How to Get My Business on ChatGPT

More people now ask ChatGPT things they used to type into Google.

“Who’s a good plumber in Denver?” “Best bakery near Capitol Hill?”

So it’s fair to ask: how do I get my business into that answer?

Here’s the honest answer first.

Nobody can guarantee it. Not us, not an agency, not a “ChatGPT SEO” course.

OpenAI doesn’t publish a ranking formula. Anyone who sells you a guaranteed spot is guessing — or worse.

What you can do is the groundwork. It’s the same groundwork that helps you on Google, and it takes an afternoon to start.

How ChatGPT finds businesses at all

ChatGPT answers in two ways.

Sometimes it answers from what it learned in training. Sometimes it searches the web and shows links to the sites it used.

The second one is the one you can do something about.

OpenAI says its search crawler is called OAI-SearchBot. It’s the bot that finds websites to show in ChatGPT’s search answers.

OpenAI also says sites that block OAI-SearchBot won’t be shown in ChatGPT search answers.

So step one is simple: make sure you’re not blocking it.

step 1Ask ChatGPT about yourself

Before you fix anything, look.

Open ChatGPT and ask the questions your customers would ask. Use your town:

• “Best emergency plumber in Denver”
• “Plumber in Denver open on Sundays”
• “What does Harbor & Pine Plumbing do?”
• “Is Harbor & Pine Plumbing any good?”

Write down three things. Are you named? Is what it says about you right? Which sites does it link to?

Those links tell you where ChatGPT is reading about businesses like yours.

Do it again in a month. Answers change, so one check proves very little.

step 2Let ChatGPT’s search see your website

Your website has a small file called robots.txt. It tells bots what they may read.

Most small business sites don’t block OpenAI’s bots. But some website builders, security plugins and old settings do.

Look at yoursite.com/robots.txt. If you see this, you’re blocking ChatGPT search:

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Disallow: /

To allow it, it can look like this:

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

OpenAI says changes can take about 24 hours to be picked up.

One more thing OpenAI explains: GPTBot is a different bot. It’s about training AI models, not search. You can block GPTBot and still allow OAI-SearchBot.

If a web person manages your site, send them this step. It’s a two-minute job.

step 3Say clearly, on your own site, what you do

A person skims your homepage in five seconds. A search tool reads it too.

If your homepage says “Quality you can trust since 1998,” nobody learns anything.

Say it plainly, near the top:

Harbor & Pine Plumbing — emergency and everyday plumbing in Denver, Lakewood and Aurora. Open 7 days, 7 am to 9 pm. Water heaters, leaks, drains and repipes.

What you do. Where. When. For whom.

• One page per main service, in plain words
• The towns and neighborhoods you really serve
• Your hours, phone and address as plain text — not only inside an image
• Real prices or price ranges, if you can share them
• Answers to the questions customers ask on the phone

If a stranger can’t tell what you do from your homepage, a search tool can’t either.

step 4Make your business details match everywhere

Your name, address, phone and hours live in a lot of places. Google, Yelp, Apple Maps, Bing, Facebook, local directories.

Over the years, they drift. An old phone number here. An old address there.

When the web disagrees about you, any tool reading it can get you wrong.

Here’s what an AI team found for a fictional Denver plumber:

Three listings with old details. Each one is a quick fix — once you know about it.

step 5Get real reviews, the honest way

Reviews are what people read before they call you. They’re also public text about you that anyone — or any tool — can read.

So ask every customer, the same way, every time.

Never pay for reviews, and never offer a discount for one. Google treats that as fake engagement and can remove them.

step 6Get mentioned on sites people trust

When ChatGPT searches, it reads other websites too. Local news. Lists of “best plumbers in Denver.” Trade associations. Neighborhood blogs.

You can’t control those sites. You can give them a reason to mention you.

• Local “best of” lists — ask the writer to consider you, politely
• Your trade association’s member directory
• Suppliers and partners who list the pros they work with
• Local news — a useful tip, a community project, a real story
• Chambers of commerce and business groups you belong to

A short, honest note works better than a pitch:

No pressure. No payment for placement. Just a fact that fits their page.

If you’re an agency selling this as a service

Lots of local businesses are asking about ChatGPT right now. That’s a real reason to talk to them.

But sell the work, not a promise.

Show the client the before-and-after of the work — the listings fixed, the pages written, the mentions earned.

Then check the answers again each month, and report what changed honestly.

What to do this week

1. 01
   Ask ChatGPT about your business

   4 questions your customers would ask. Write down what it says.

2. 02
   Check your robots.txt

   Make sure OAI-SearchBot isn’t blocked.

3. 03
   Rewrite the top of your homepage

   What you do, where, when, for whom.

4. 04
   Fix your listings

   Same name, phone, address and hours everywhere.

5. 05
   Ask every customer for a review

   Same message, every time.

Or hand the checking and the fix list to your AI team:

Questions