The short answer: let ChatGPT read your site, then make your facts easy to repeat.
OpenAI offers no sign-up for ChatGPT's answers, and it says its ads don't influence them, so there's no spot to buy. Its help center gives one step for being included, letting its search crawler read your site, and says placement isn't guaranteed. It doesn't publish how it picks. Past that, the best bet is to state the same plain facts about your business on your own site and on the pages ChatGPT reads, then check the results yourself.
You can do most of this yourself. The website changes are where a builder earns the fee, and that's the part I do: I build sites for Charlotte-area contractors. Google Business Profile basics like categories, reviews, and photos are in the Charlotte Google Maps guide, so this page skips them.
How many customers ask an AI before they call
More than you'd guess, though Google still comes first. In BrightLocal's 2026 survey of 1,002 U.S. adults, 45% had used ChatGPT or another AI tool for local business recommendations, up from 6% in the previous year's survey, and 31% had used ChatGPT itself for one in the past 12 months. AI ranked third as a source of recommendations, behind Google and Facebook.
Two cautions. BrightLocal sells local SEO software, including an AI visibility tracker, though it publishes its methods. And a good Google ranking doesn't carry over on its own: in BrightLocal's study of about 200,000 local AI searches, the businesses it tracked showed up in Google Maps results for 66% of searches and in ChatGPT's answers for 33%.
What's documented, what's measured, and what's made up
Here's where the common claims stand. Where a step below rests on a study or on my own reasoning, it says so.
| Claim | Status | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Blocking OpenAI’s search crawler keeps you out of ChatGPT search | OpenAI says so | OpenAI’s crawler documentation |
| ChatGPT sends searches to outside providers, with your rough location | OpenAI says so | OpenAI’s help center |
| How ChatGPT picks which businesses to name | Not published | OpenAI cites “multiple factors” and says placement isn’t guaranteed |
| Yelp shows up in most ChatGPT local answers | Measured | BrightLocal: cited in 80% of them |
| ChatGPT’s local picks come from your Google Business Profile | Not supported | Same study: Google profiles weren’t a top ChatGPT source |
| You need a set number of reviews, or only a tiny share of businesses get named | No source found | No primary source I could find for any of these figures |
Make sure OpenAI's search crawler can get in
OpenAI runs three crawlers, and it says each setting is independent of the others. Only one decides whether your pages can appear in ChatGPT's search answers.
OAI-SearchBot
Finds pages for ChatGPT’s search answers. Block it and OpenAI says your site won’t be shown in them, beyond a bare link.
GPTBot
Collects pages that may be used to train OpenAI’s models. Blocking it doesn’t affect search.
ChatGPT-User
Opens a page when someone in ChatGPT asks it to. OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply to it.
To check, open yourdomain.com/robots.txt in a browser. If OAI-SearchBot, or every bot (User-agent: *), is listed with Disallow: /, you're blocked. The fix is two lines:
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot Allow: /
Keeping your pages out of model training is a separate GPTBot rule, and your call either way. OpenAI says robots.txt changes take about a day to register.
Robots.txt isn't the only gate. OpenAI also says to confirm your web host or CDN lets its search crawler's published IP addresses through. On Cloudflare, check Security Settings, then Configure AI bot policies: OAI-SearchBot falls under Search, which Cloudflare's defaults for new sites allow, but an older setting can still block it. Otherwise, ask your web host: is anything blocking OAI-SearchBot?
Write down the facts an answer would quote
Asked for an emergency plumber in Matthews who works Sundays, ChatGPT can only repeat what it finds in writing. In BrightLocal's study, 93% of the distinct websites AI answers cited were business websites, making up 42% of all citations. Your site is the one source you control, so put these on it as text, not inside photos or PDFs.
- 01
Each service, in your customers’ words
“Water heater replacement,” not “plumbing solutions.” People ask in plain words, so your pages should use them.
- 02
The towns you really work in
Ballantyne, Matthews, Mint Hill, Fort Mill. A question about Fort Mill is easier to answer from a page that says you work there.
- 03
Hours, including nights and weekends
If you take emergency calls, say when. “Who’s open Sunday?” has no answer on a site that never says.
- 04
A starting price or a typical range
Plus what pushes it up. A price you never publish is one no AI tool can repeat.
- 05
Licenses and insurance
Your license number for each state you work in, if your trade requires one, and that you’re insured.
- 06
The details that settle a choice
Years in business, the brands you service, your warranty, and how customers can pay.
Write them the way you'd say them on the phone. “We replace water heaters in Matthews, Mint Hill, and Indian Trail, usually the same day, and we're licensed and insured” answers four questions in one sentence. The free website blueprint planner maps out the service and town pages your trade needs.
