More customers now ask an AI assistant for a recommendation instead of scrolling through search results. Here's what decides whether your business gets named.

More of your customers are skipping the list of links. They ask ChatGPT, or read the AI summary at the top of Google, and go with the businesses it names. For a small business, that raises an obvious question: how do these tools decide who to recommend, and can you do anything about it?

The short answer is yes, and most of it is good website practice you'd want anyway. Checking how AI tools describe your business is also now part of our Website Growth Review.

How AI assistants find businesses

AI search tools don't invent recommendations from nowhere. When someone asks for, say, a wedding DJ in Worcestershire, the tool searches the web, reads the pages it finds, and summarises what they say.

Google is clear that its AI Overviews and AI Mode are built on normal search. In its own words:

"There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary."

A page simply has to be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet. Google also explains that these features run several related searches at once, which it calls "query fan-out", so they can draw on a wider range of pages than a normal results list.

ChatGPT works in a similar way when it searches. OpenAI uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot to find websites for ChatGPT's search answers, and says sites that block it

"will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers".

So the first rule of AI search is the first rule of SEO: search engines have to be able to find, read and trust your pages.

What we found when we tested it

In September 2026 we ran a structured test for a Worcestershire wedding musician: ten different ways a couple might ask ChatGPT for a recommendation, each in a fresh, unpersonalised session. The results showed how these tools behave in practice.

  • He appeared in 8 of the 10 answers, and was the first name in 5. ChatGPT repeated the same facts each time (years of experience, number of weddings, the venues he's recommended at), worded almost exactly as they appear on his own website. Clear, consistent facts on your site get used.
  • The exact words matter. When the question said "guitarist", he was at or near the top. When it asked more broadly for "live music", he disappeared both times. AI tools only connect you to categories your content makes clear.
  • Pricing presentation changed the answer. Asked for affordable options, ChatGPT placed him last, because his prices were shown as packages that looked expensive next to competitors' simple hourly rates.
  • Third-party profiles carried weight. The one competitor who beat him outright had active, well-reviewed profiles on wedding marketplaces as well as his own site. AI tools look for other sources confirming what you say about yourself.

This was one test, on one AI tool, at one point in time. AI answers vary, so treat these as patterns to act on, not guarantees. But the patterns match what Google and OpenAI say publicly: the tools reward businesses that are easy to find, easy to understand and backed up elsewhere.

Six things a small business can do now

  1. Make sure you can be crawled. Check your robots.txt isn't blocking Googlebot, Bingbot or OAI-SearchBot. It's rare, but it happens, especially on sites built from templates.
  2. State your facts plainly and consistently. What you do, where, for whom, how long you've done it, and what it roughly costs. Use the same wording on your site, Google Business Profile and directory listings.
  3. Cover the words customers actually use. If people might search for "live music" as well as "guitarist", or "accountant" as well as "bookkeeper", make sure your pages say so.
  4. Give prices a simple anchor. You don't need a full price list. A clear "from" price or typical range gives AI tools something fair to compare.
  5. Build proof beyond your own site. Reviews on Google and on the directories customers in your industry use, supplier listings on venue or partner sites, and local press all help confirm what you say.
  6. Keep your Google Business Profile complete and current. For local questions, it's one of the sources both people and AI tools lean on most.

Do you need special AI files or tricks?

You'll see plenty of advice about new files and techniques for "AI optimisation". Google's own guidance says you don't need to create new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup to appear in its AI features. The businesses that do well in AI answers are, almost without exception, the ones with clear, well-supported websites.

Want to know what AI tools say about you?

Try it yourself: ask ChatGPT and Google for a recommendation in your line of work and area, the way a customer would. Note who gets named and why. If you're missing, or described wrongly, our Website Growth Review includes a structured check of how AI assistants see your business, alongside search, content and your enquiry journey. It starts with a free consultation.

If fewer people are finding your site in the first place, read Why isn't my website getting enquiries?. You can also see how AI search fits into how we work.

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