one written answer that names a few businesses. If you are not in that answer, the customer never sees your website.
The two overlap a lot. Google says its AI answers use the same systems as normal search, with no extra rules or tricks. A page that can show up in normal results can be used in its AI answers. So ordinary SEO still counts.
How do I get my business mentioned by ChatGPT?
Check three things: AI tools may read your site, your pages say clearly what you do, and they answer your customers’ questions. The sections below take them one by one.
Do this weekEach one takes minutes to check/6 done
Can ChatGPT read your website?
Only if your website lets it in, and many owners have never checked. AI tools use small programs to read websites. A small file on your site, called robots.txt, tells these programs what they may read. Type your web address followed by /robots.txt to see yours.
These are the names to look for:
- OAI-SearchBot reads websites for ChatGPT’s answers.
- PerplexityBot reads for Perplexity.
- Claude-SearchBot reads for Claude.
Some programs read for a different reason. GPTBot collects pages to train future OpenAI models. Blocking it does not remove you from ChatGPT’s answers. The same goes for Google-Extended: blocking it does not affect Google Search or Google’s AI answers.
So you can stay out of training and still show up in answers. If you see Disallow: / under one of the three names above, that program is blocked. Fix that first.
Does your homepage say plainly what you do, for whom and where?
ChatGPT can only recommend you for what your website says in words. A slogan does not tell it anything.
- Before: “Quality you can trust.”
- After: “Boiler repair and servicing in Leiden and nearby villages, for homes and small offices.”
The second line gives the service, the place and the customer. Check your main pages for three things:
- What you do, in the words a customer would use.
- For whom, if you serve a certain kind of customer.
- Where, with your towns or regions written out.
Are your customers’ questions answered on your website?
ChatGPT answers questions, so it quotes pages that answer questions. Google says its AI answers can pick out one useful section of a page.
Think of the questions you get on the phone. What does it cost? Do you work in my area? How long does it take? Give each one its own heading, answer it in the first sentence, then add the details.
Google also asks for original content based on real experience. Your own prices, areas and way of working are exactly that.
Do you need llms.txt or special code for AI search?
No. llms.txt is a newer file some sites add to point AI tools to their main pages. Google’s advice on AI search says it does not use it.
The same advice says there is no ideal page length, and you do not need to rewrite your site “for AI”.
Some sites add hidden labels in their code for the business name, address and opening hours. Google says its AI answers need no special labels, and any labels must match the text people see.
What does the free AI-visibility scan check?
The AI-visibility scan reads your website the way AI tools do and checks the points above. The table shows each check, how to do it by hand, and what the scan does.
People ask an assistant who to hire. Is Acme in the answer?
We read Acme's site the way the assistants do
May the AI assistants read the site at all?
Do the pages say what Acme does, for whom and where?
Is the information assistants look for there and easy to read?
A short list, the quick wins first
Asked to an AI assistant- · office cleaning, maintenance
- · facility services
- · cleaning and security
Facility services for offices, from one partner
Cleaning, maintenance and security for workplaces of every size.
Our servicesTalk to us12 of 15 AI assistants may read the site
3 are blockedWhat ✓ · For whom ✓ · Where ✗
40 service pages never name a city.
Short guide for AI assistants: missing
Opening hours, contact and services: easy to read ✓
What to fix
See why the assistants skip you.
And what to fix first.
| Check | By hand | In the scan |
|---|---|---|
| May AI tools read your site? | Open /robots.txt and look for the names above | 15 AI programs checked, with answers and training kept apart |
| Do your pages say what you do? | Read your homepage as a stranger would | Your pages read in their own language, in seven languages |
| Can a machine find your pages? | Look for a list of your pages at /sitemap.xml | Page list, page titles and descriptions, headings, image descriptions and language settings |
| Is your business labelled in the code? | Hard without tools | Whether the hidden labels are there and readable |
| Is your text easy to quote? | Hard without tools | Whether your text is easy to read and lift out |
| What to fix first? | Your own judgement | A list with the quick wins first, then the bigger changes |
Checks taken from the scan itself. Whether Google has your pages is not part of the scan; use the site: search for that.
Every finding is written twice. Once in plain words for you, such as “ChatGPT is not allowed to read your website”. Once in technical words for your web person. You get it on screen and as a PDF.
There is no score out of a hundred. We removed it in August 2026, because nobody can say how much each part adds to such a number. A count is something you can check. If the report says three pages have no description, you can open them and see. The case study explains how the scan came about.
How do you know whether ChatGPT mentions you?
Ask it, once a month. It is slow, but it is the most honest check you have.
- Write down three to five questions a customer would type, such as “Who repairs boilers in Leiden?”
- Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google the same questions each month.
- Note whether your business is named, and save the answers with the date.
- Keep the questions the same, so you can compare month to month.
If you want a quick start, run the free scan on your own website first. If AI tools are new to you, where to start with AI is a good next read.
Common questions
How do I get my business mentioned by ChatGPT?
Let ChatGPT's reading program, OAI-SearchBot, into your site. Say plainly on your pages what you do, for whom and where. Answer your customers' questions under headings that ask them.
Is GEO the same as AI SEO?
Yes. GEO, AI SEO and SEO for AI are different names for the same work: getting your business found and named by AI tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity.
If I block GPTBot, does ChatGPT stop recommending me?
No. GPTBot collects pages to train future models. ChatGPT's answers use a different program, OAI-SearchBot. You can block one and allow the other.
Do I need an llms.txt file?
Not for Google. llms.txt is a newer file that points AI tools to your main pages, and Google says it does not use it. Our scan notes whether you have one but puts it low on the list.
Why does the AI-visibility scan not give a score?
Because nobody can say how much each part adds to a score out of a hundred. The scan gives counts instead, such as which pages lack a description, so you can check every point yourself.
RomAIx builds AI systems for businesses and writes up the work as it happens.