01How ChatGPT Recommends Local Businesses
More customers now skip the search results and ask ChatGPT directly: “who is the best emergency plumber in Massapequa?”, “good Italian restaurant in Huntington for a birthday dinner”, or “landscaper near Smithtown that does patios”. Instead of a page of links, ChatGPT gives back a short list of names, often with a sentence about why each one made the cut. If your business is not on that list, that customer may never see your website at all.
To build that list, ChatGPT searches the web, reads what it finds, and recommends the businesses it can describe with the most confidence. It is not picking at random, and it is not reading an ad. It is looking for businesses that clearly offer the service, clearly work in the area, and are backed up by other sources such as reviews and listings. The more consistent and complete that picture is, the more likely your business gets named.
This guide explains where ChatGPT actually gets its information, why your Google rankings do not carry over automatically, and what ChatGPT looks for when it decides which local business to recommend. It applies to any local business, from plumbers and landscapers to restaurants and salons. For a landscaping specific version, see our guide to landscaping website must haves to get recommended by ChatGPT.
- Customers increasingly ask ChatGPT for local recommendations instead of searching.
- ChatGPT names the businesses it can describe and verify with the most confidence.
- If you are not on that short list, the customer may never see your website.
02Why Ranking On Google Does Not Mean ChatGPT Will Recommend You
Here is the part that surprises most business owners: ChatGPT does not use Google to search the web. OpenAI says ChatGPT search draws on third party search providers along with its own web crawler, called OAI-SearchBot, and Microsoft’s Bing is widely reported to be the main search provider behind it. Microsoft is also OpenAI’s biggest partner. So when ChatGPT looks up local businesses, it is mostly seeing the internet through Bing and its own crawler, not through Google.
That means your Google rankings and your ChatGPT recommendations can look very different. A plumber can sit in the top three on Google for “plumber Massapequa” and never be mentioned by ChatGPT, because Bing ranks the web differently, the business never claimed its Bing Places listing, or the website blocks the crawlers ChatGPT uses. The reverse happens too. Google is still where most local searches happen, so you cannot ignore it either.
The answer is to run more than one SEO strategy at the same time. Traditional SEO and your Google Business Profile keep you visible on Google search and Google Maps. AI search optimization makes sure Bing, ChatGPT, and other AI tools can find, read, and trust your business too. That includes claiming Bing Places for Business, verifying your website in Bing Webmaster Tools, submitting your sitemap there, and making sure your robots.txt file does not block OAI-SearchBot. Our SEO and AI search optimization plan handles all of it as one monthly service.
- ChatGPT search relies on Bing and its own crawler, not Google.
- Ranking on Google does not guarantee a ChatGPT recommendation.
- Claim Bing Places, verify in Bing Webmaster Tools, and allow OAI-SearchBot.
031. Yelp Reviews
The first thing ChatGPT looks at is what customers say about you on review sites, and Yelp is one of the most important. Yelp is one of the sources ChatGPT cites most often when it answers local business questions, and Bing has long pulled Yelp reviews and ratings into its own local results. A business with a strong Google rating but an empty or neglected Yelp page is missing one of the places ChatGPT checks first.
Claim your Yelp page, make sure your name, address, phone number, hours, and website match your website and Google Business Profile exactly, choose the right categories, and add real photos. Then keep reviews coming in steadily, and reply to them, including the negative ones. Review text matters as much as the star rating. When customers write “they fixed our burst pipe at 11pm in Massapequa”, ChatGPT can connect your business to emergency plumbing in Massapequa. Industry review sites like Angi, Houzz, Tripadvisor, and OpenTable help the same way, which we cover in what local citations are and the social profiles every restaurant should link to.
Quick example: two Italian restaurants in Huntington both have 4.6 stars on Google. One has a claimed Yelp page with 300 reviews that mention its homemade pasta and private party room. The other has an unclaimed Yelp page with an old phone number and 12 reviews. When someone asks ChatGPT for an Italian restaurant in Huntington for a birthday dinner, the first restaurant has far more evidence to be recommended.
