Get your business recommended by AI

More customers now ask AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or the AI answers at the top of Google to recommend a business. This guide shows you how these tools tend to find and describe local businesses, and the honest, practical things you can do so that what they say about you is accurate and easy for them to find. People sometimes call this AIO, short for AI search optimisation. Be clear on one thing first: nobody controls what these tools recommend, and there’s no guaranteed way to be picked. If someone sells you a guaranteed “AI ranking” trick, treat it as a red flag.

Before you start

• Your website address and the logins for the tool that runs it.
• Your business name, address or service area, and phone number, written exactly the way you want them to appear everywhere.
• A list of the places your business is already listed, like your Google Business Profile, Facebook page, and any directories.
• About an hour now, then fifteen minutes every couple of months.

Want to do it yourself?

Difficulty

6 out of 10

Estimated completion time

3–6 hours for initial improvements, with ongoing review

Skills you’ll need: Audit business details, edit helpful site content, and check that key pages can be read. Results require continued observation.

I’ll do it myselfI’d rather get help

How this helps your brand

Clear service information and consistent business details give search and AI tools better source material to describe you. The work also helps human visitors judge your offer, without guaranteeing a recommendation or position.

1. 1

   Step 1: Ask the AI tools what they say about you

   Start by finding out where you stand. Open two or three AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, and also search on Google to see if an AI answer appears at the top.

   Ask each one the kinds of questions a customer would. Write down the answers, and note anything that’s wrong, out of date, or missing.

   • “What does [your business name] in [your town] do?”
   • “What are [your business name]’s opening hours and phone number?”
   • “Can you recommend a good [what you do] in [your town]?”

   Tip: Answers change from day to day and from person to person, so don’t panic over one odd reply. Look for wrong details that come up again and again. Those usually come from a wrong source somewhere online.

2. 2

   Step 2: Make your business details identical everywhere

   AI tools build their picture of your business from many places: your website, your Google Business Profile, maps, directories, review sites, and social pages. When those places disagree, the AI may repeat the wrong version or leave you out.

   Pick one exact version of your name, address, and phone number, then check every listing against it. Fix your opening hours, services, and website address at the same time.

   • Your website, especially the footer and contact page.
   • Your Google Business Profile.
   • Apple Maps, Bing Places, Facebook, and any directories for your trade or town.
   • Old listings from a previous address or phone number. Update them or ask for them to be removed.

   Tip: If an AI tool says something wrong about you, you can’t edit the AI’s answer directly. Fix the source it most likely learned from, usually an old listing or an old page on your own site, and give it time to catch up.

   Illustrated exampleFind the source of a conflicting detail

   Chosen version · example businessHarbour Bike Repair

   Address

   18 Bay Street, Kingston

   Phone

   613-555-0142

   Hours

   Mon–Fri, 9 am–6 pm

   Now compare the phone number at each source.

   • Website contact page613-555-0142✓ Matches
   • Google Business Profile613-555-0142✓ Matches
   • Old town directory613-555-0198! Needs updating

   ↳

   Fix the old directory listing. Replace its number with 613-555-0142, then check the other details against your chosen version.

   Correct the source of a wrong detail. AI answers may take time to catch up.

3. 3

   Step 3: Answer real customer questions on your site

   AI tools look for clear, direct answers. A page that plainly says what you do, where, for whom, and roughly what it costs is much easier for them to use than a page of slogans.

   Give each main service its own section or page. In plain sentences, say which areas you cover, what’s included, how long it usually takes, and how to book. Add a short list of the questions customers ask you most, with honest answers.

   Tip: The guide “Write pages that answer your customers’ questions” walks you through this step by step.

   Illustrated exampleGive one service a page of direct answers

   Harbour Bike Repair Example service page

   Services / Bike tune-up

   Bike tune-ups in Kingston

   1 We tune up commuter and family bikes at our Kingston workshop.

   What’s included?

   Brake and gear adjustment, tyre check, and chain lubrication.

   What does it cost?

   2 From $85. Parts cost extra; we confirm any extra work with you first.

   How long does it take?

   Usually 1–2 working days after drop-off.

   3 To book, call 613-555-0142. Mon–Fri, 9 am–6 pm.

   1. 1
      Service + place + customer

      Say what you do, where you do it, and who it’s for.

   2. 2
      A useful, honest price

      Explain what’s included and what could cost extra.

   3. 3
      A clear next step

      Explain how and when a customer can book.

4. 4

   Step 4: Earn reviews and mentions from real customers

   When AI tools recommend a local business, they often lean on reviews and on what other websites say about it. You can’t control that, but you can make it more likely there’s plenty of honest, recent information about you.

   Ask happy customers for reviews on Google and on the sites that matter in your trade. Reply to reviews politely. If a local paper, supplier, or community group mentions you, check they have your correct name and website.

   Tip: Never buy reviews or write fake ones. It breaks the rules of every major review site and can get your listing penalised.

5. 5

   Step 5: Make sure your site can be read

   AI tools and search engines use automated programs, often called crawlers, to read websites. If your important information is hidden, they can’t use it.

   • Keep key details like services, prices, and contact information as normal text on the page, not only inside images or PDFs.
   • Don’t put information customers need behind a login or a sign-up form.
   • Check your site isn’t set to “hide from search engines”. Many site builders have this switch in their settings, and it’s sometimes left on after a site is built.
   • If someone set up rules that block crawlers, ask them to check that search engines are allowed in. Some AI companies have their own crawlers too, and blocking those is a choice you can make on purpose.
6. 6

   Step 6: Add your business details through your site builder

   Structured data is a small block of hidden labels that tells machines exactly what your business is, for example “this is the phone number” and “these are the opening hours”. Search engines can read it, and it may help other tools too.

   Many site builders and plugins add it for you once you fill in your business details in the settings. Search your site builder’s help pages for “structured data” or “local business schema” to see what it offers. If an AI tool built your site, the prompt below asks it to check.

   Tip: You may hear about a file called llms.txt that claims to help AI tools read your site. It’s optional and there’s no clear proof it makes a difference, so don’t pay for it or put it ahead of the steps above.

Please help me make sure AI tools and search engines can understand my business website and describe it correctly. I’m not technical, so explain everything in plain English.

My business name: [your business name]
What I do: [what you do, in one sentence]
Where I work: [your town, city, or the areas you serve]
My address and phone number: [exactly as you want them shown everywhere]
My opening hours: [your hours]
My main services: [list them, in the words customers use]
What AI tools currently get wrong about me: [anything wrong you noticed, or “nothing yet”]

Please:
1. Check that each main service has clear, plain text saying what it is, where I offer it, and how to book. Suggest wording where it’s missing.
2. Point out any important details that only appear in images, PDFs, or behind a login.
3. Check whether my site is set to hide from search engines or blocks crawlers, and tell me what you find.
4. Check whether my site has structured data for a local business. If it doesn’t, explain how to add it with the tools I already use, using only details that are true.

Don’t promise rankings or AI recommendations, and don’t add anything misleading. Show me the changes first and wait for my OK before changing anything.