How ChatGPT Recommends? This is how your company can be included in AI responses

If ChatGPT recommends your company, the prospect is 2.5 times more likely to visit your website than your competitor's. And this is no longer just the domain of large international brands: AI can also recommend a traffic jam remover, a laptop webshop, or an accounting firm.

More and more people are starting their decision this way. Instead of browsing ten blue links, they describe their problem: „The drain in the bathroom is clogged, who should I call this weekend?” or „Which webshop should I buy a reliable office laptop for under 300 thousand forints?” And the AI responds with names.

So the question isn't whether AI visibility matters, but whether your name is in those answers. In this article, we'll show you what AI uses to make its decisions, what you can do to get it to recommend you, and how you can measure the results.

Why does it matter if AI recommends you?

AI recommendations bring in measurably more visitors – just not where you’re looking. In research published in 2026 by Similarweb, they followed users who asked ChatGPT for advice and received a specific brand as a recommendation.

The study covered three industries (finance, travel, beauty) on a US desktop panel in the second half of 2025. Those who were already familiar with the brand or mentioned it themselves were excluded. The results:

• The recommended brand 2.5 times more likely visited within seven days than its direct competitor.
• The effect was reversed if the AI recommended the competitor: then he received the visitors.
• AI-influenced visits 55.9%-aa via Google search received, not directly from ChatGPT.
• These visitors, on average, They viewed 12 pages and spent 11.8 minutes on the page, compared to the others' 6.5 pages and 5.6 minutes.

In other words, AI does not replace Google, but decides before it: whose name the user enters into the search engine. Someone will always get this visitor - the question is whether you are the competition.

On what basis does AI recommend a company?

AI is happy to recommend a company about which you can find clear, consistent, and credible information in many places on the web. There is no secret switch, and you can't pay for space in the answer - we'll write about this in detail later.

The most important factors:

• Understandable own content. Your website clearly states what you do, for whom, where, and under what conditions.
• Accurate, uniform company data. The name, address, phone number, and services are listed the same everywhere: on the website, in the Google Business Profile, and in catalogs.
• Reviews and ratings. AI systems often rely on what others say about you.
• External mentions. Professional articles, press releases, partner sites where your brand appears in a relevant context.
• Technical availability. Your content is crawlable, loads quickly, and structured data helps you understand it.

If this sounds familiar, it's no coincidence: these are largely the good search engine optimization AI visibility is built on SEO, but with a different emphasis.

It's also important to know that no one can guarantee an AI appearance. The answers vary from question to question, from user to user, and over time. However, you can consciously increase your chances.

What should you do to get recommended by ChatGPT?

There are seven steps to building a web presence that AI can confidently recommend. You don't have to do them all at once, but each one increases the chance.

1. State clearly what you do

Each major service or product category should have its own detailed page. The AI doesn't have to guess what you do.

• Local service provider: „Traffic congestion relief in Budapest's 11th district, also on weekends, starting from X HUF including drop-off fee.”
• Webshop: Category pages that describe who is suitable for which product, not just list it.
• B2B: service pages that name the target customer, the process, and the expected outcome.

2. Answer real questions

Collect what people ask you over the phone, in emails, in the store. Write short, precise answers to these on your website: in FAQs, guides, blog articles. AI is looking for answers to exactly these kinds of questions.

3. Organize your company data everywhere

Make sure your business name, address, phone number, and hours are consistent everywhere. A Google Business Profile is especially important for local businesses: it should be complete, with photos, a list of services, and recent posts.

4. Collect opinions – and respond to them

Ask your satisfied customers to write reviews on Google or on sites relevant to your industry. For webshops, this role is filled by product reviews, for B2B companies, by references and case studies.

5. Appear elsewhere

AI systems don't just read your own page. Professional articles, local news portals, partner company pages, industry lists – every relevant mention reinforces that your company is a real, active player. This is where the link building and digital PR.

6. Don't rule out technology

Even the best content is worthless if search engines and AI systems can't reach it. Fast loading, mobile-friendly pages, clean page structure, and structured data (schema) – this is the technical foundation.

7. Build subject matter expertise

Don't try to do one page at a time, but work on your entire topic. An accounting firm that clearly explains tax deadlines, business forms, and common mistakes is much more likely to be "the" resource than one that only has a contact page.

These steps are ChatGPT search engine optimization (AI SEO) During the process, we organize it into a system: we audit, map your customers' questions, and build the missing content and external signals.

What if I just paid for it? ChatGPT Ads

You can appear on ChatGPT with a paid ad, but you can't buy recommendations - and in our experience, advertising is not currently worth it.

ChatGPT Ads launched in the US in February 2026 and expanded to 31 European markets in late August, with a self-serve ad manager. According to OpenAI, the ads are always labeled, separate from the responses, and don’t influence what ChatGPT responds to. What’s more, they’re only visible to users on the free and Go plans.