- Yelp is one of the sources ChatGPT cites most often for local businesses.
- Keep your Yelp details identical to your website and Google Business Profile.
- Specific review text helps ChatGPT connect you to services and towns.
042. Strong Coverage Of Your Service Category
The second thing ChatGPT looks for is whether your business clearly and completely covers the category the customer asked about. When someone asks for “a landscaper near Smithtown that does patios”, ChatGPT wants a business that obviously does landscaping, obviously builds patios, and obviously works around Smithtown. A website that mentions patios once in a list of twenty services gives it very little to go on.
Category coverage means having a dedicated page for each main service you offer, explaining each one in detail, and showing the towns you serve. A landscaper should have separate pages for lawn care, patios and hardscaping, retaining walls, landscape lighting, and seasonal cleanups, each with project photos, a description of the process, and the areas it covers. Helpful articles on topics in your category add even more depth. Our guide on whether service businesses need location pages explains how to cover your service area without creating thin pages.
Quick example: a landscaping company in Commack had one services page that listed lawn care, patios, lighting, and cleanups in a single paragraph each. It split them into separate pages, and the patio page now shows paver and natural stone projects, explains the design and installation process, and names the towns it works in, including Smithtown, Kings Park, and Hauppauge. When someone asks ChatGPT for a landscaper near Smithtown that does patios, that page gives it a clear reason to name the company instead of a generic “landscaper” listing.
- ChatGPT favors businesses that clearly cover the exact service requested.
- Give every main service its own detailed page with photos and service areas.
- Helpful articles in your category add depth beyond the service pages.
053. Your Website
The third thing ChatGPT checks is your website itself, because that is the source it trusts to describe your business in your own words. When ChatGPT reads your homepage, it should be able to answer four questions in seconds: what you do, who you serve, where you work, and why someone should choose you. Clever slogans like “Quality You Can Trust” do not answer any of them. A headline like “Emergency Plumbing And Water Heater Installation Across Nassau County Since 2009” answers all four.
ChatGPT also looks for proof it can verify. That means real reviews, license numbers, certifications, years in business, team names and photos, and links to the places where that proof lives. Structured data, also called schema markup, labels your business name, services, hours, phone number, and service area in a format search engines and AI tools read directly. And all of this has to be in real text on the page. Information inside images, sliders, or PDF files is often invisible to AI crawlers.
Quick example: a plumbing company in Bay Shore had a homepage with a slideshow of stock photos and the line “Your Comfort Is Our Business”. Its services, towns, and license number lived inside images. After a rebuild with a plain language headline, a page for each service, visible reviews and license details, and local business schema, ChatGPT had the facts it needed to describe the company. If your website was built before AI search took off, our checklist on do I need a new website can help you decide whether to fix it or replace it.
- Your homepage should say what you do, who you serve, where, and why you.
- Show verifiable proof like reviews, licenses, certifications, and team names.
- Use schema markup and keep key information in real text, not images or PDFs.
064. FAQs
The fourth thing ChatGPT looks for is direct answers to common questions, which is exactly what a good FAQ section provides. People ask ChatGPT questions in full sentences, such as “do any plumbers in Babylon offer 24 hour service?” or “does this restaurant take reservations for large groups?”. When your website answers those same questions in plain language, ChatGPT can use your answer and name your business as the source.
Write FAQs around the real questions customers ask on the phone: your hours, emergency availability, the towns you cover, how pricing works, how long jobs take, whether you are licensed and insured, and what makes you different. Start each answer with a direct reply in the first sentence, then add detail. Put service specific FAQs on each service page instead of one long FAQ page, and add FAQ schema so search engines can read them as questions and answers. Our guide on how to structure an FAQ section on a home service website walks through the full setup.
