How can a small business show up in ChatGPT and other AI answers?

What is GEO?

GEO, or generative engine optimization, is the work of making your business easy for AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity to find, read and describe correctly. It builds on regular SEO: the same clear facts help both.

Can you make an AI recommend your business?

No, and anyone promising that is selling nothing. What you can control is whether an assistant can reach your site, understand it, and repeat your facts correctly. That is where most small businesses fall short.

Step 1: Can AI assistants read your website?

Your site’s robots.txt file tells crawlers what they may read. Some sites block AI crawlers by accident. Make sure it allows them, and that your main content is in the page itself, not only loaded by a widget or shown in an image.

Step 2: Are your facts stated plainly?

Assistants quote what is written plainly and skip marketing language. On your site, say:

• What you do, in the words customers use
• The towns you serve, by name
• Your hours, in one place
• Prices or price ranges, where you can
• How to book, order or get a quote

Step 3: Have you added business details markup?

Structured data (schema.org markup) lets search engines and assistants read your name, area, hours and services as facts rather than guessing from text. Only mark up what is true and visible on the page.

Step 4: Do your listings match everywhere?

Several AI assistants draw on Bing and Apple Maps as well as Google. Make your name, address, phone, hours and services identical on Google, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp and Facebook, and fix old listings with an old number.

Step 5: Do you have real reviews and answers?

Recent, real reviews and a short questions-and-answers section give assistants plain facts to repeat. Never use fake reviews or hidden text aimed at AI: it is manipulation, it gets caught, and it can hurt your site.

How do you check whether it’s working?

Every few months, ask a few assistants the questions a customer would ask, such as “Who does water heater repair in Overland Park?”, and write down what comes back. Results vary from one try to the next, so look at the direction over months, not a single answer.