To get your business recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews, make it easy for AI systems to identify you, verify you and trust you: a fast website with a clear page for every service, consistent business details across the web, answer-first content with real facts, genuine reviews and mentions on sites the assistants already rely on. Strong traditional SEO remains the foundation.
How AI assistants decide which businesses to mention
When someone asks "who's the best cleaner in Robina?" or "what CRM should a tradie use?", AI assistants search the web and their own knowledge, then summarise what they find. Google has said its AI features are rooted in its core Search ranking and quality systems, so pages that rank and demonstrate expertise are the ones that get used. Other assistants lean more heavily on content that is easy to extract and quote, and on third-party sources such as reviews, directories and articles.
SEO vs AEO vs GEO
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank in search results | Be the direct answer | Be cited or recommended by AI |
| Where it shows | Google results and maps | Snippets, People Also Ask, voice | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews |
| Key levers | Speed, service pages, links, local signals | Question headings, concise answers | Entity clarity, facts with sources, reviews, mentions |
Research on generative engine optimisation from Princeton and collaborators (Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024) found that adding citations, quotations and statistics to content increased its visibility in AI-generated answers by up to around 40%, while keyword stuffing did not help.
A 10-step checklist for Australian service businesses
- State who you are in the first lines of your home page: name, what you do, where.
- Create one page per service (and per key area), each answering the questions customers ask.
- Lead with the answer — a 40–60 word direct answer under each question heading.
- Add facts with sources: years in business, jobs completed, response times, prices or ranges.
- Keep your details identical on your site, Google Business Profile, socials and directories.
- Grow genuine reviews steadily — see review automation.
- Add structured data (Organization, Service, FAQ, Article) that matches what's on the page.
- Let AI crawlers in: don't block GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot or Google-Extended, and consider an llms.txt summary file.
- Show real people: founder bios, author names, photos and credentials.
- Earn mentions in local media, industry associations, podcasts and partner websites.
What not to do
- Don't publish thin, near-duplicate pages targeting slight keyword variations — consolidate them into one strong page.
- Don't write separate "AI versions" of content; write for people and organise it clearly.
- Don't buy or incentivise reviews — it breaches Google's policies and can breach Australian Consumer Law (see the ACCC's guidance on online reviews).
- Don't hide key information behind forms, PDFs or scripts that crawlers can't read.
How to check what AI says about your business
Once a month, ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google a handful of questions your customers would ask — "best [service] in [suburb]", "[your business] reviews", "is [your business] any good?". Note whether you're mentioned, what is said and which sources are cited. Fix inaccuracies at the source: your website, your Google Business Profile or the directory the assistant is quoting.
XGROW's SEO and AI search optimisation service covers every step on this list, and every website we build ships with the technical foundations in place.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?
No. There is no way to buy organic recommendations in ChatGPT's answers. Visibility comes from clear, trustworthy information about your business across your website and the wider web.
Does SEO still matter with AI search?
Yes. Google says its AI features are built on its core ranking systems, and other assistants use search results too. SEO is the foundation; AEO and GEO build on it.
What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a proposed plain-text file at the root of a website that summarises the business and links to key pages, making it easier for AI systems to understand the site. It is optional but low effort.
Matheus Bessa is the founder of XGROW. He spent six years in marketing at Unilever Brazil and now builds CRM, marketing automation and AI systems for Australian service businesses. More about Matheus · LinkedIn
