How to Get Your Business Found in ChatGPT, Claude and AI Search

Your next customer may start with a question

“Who builds websites for restaurants in Toronto?” “Which local company can help with my marketing?”

People can ask questions like these in ChatGPT, Claude and other AI search tools. Getting your business into an answer is different from buying an ad or claiming a directory listing. There is no button that guarantees a recommendation.

The practical goal is simpler: make your website easy to find, easy to understand and worth citing. That starts with good SEO, clear business information and useful content.

1. Make sure AI search can reach your website

A well-designed site cannot help discovery if its important pages are blocked or hidden behind a login. Check your robots.txt settings, accidental noindex tags, internal links and hosting security rules.

OpenAI uses OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search. Its GPTBot crawler is a separate control for potential model training. Allowing search access does not mean you need to allow training.

Anthropic also separates Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User and ClaudeBot. Search access, user-requested page retrieval and training are different choices. Review them deliberately instead of blocking every bot or allowing every bot without a reason.

For Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, the same SEO foundations apply. Google says there are no extra technical requirements beyond eligibility for its regular search results with a snippet.

2. Say exactly what your company does

A headline like “We create the extraordinary” might look good, but it does not tell a customer what you sell.

Give each core service a clear page. Explain what is included, who it is for, where you work and what the next step looks like. Put important details in readable text, not only in images or video.

For a Toronto business, that could mean a page about restaurant website design in Toronto, with real service details and examples. Do not create dozens of nearly identical city pages. Specific information is more useful than repeating a location keyword.

3. Answer the questions buyers actually ask

Build content around real decisions: cost factors, timelines, comparisons, common problems and what to expect from your service.

Use clear headings and put a direct answer near the start of each section. Add useful detail underneath. A short FAQ can help when it answers real customer questions rather than repeating sales copy.

This is often called answer engine optimization (AEO) or generative engine optimization (GEO). The label matters less than the work. Clear, accurate answers give people something useful to read and search systems something useful to reference.

4. Back up your claims

Publish case studies with context, an honest explanation of the work and results you can support. Add author information where it helps readers judge expertise. Keep your contact details, service area and business profiles current.

Use structured data that matches what visitors can actually see. Organization, LocalBusiness and Article markup may be appropriate, depending on the page. Schema is context, not a shortcut to a recommendation.

Avoid invented reviews, inflated results and unsupported claims. Trust is harder to build than a keyword list.

5. Keep the basics working on mobile

AI visibility is not a reason to ignore the person who clicks through. Your site still needs readable text, clear navigation, accessible controls and an easy way to contact you.

Link related pages together. Keep your sitemap current. Check important URLs in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools so you can find crawl and indexing problems before spending time on new content.

6. Measure discovery, then improve it

Watch referral traffic, useful enquiries and conversions, rather than treating one AI answer as a permanent ranking. OpenAI adds a chatgpt.com source parameter to search referral links, which can help you identify visits in analytics.

Bing Webmaster Tools’ AI Performance report can show citation activity across supported Microsoft AI experiences. That is useful evidence, but it is not a complete picture of every assistant.

Test a consistent set of relevant questions over time and record which sources appear. Answers can change. Being crawlable or indexed makes your content eligible; it does not guarantee inclusion.

Start with clarity, not a shortcut

An llms.txt file or a page full of “AI SEO” keywords is not a guaranteed path into ChatGPT or Claude. Google does not require a special AI text file for its AI search features.

Start with one strong service page, one useful question-led article and accurate business information. Make the content accessible, support it with evidence and keep it current.

Tidal Media helps businesses in Toronto and the GTA build clearer websites and stronger SEO foundations. If your site needs to explain your business better, start there. Better discovery should also lead to a better experience when someone arrives.