Structured data is worth adding, with modest expectations. Schema.org has types for plumbers, roofers, electricians, and HVAC businesses, with fields for hours, service area, and price range, and Google uses it for business details in search. OpenAI hasn't said whether ChatGPT reads it, and even Google doesn't guarantee its features will show. It's cheap, and it keeps your facts consistent.
Match those facts on the listings ChatGPT cites
BrightLocal's August 2026 study tracked which sites three AI tools cited about 1,355 local businesses in the U.S., U.K., and Australia. ChatGPT's list looked different from Google's: Yelp was its top source by far, cited in 80% of its local answers, and Google Business Profiles weren't near the top.
| Listing | What the study found | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Yelp | ChatGPT’s most-cited local source | Claim the page and match your name, number, hours, and services to your site. |
| BBB, Angi, HomeAdvisor, Yellow Pages | Each in ChatGPT’s top ten | On any you’re already listed on, fix old numbers and service lists. |
| Apple Maps | In ChatGPT’s top ten, with far fewer citations | Claim your place card through Apple Business. |
| Bing Places | Not measured. OpenAI’s help page points to Microsoft’s privacy policy for its search providers. | Free to list. A reasonable bet, not a proven one. |
| Google Business Profile | Rarely cited by ChatGPT | Keep it current anyway. It runs the Google map. |
The sample leaned toward restaurants, so treat the list as a starting point; your own test shows what gets cited for your trade. Keep one name, one number, and the same hours on all of them.
Get named on pages you don't own
AI answers lean on what others say about you. The pages worth chasing are the ones already cited for your trade and town.
Best-of lists
If ChatGPT cites a “best roofers in Huntersville” article, find out how the writer picked. If a list charges to include you, judge it like any ad.
Local news
A quote in a story about storm damage names you, your trade, and your town in one line.
Association and chamber directories
Member pages state what you do and where, on sites with no reason to oversell you.
Reddit and neighborhood forums
Across the three AI tools, BrightLocal found Reddit cited for nearly nine in ten of the businesses it tracked. Answer questions as yourself; a planted recommendation is a fake review with extra steps.
Reviews count too, and where they live matters. If ChatGPT reads Yelp far more than Google profiles, a Yelp review may reach it when a Google review doesn't. That's my inference from one study, not OpenAI's word. Ask every customer, on whichever site they already use.
Ask ChatGPT what your customers ask it
Before you change anything, see what ChatGPT says now. Put a town in every question; that's OpenAI's own advice for better local results.
- 01“Who’s the best emergency plumber in Matthews, NC?”
- 02“I need a roofer in Huntersville who handles insurance claims. Who should I call?”
- 03“Which HVAC companies near Ballantyne are open on weekends?”
- 04“Recommend a licensed electrician in Fort Mill, SC for a panel upgrade.”
- 05“What do you know about [your business] in [your town]? Where did that come from?”
Swap in your trade and towns. Then, for each answer:
- Open Sources, when it’s shown, and list every page cited. Those are the pages to get listed on, named in, or corrected.
- Run each prompt three or four times, on different days. In BrightLocal’s study, repeat runs of the same ChatGPT prompt shared only about 23% of the businesses named. One screenshot proves nothing.
- Have someone in another town run them too. OpenAI says your rough location and saved memories shape the search.
- Check the facts about you. OpenAI warns that results can be incomplete, outdated, or wrong. Fix the page the error came from.
To track it over the months, check your analytics. OpenAI adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to links people click from ChatGPT, so those visits arrive labeled.
What you can't control, and who not to pay
Some of this you can't move, and anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
Whether you’re named on a given day
Placement isn’t guaranteed, and the names shift between runs. You can be a likely pick, never a sure one.
Ads, which sit outside the answer
OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT in the U.S. in February 2026, on its Free and Go plans. It says ads are labeled as sponsored and don’t influence the answers. An ad is the one spot you can buy.
Anyone selling guaranteed ChatGPT placement
OpenAI says any public website can appear and none is guaranteed a spot. Ask what they’ll change from this page and how you’ll both measure it.
Who should skip this for now
If your Google profile isn’t set up, start there: Google is still where most people look. If you’re booked out for months or work mostly through general contractors, this can wait.
A recommendation still ends in a phone call
Being named only pays if someone picks up. When that call comes in while you're in a crawl space, a missed-call text back gets a reply to that caller in seconds, learns what the job is, and hands you anything it can't settle. And if your site is the weak link, here's what a new website costs in Charlotte.