AI SEO: how to get found in ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI answers

Large language models learn from a huge snapshot of the web, but for local and current questions most assistants also search the web while they answer. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Mode read a handful of pages that rank for the question, plus business listings and reviews, then write a short answer that names a few businesses.

That means two things matter: whether the pages and listings the assistant reads mention you, and whether they describe you clearly enough for the assistant to be confident recommending you for that specific job in that specific place.

Most of the foundations are shared. Pages that rank well in Google and Bing are the pages AI assistants tend to read, and the reputation signals that move map rankings (reviews, consistent listings, mentions on trusted sites) are the same ones assistants lean on.

The differences are in emphasis and measurement. AI answers reward clear, factual, quotable statements over keyword placement, they draw on sources beyond your own website, and there is no position 1 to track. You measure AI visibility by whether you're mentioned, recommended or cited across the questions customers ask.

AI assistants look for independent confirmation. A business with steady, detailed Google reviews, listings on the main directories, and mentions on respected local and industry sites gives an assistant several sources that agree. A business that only describes itself on its own website gives it one.

Google isn't the only index that matters for AI search. ChatGPT's search draws on several sources, and Bing is widely used by AI products. Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools (you can import it from Google Search Console in a couple of minutes), submit your sitemap, and claim your Bing Places listing.

Checking an assistant on your own phone tells you little: answers vary between assistants, between wordings of the same question, and by location. Pick 10 to 30 questions your customers really ask, ask them the same way on a schedule, from your service area, across the assistants that matter, and record three things each time: whether you're mentioned, whether you're recommended, and whether your website is cited as a source. Note who is named instead.

Over a few months, that record shows whether your mention rate is rising and which competitors assistants favour, which tells you whose reviews, pages and mentions to study.