This means that if the AI recommends your competitor in its response, an ad won't change that. At most, you'll be next to it in a nominated ad block.

The results of our tests

THE SEO Hungary We experienced the same thing in our own campaigns, as well as in tests run by our friends and clients: ChatGPT Ads it was very expensive and brought zero conversions. Even after spending multiple times the amount spent on Google Ads and Facebook Ads, no requests for proposals or purchases were received.

We often read similar reports from other advertisers on professional forums. Of course, this does not mean that it will be the same for everyone: results may vary in different industries, with different offers and settings, and the platform is still very young.

The lesson, however, is clear: today, organic AI visibility is the more reliable investment. It builds more slowly, but doesn't stop when the ad space runs out, and it targets exactly the place where the recommendation is made: the answer itself.

Local service provider, webshop or B2B: where to start?

AI recommends all three types of businesses, but the first step is different for each.

Local service provider (traffic jam remover, hairdresser, car mechanic, restaurant)

• A fully completed Google Business Profile, with recent photos and a list of services.
• Continuously collect feedback and respond to all reviews.
• A separate page on the website for each service and district.

Webshop (laptop, furniture, cosmetics, parts)

• Category and product descriptions that tell you who each product is for.
• Buying guides and comparisons for common dilemmas.
• Product reviews, and clear delivery and warranty information.

B2B company (accountant, software developer, manufacturer, consultant)

• Service pages that name the target customer and process.
• Case studies and references with concrete results.
• Professional articles and external appearances that demonstrate expertise.

How do you know it works?

The impact of AI is rarely visible directly in Analytics, so multiple signals need to be monitored together. Someone who arrives after an AI recommendation typically comes days later, searching for your brand name on Google, so the visit appears as an organic search.

Four simple methods:

1. Branded searches in Search Console. Monitor monthly to see if the number of searches for your company name and its variations is increasing.
2. AI traffic on a separate channel in GA4. With a custom channel group, you can see visitors from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, and similar sources separately.
3. Regular AI testing. Write down 10-20 questions your customers would ask and run them monthly in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Note whether you show up and who is with you.
4. Ask the customer. On the request for quotation form and by phone, there should be: „How did you hear about us?” – with the option „ChatGPT / AI assistant”.

If these indicators move up at the same time, it is a strong indication that your AI visibility is working.

AI visibility can now be measured with tools

In addition to manual testing, major SEO tools now measure how well a brand appears in AI responses and how it compares to competitors:

• Ubersuggest: It has been tracking brand visibility and perception on ChatGPT and Perplexity, citing sources, and comparing them to competitors since September 2025. This is the cheapest entry, starting at $29 per month.
• Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit: Monitors responses from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI reviews. Compares with up to four competitors and shows you where you're lagging behind.
• Ahrefs Brand Radar: Calculates your brand's share of AI mentions using data from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Insights, and AI Mode. Ahrefs also offers a free AI visibility checker for a quick first impression.

An important note: these tools work mostly with English-language questions. In the Hungarian market, it is therefore worth including your own Hungarian-language questions in the tracking, or checking them manually regularly.

Frequently asked questions

How can my company appear in ChatGPT?

So that the information available about you on the web is clear, accurate and authentic: detailed service or product pages, consistent company information, reviews and external mentions. There is no setting or paid space that can guarantee this.

Can I pay to have ChatGPT recommend me?

No. ChatGPT Ads are separate from and do not influence responses, according to OpenAI. In our tests, the ad was expensive and did not convert.

How long does it take to see results?

It depends on your starting point and your competition. AI visibility is a longer-term process, similar to SEO: think in months, not days.

As a small company, do I have a chance against the big ones?

Yes. AI searches for answers to specific questions. A local service provider or specialized online store with an accurate and authentic web presence is often a better answer to a specific question than a generic big brand.

Your name should be in the answer.

AI now decides whose name the interested person enters into the search engine at the beginning of the customer journey. If you're not the one recommended, the visit goes to your competitor - even if it doesn't show up anywhere in Analytics.

The good news is that you don't need expensive advertising for this. You need understandable content, accurate company information, opinions, and external credibility, consciously built up.

Ha az is érdekel, merre tart a következő lépés, olvasd el a cikkünket arról, hogyan készülj fel az AI-vásárlási ügynökökre.

Resources

• The Downstream Impact of AI Visibility – Similarweb, 2026
• ChatGPT recommendations drive more brand website visits: Study – Search Engine Land, 2026. június 24.
• What’s Making AI Impact Difficult to Measure for Marketers? – Neil Patel blog, 2026. október 2.
• ChatGPT Ads expands across Europe – OpenAI, 2026. augusztus 18.
• Ubersuggest launches comprehensive AI search tracking – PPC Land, 2025. szeptember
• Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit vs Ahrefs Brand Radar – Exploding Topics, 2026
• Free AI Visibility Checker – Ahrefs