How to get recommended by ChatGPT as a local business

"Which plumber should I call in Leeds?" "A good electrician near Bristol?" More and more people ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Claude these questions instead of Google. These assistants answer with a few names. Here is how they choose them and how to get on the list.

How AI assistants find businesses

AI assistants combine two things:

• what they have learned from texts published on the web;
• a live search for local or recent questions: they query search engines and web pages, then summarise what they find.

For a local question, they therefore rely heavily on well-ranked pages: business websites, business profiles, directories, reviews, articles. A business that is missing from these sources has little chance of being mentioned.

What helps you get mentioned

A clear, well-ranked website

Assistants need to understand in a few lines who you are, what you do and where. A site that clearly says "emergency plumbing in Leeds and surrounding areas, 7 days a week" is easier to quote than a vague one. And a site that ranks well on Google is more likely to be read by assistants that search live. See getting visible on Google in your city.

Precise, up-to-date information

• your services, your area, your opening hours;
• indicative prices where possible;
• a frequently asked questions page with direct answers.

Assistants like clear answers they can reuse as they are.

Reviews and mentions elsewhere

Assistants cross-check sources. Regular reviews on your Google profile and mentions on other sites (serious directories, partners, local press) strengthen the trust they place in you.

Structured data

Schema.org markup (business type, address, area, opening hours, reviews) helps engines read your site without ambiguity. It is a technical detail, but it matters.

What does not work

• Repeating keywords everywhere: assistants look for useful information, not lists of words.
• Fake reviews: they break platform rules and end up being noticed.
• Hoping to be mentioned without being present on the web: an assistant cannot recommend what it cannot find.

Google and ChatGPT: the same work

Good news: what makes you visible on Google also makes you more visible in AI assistants. A good, well-ranked site with clear information serves both. There is no need to run two separate projects.

The RankoWeb solution

RankoWeb sites are designed from the start for Google and for AI assistants: clear information by trade and area, frequently asked questions, structured data, fast pages. We also track each site's visibility in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. Each site is rented to a single professional. Also read: how to find customers as a tradesperson.