How to Show Up on ChatGPT

"Find me a good plumber in Austin."

"What's the best dentist near me?"

"Recommend a restaurant for a business dinner downtown."

More and more people are asking ChatGPT and other AI assistants these questions instead of typing them into Google. And if your business isn't showing up in those AI-generated recommendations, you're becoming invisible to a growing segment of customers.

The AI Search Shift

Traditional SEO focused on ranking in Google's blue links. You optimized your website, built backlinks, and hoped to land on page one.

AI search works differently. When someone asks ChatGPT for a local business recommendation, the AI doesn't show a list of ten options. It synthesizes information from across the web and gives a direct answer—often naming just 3-5 businesses.

If you're not one of those businesses, you don't exist in that conversation.

How ChatGPT Finds Local Business Information

ChatGPT pulls information from multiple sources to make recommendations:

Your Google Business Profile reviews are weighted heavily. The AI reads review content to understand what your business does, how well you do it, and what customers specifically praise.

Third-party review sites like Yelp, industry-specific directories, and local business listings all contribute. ChatGPT cross-references multiple sources to validate information.

Your website content provides context about your services, but reviews and third-party mentions often carry more weight because they're independent validation.

Recency matters. AI models are trained on data, and fresher information typically gets prioritized. A business with 200 reviews from 2019 looks less relevant than one with 50 reviews from the past 6 months.

The Review Content Advantage

Here's what most businesses miss: ChatGPT reads the actual text of your reviews, not just your star rating.

When a customer writes "John was incredibly thorough explaining the repair options for my AC unit and finished the job same-day," ChatGPT learns:

You do AC repair
You have a technician named John
You explain options to customers
You offer same-day service

Now when someone asks "Who does fast AC repair in [your city]?" your business has specific, relevant, customer-validated content to surface.

Generic reviews like "Great service, would recommend" add nothing to this equation. They confirm you're not terrible, but they don't give AI anything specific to latch onto when matching queries to recommendations.

This is why detailed reviews that mention:

Specific services performed
Technician/staff names
Particular problems solved
Timeliness and pricing details

...are worth 10x more than vague positive reviews for AI visibility.

Try This Right Now

Want to see where you currently stand? Do these searches in ChatGPT:

Search for your primary service + your city
- "Best [your service] in [your city]"
- "Who should I hire for [your service] near [your location]"
Look at what ChatGPT recommends
Note the sources it cites (it often links to Yelp, Google reviews, or specific websites)
Search for your competitors too—see who's getting mentioned and why

This simple exercise will show you exactly what the AI "knows" about your market and where you fall in the rankings.

Building Your AI Visibility Strategy

Based on how AI models find and synthesize local business information, here's your action plan:

1. Get More Reviews—Especially Detailed Ones

Volume matters, but detail matters more. Encourage customers to mention:

The specific service they received
Who helped them (by name if possible)
What problem you solved
Why they'd recommend you

You can't script reviews, but you can prompt customers with questions like "Was there anything specific about the service that stood out?" before they write.

2. Diversify Your Review Presence

Don't put all your eggs in the Google basket. AI assistants pull from multiple sources:

Yelp (still heavily weighted for local businesses)
Industry directories (Angi, HomeAdvisor for home services; Healthgrades for medical; etc.)
Facebook recommendations
Better Business Bureau
Local chamber of commerce listings

Being present on multiple platforms with consistent, positive reviews creates a stronger signal than having reviews on Google alone.

3. Keep Reviews Fresh

A steady stream of recent reviews signals that your business is active and current. This is where review generation software pays dividends—not just in volume, but in maintaining consistent freshness that AI models favor.

4. Respond to Your Reviews

When you respond to reviews, you're adding additional indexed content that mentions your business name, services, and location. AI models can read these responses and use them to better understand your business.

Thoughtful responses that expand on what the customer mentioned ("Thanks for the kind words about our same-day AC repair service—we know how uncomfortable Texas summers can be without working air conditioning!") add valuable context.

5. Claim and Optimize All Listings

Ensure your business information is consistent across all platforms. Inconsistent names, addresses, or phone numbers confuse AI models trying to build a coherent picture of your business.

The Future Is Multi-Modal

Google isn't going away. Traditional SEO still matters. But AI search is growing rapidly, and the businesses that start optimizing for it now will have a significant head start.

The good news? The fundamentals overlap heavily with what already works for local SEO:

Get more reviews
Get better (more detailed) reviews
Respond to reviews
Maintain presence across multiple platforms
Keep information fresh and consistent

If you're already doing these things through GetMoreReviews, you're building AI visibility automatically. Every detailed review, every platform sync, every response adds to the body of information that AI assistants use to make recommendations.

The question isn't whether AI search will matter for local businesses. It's whether your business will be positioned to benefit when it does.

Start building that position today.