Findable in ChatGPT and AI Search Engines as a Local Business

Something is changing in how customers search

More and more people are asking an AI assistant instead of Google. They just ask a full question: "what's a good hair salon in Haarlem city center?" And the answer isn't a page full of links, but two or three names with a short explanation.

That's a real difference. On a search results page, you can still get found in spot six. In an AI answer with three names, you're either in it or you don't exist. Nobody knows exactly how big this already is for your industry, but the direction is clear: some of your future customers will ask an AI for a recommendation.

One thing up front, because this is where a lot of advice on this topic goes wrong: no one can guarantee a spot in those answers. Including me. What you can do: make sure AI search engines can find the right information about your business. That's what this guide is about.

Test for yourself what AI knows about your business

Before you change anything: see where you stand first. It takes ten minutes and it's free.

Open ChatGPT or Perplexity and ask the question your customer would ask: "what's a good [your type of business] in [your city]?" Try a few variations. With the neighborhood added, with a specialty added, and in English if you also serve expats.

Do you get mentioned, and who does? Then ask about your business by name and check whether the opening hours, the address, and the description are correct. Also ask where the information comes from: Perplexity shows sources by default, and ChatGPT often does too when it searches the web.

What you see now is your baseline. Wrong opening hours in an AI answer come from somewhere, usually an old listing you can fix yourself. Also want to know where your website stands technically? Do the free website check and I'll take a look with you.

Where do AI search engines get their information?

AI assistants don't invent their recommendations out of thin air. Well, sometimes they do, and that's exactly what you want to prevent. For questions about local businesses, they search the web live and lean on existing sources.

What's known about that: for searches, ChatGPT mainly uses Bing's search index. It pulls up the top web results and picks sources with verifiable facts, like opening hours, address, and reviews. Trade publication Search Engine Land dug into this. ChatGPT doesn't read your Google Business Profile directly, but it does see Google reviews mentioned on other pages.

Perplexity gets local data partly straight from review platforms: it has partnerships with Yelp and, for hotels, with Tripadvisor.

And that comes with a caveat: this field changes fast. Which sources these services use could be different next quarter. So you're better off building on a foundation that works everywhere than on a trick for one platform.

The basics that demonstrably help

Four things you control yourself. They follow directly from how these systems search:

• Exactly the same business details everywhere. Name, address, phone number, and opening hours: identical on your website, your Google Business Profile, Facebook, and every directory you're listed in. AI systems compare sources, and conflicting details make your business an uncertain answer.
• A website with clear facts in plain text. What you do, for whom, where you're located, what it costs, when you're open. In readable text on the page, not just in an image or a PDF, because AI systems often read those poorly or not at all. A site of your own that you control only becomes more important because of this (see also: less dependent on Treatwell).
• A complete Google Business Profile, and fill out Bing Places too. Almost everyone forgets that last one, even though ChatGPT searches through Bing. It takes fifteen minutes.
• Real reviews, and keep collecting them. For AI systems, reviews are one of the few verifiable signals that a business is good. Ask for one after every appointment. That can also happen automatically, without you having to think about it.

What is llms.txt, and do you need it?

Maybe you've already run into the term llms.txt somewhere. It's a 2024 proposal by AI researcher Jeremy Howard: a simple text file on your website that tells AI systems in one go what your most important pages are.

Where things stand: it's an emerging convention, not an official standard. None of the major AI search engines have confirmed they use the file for search results. Some tech companies have one, most websites don't.

My advice: it takes little effort and can't hurt, so feel free to have it included if your site is getting worked on anyway. But don't pay separately for it, and don't expect miracles from it.

What you don't need to do

The term "AI optimization" is popping up everywhere now, and a lot of it is hot air. You can skip these:

• Services that guarantee a position in ChatGPT. No one controls what an AI model answers, not even those agencies.
• Tricks like hidden text "for AI" on your site or stuffing pages with keywords. What didn't work for Google doesn't work here either.
• Monthly AI monitoring subscriptions for a single-location business. The test in this guide takes ten minutes and you do it yourself, free.
• Waiting until it all settles down. The basics above help today, in regular Google too.

Honestly: this field is young

Everything in this guide comes with the same disclaimer: AI search changes fast. No one can give you certainty here, no matter how confident a vendor sounds.

But look at that list above again: consistent details, a clear website, a well-kept business profile, real reviews. That's just good findability. It already helped in Google, and it's also the best thing you can do for AI search engines right now. And if the field changes direction anyway, you've lost nothing.

This is exactly the foundation I build in the Get Found package: a website that gets found, with your facts in order in plain text, plus one AI workflow of your choice. See it first, then pay.