Quick example: an HVAC company in Hicksville added an FAQ to its AC repair page answering “Do you offer same day AC repair in Nassau County?” with “Yes. We offer same day AC repair across Nassau County from May through September, including weekends.” That one sentence gives ChatGPT a clear, quotable fact for anyone asking about same day AC repair nearby.
- ChatGPT matches full sentence questions to clear answers on your website.
- Write FAQs from the real questions customers ask on the phone.
- Lead each answer with a direct reply, and add FAQ schema.
075. A Good User Experience
The fifth factor is user experience, meaning how easy your website is to load, read, and use, for people and for AI tools. ChatGPT increasingly visits websites the way a person would, through its own crawler, its agent mode, and the ChatGPT Atlas browser, which can open pages and take actions for the user. A website that loads slowly, buries information behind menus and pop ups, or only shows its content after heavy JavaScript runs is harder for those tools to read, and many AI crawlers do not run JavaScript at all.
A good user experience for AI search looks the same as a good one for customers: fast load times, clear navigation, readable text, a tap to call phone number, short quote and booking forms, and content that loads as plain HTML. The websites we build are prerendered, so every page is delivered as readable text the moment a crawler or customer arrives. Our guide to reducing website friction covers the fixes that help most.
Quick example: a restaurant in Patchogue had its menu inside a PDF and its reservation button inside a pop up. When a customer asked ChatGPT whether the restaurant had gluten free options, ChatGPT could not read the menu to answer. Moving the menu to a real web page, as we explain in restaurant menu PDF vs web page, made those answers available to both customers and AI tools.
- ChatGPT reads websites through its crawler, agent mode, and Atlas browser.
- Slow, cluttered, or JavaScript heavy pages are harder for AI tools to read.
- Fast, plain HTML pages with clear navigation work best for people and AI.
086. AI Files Like llms.txt And A Business Overview For AI Agents
The sixth piece is giving AI tools a short, factual summary of your business in a format made for them. The most common version is an llms.txt file, a plain text file at the root of your website that describes your business, your services, your service area, and links to your most important pages. It is a newer standard, and OpenAI has not confirmed exactly how ChatGPT uses it, but it costs almost nothing to add and gives any AI tool that reads it an accurate summary in your own words. We publish one on our own website.
Some businesses also add a simple business overview page written for AI agents. It lists the facts an AI tool would need to recommend you accurately: your official business name and any alternate names, what you do, the towns you serve, hours, phone number, license numbers, years in business, pricing basics, and links to your reviews and profiles. Because it is a normal web page, both search engines and AI tools can read it. Our guide to the website files every home service business needs covers llms.txt alongside robots.txt and your sitemap.
Quick example: a landscaping company in Huntington operates under its owner’s last name but is often called by a shorter nickname. Its llms.txt file and AI overview page state both names, confirm they are the same business, and list its services and service towns. When ChatGPT sees reviews under either name, it can connect them to one company instead of treating them as two.
- An llms.txt file gives AI tools a short, accurate summary of your business.
- A business overview page for AI agents lists the facts AI needs to recommend you.
- Both are cheap to add and help AI tools describe your business correctly.
09Get Recommended By ChatGPT And Keep Ranking On Google
ChatGPT recommendations are not a one time setup. AI tools keep changing how they search, competitors keep adding reviews and pages, and your business keeps changing too. The businesses that get recommended consistently are the ones whose websites, reviews, and listings stay accurate and keep getting stronger every month, on Google and on Bing.
That is the work Fire Island Design does for Long Island small businesses. Our SEO and AI search optimization plan covers Google rankings, Bing, ChatGPT, and other AI tools in one plan for $497/month, with no separate AI fee. We build websites with clear service pages, FAQs, schema, prerendered pages, and llms.txt from day one, then keep them current through website management, which starts at $397/month with the custom website included. Want to know if ChatGPT can find your business today? Request a free SEO audit or start your project.