Guide · AI search

How to get ChatGPT and Google’s AI to recommend your local business

Short answer

AI assistants recommend local businesses they can find described clearly and consistently across the web: on your website, your Google Business Profile, directories such as Yelp, and reviews. Let AI crawlers read your site, keep listings accurate everywhere, earn steady reviews, and answer customers’ real questions on your own pages.

By Trident GTM · Published October 21, 2026 · Last reviewed October 21, 2026

45% of US consumers used ChatGPT or another AI tool for local recommendations in 2026, up from 6% a year earlier.
ChatGPT runs web searches through third-party providers, and its local answers draw heavily on business websites.
Google says there are no special requirements for AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond being indexed and eligible for a snippet.
Mentions of your business on other sites rank among the strongest factors for AI visibility.

Why AI recommendations now matter for local businesses

A large and fast-growing share of customers now ask an AI assistant which local business to use. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey found 45% of US consumers used ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% the year before, and 40% trust AI platforms to recommend businesses.

Unlike the map results, an AI answer usually names only a handful of businesses, so being one of them matters more. The data on what drives those picks is still young and changes quickly, which is why every figure on this page carries its date.

How ChatGPT finds local businesses

ChatGPT finds local businesses by running web searches through outside search providers and reading the pages that come back. OpenAI states that ChatGPT search “leverages third-party search providers”, and its help documentation explains that it rewrites a question into targeted searches and ranks results using multiple factors, with no guaranteed placement.

For local questions, analysis by Search Engine Land found ChatGPT runs a Bing search and gathers the top 20 to 30 web results, which makes your visibility in Bing a practical factor. OpenAI also notes that sites that block its OAI-SearchBot crawler will not appear in ChatGPT search answers.

How Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode choose businesses

Google’s AI features draw on the same index as regular search, and Google says no special optimization is needed. Its Search Central documentation states there are “no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode”, beyond a page being indexed and eligible to show with a snippet.

The same documentation advises keeping Business Profile information up to date and explains that AI Mode breaks a question into several related searches, called query fan-out. In practice, that means a page answering one specific question well can be pulled into an answer for a broader one, and that your Google Business Profile carries real weight. BrightLocal’s testing found Google AI Mode consistently relied on Business Profile data.

Which sources AI answers cite for local searches

Business websites and listings make up most of what AI answers cite for local searches, with reviews and forums a much smaller share. Studies differ in method and date, so treat these as directional.

Study	What it found
BrightLocal, Dec 2024, 800 ChatGPT searches	Business websites were 58% of local sources; directories about 15%
Yext, Oct 2025, 6.8 million citations	Websites 44%, listings 42%, reviews and social 8%, forums 2%
BrightLocal, Jul 2025, 20 searches across four tools	Yelp appeared as a source in 33% of searches
Whitespark, 2026 ranking factors	Three of the top five AI visibility factors were citations, meaning mentions on other sites

The common thread is that your own website and your listings are the largest sources you control. Yext sells listings software, so its framing deserves some caution, but the independent studies point the same way.

Steps to get your business recommended

Make your business easy for AI systems to find, read and verify: open your site to their crawlers, keep your details consistent everywhere, and publish clear answers to the questions customers ask.

Allow AI crawlers. Check your robots.txt does not block OAI-SearchBot or other AI search crawlers.
Set up Bing. Claim Bing Places and verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools, since ChatGPT’s local results lean on Bing.
Complete your Google Business Profile. Accurate categories, services, hours and photos feed Google’s AI features directly.
Make listings consistent. Yelp, the BBB, industry directories and local chamber listings should show the same name, address, phone and services.
Earn mentions. Features on local news and industry sites count as citations, which experts now rank among the strongest AI factors.
Publish service pages that answer real questions. One page per main service, with prices or price ranges where you can, written in plain language and visible as page text.
Keep reviews coming. See how to get more Google reviews.

How to check whether AI recommends you

Ask the assistants directly, the way a customer would, and record the answers each month. There is no reliable dashboard for AI visibility yet, so a simple log is the most honest measure.

Use the questions your customers actually ask, such as “best dentist for implants in Towson” or “emergency plumber near Canton”.
Check ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Perplexity, signed out where possible.
Note whether you are named, which competitors are named, and which sources are cited.

AI search visibility is built and tracked monthly in the Local Leader Program, and the free pipeline audit includes a check of how you appear in Google and AI search today. For the map results specifically, see how to show up in the Google Maps top 3.