How to get ChatGPT to recommend your business: a 2026 guide for local businesses

Published: October 18, 2026 · Mencioly

A few years ago, someone looking for a dentist, a mechanic or a surf school opened Google and checked the map. Today, more and more people open ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity and type something like: "Who's the best dentist in Puerto Vallarta?" The answer isn't ten blue links anymore. It's a paragraph with three or four names.

If your business is in that answer, you won a customer without paying for an ad. If it isn't, that customer never knew you existed. This guide explains how AI assistants decide which businesses to name, and what you can do, step by step, to show up more often.

How AI assistants choose which businesses to recommend

When you ask a buying question to an assistant with web search, the process usually looks like this:

It searches the web for recent sources about your question: business websites, directories, reviews, "best of" articles, local news.
It reads those sources and collects the names that keep coming up.
It writes an answer with the businesses that look most relevant and trustworthy, sometimes citing the sites it used.

That has two practical consequences. First, an AI can only recommend you if it finds clear information about you on the web. Second, what others say about you matters as much as what you say: showing up in lists, directories and reviews helps your name repeat across sources.

One important detail: answers change. The same question can return different names today and next week. That's why it pays to measure regularly, not once.

Step 1: Measure where you stand today

Before changing anything, find out what AI assistants say about your category and city. You can do it by hand: open ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and ask things like "best [your category] in [your city]?", "recommended [category] near [your neighborhood]?" or "affordable [service] in [city]?". Write down whether you're mentioned, in what position, and who's named instead.

If you'd rather not do it by hand, the Mencioly free check sends 5 typical buyer questions for your category to ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity through their official APIs with web search, then emails you a 0–100 score, the competitors that show up most, a technical check of your site (structured data, llms.txt and robots.txt) and a prioritized action plan. Google AI Overviews isn't measured yet (coming soon).

Step 2: Let AI crawlers in

Many websites accidentally block AI crawlers in their robots.txt file, sometimes through a security plugin or a CDN setting. Open yoursite.com/robots.txt and look for names like OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot, PerplexityBot or Google-Extended followed by Disallow: /. If your goal is to appear in AI search answers, make sure you're not blocking search crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot. You can decide separately whether to allow crawlers used for model training.

Step 3: Add structured data (schema) to your site

JSON-LD structured data tells any machine exactly who you are: name, business type, address, phone, hours, service area and links to your profiles. For a local business, the LocalBusiness type (or a more specific one such as Dentist or Restaurant) is the foundation. Many site builders and plugins add it in a few clicks. Don't invent reviews or ratings in your schema; use real data only.

Step 4: One clear page per service and area

AI assistants answer specific questions. If your site just says "Welcome", there isn't much to read. Create pages that answer exactly what a customer asks: what you do, where, for whom, roughly what it costs, how to book, and common questions. Mention your city and neighborhood naturally ("beginner surf lessons in Sayulita").

Step 5: Be where AI assistants look

Answers often lean on directories, local guides and "best of" articles. Check which sites Perplexity cites when you ask about your category: those are your targets. Make sure you're listed in the directories that matter for your industry and city, and look for legitimate mentions in local blogs, chambers of commerce and press. Avoid link farms and spam directories.

Step 6: Real, recent reviews

Reviews on Google, TripAdvisor, Facebook or industry platforms are among the public sources that say the most about your service. Ask real customers after a good experience, reply to reviews, and never buy them.

Step 7: The same information everywhere

If your name, address, phone or hours differ between your website, Google Maps, Facebook and directories, you confuse people and machines. Pick one official version and use it everywhere.

Step 8: An llms.txt file (optional, but cheap)

llms.txt is a text file at the root of your site that summarizes your business for AI tools. It's a new convention, not an official standard, and no engine promises to use it. Still, it takes ten minutes and doesn't hurt. Do it after the steps above, not instead of them.

What doesn't work

Paying to "get into ChatGPT". Nobody can guarantee what an AI will say. Be wary of anyone who promises it.
Stuffing your site with mass-produced, repetitive text. Search engines and AI assistants reward useful, original content, not volume.
Hiding text for AI. What you show machines should be what people see.

How long does it take?

It depends on each engine and how quickly it re-reads your site and the sources that mention you. Some changes, like unblocking crawlers, can show up within weeks; others, like building reviews and mentions, take months. What matters is measuring before and after with the same questions.

FAQ

Is this the same as SEO? They're related: both are about being found. The difference is that AI builds one answer with a few names instead of showing ten links. This is often called AEO or GEO (answer-engine or generative-engine optimization).

Does ChatGPT give everyone the same answer? No. Answers vary with the exact question, location and timing. That's why it's best to measure several questions, every week.

Do I need to pay anything to start? No. You can do every step in this guide yourself. If you want to know where you stand today, the Mencioly check is free and needs no credit card.

Does AI recommend you? Get your free check and receive your score, your competitors and an action plan by email, usually within 24 hours. Nobody can guarantee what an AI will say; what we can do is measure it.

Mencioly is not affiliated with OpenAI, Google or Perplexity. ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI; Gemini is a trademark of Google LLC; Perplexity is a trademark of Perplexity AI, Inc.