To get your business recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews, you do not need a secret trick. Google says plainly that there are no extra requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond normal search. What works is: let the AI crawlers in, state clearly who you are and what you do on your own website, keep the same name, address and phone everywhere, add structured data, answer the real questions your customers ask, and earn mentions on other sites. AI assistants quote businesses they can understand and check.
This guide is written by Kolchi In One (KIO), a digital agency that builds websites, CRMs and AI agents for clients in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and North Africa. Everything below is what we set up on our own website first, with the numbers it produced.
Why this matters now: AI assistants already send visitors
When we looked at our own Google Analytics this week, a new line had appeared in the traffic report: “AI Assistant”. Over the last 28 days it brought 13 sessions to kolchiinone.com, about 8% of all visits, from zero the month before. It is a small number, but it is the start of a real channel, and it is growing for most of the businesses we follow.
The reason is simple. A business owner in Dubai, Amsterdam or Casablanca who used to type “best CRM agency” into Google now asks ChatGPT or Gemini “which agency can build a WhatsApp AI agent for my clinic?” The assistant answers with two or three names. If you are not one of them, you were never in the race.
How AI assistants pick a business to recommend
AI assistants do not have their own private list of businesses. To answer a question about the present, they search the web (Google, Bing and their own crawlers), read a handful of pages, and summarise. So they recommend businesses that are:
- Findable: their pages can be crawled and are indexed by Google and Bing.
- Clear: a page says in plain words who they are, where they work and what they do.
- Consistent: the same name, phone and address appear on the website, Google Business Profile, social profiles and directories.
- Confirmed by others: other sites, reviews and articles mention them.
- Useful: they have content that directly answers the question being asked.
Google’s own guide, AI features and your website, confirms this: the same basics that help you in normal search help you in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
The 8-step plan to get recommended by AI
- Let the AI crawlers in. Check your
robots.txtfile (yourwebsite.com/robots.txt). If it blocks bots such as OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT search), PerplexityBot or Bingbot, those assistants cannot read you. OpenAI explains in its crawler documentation that sites which block OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers. Some security plugins and hosting firewalls block them without telling you, so test it. - Write one clear “who we are” page. In the first paragraph: your name, what you do, for whom, where, and since when. AI tools quote first paragraphs. Avoid slogans like “we make your dreams digital”; write “KIO is a digital agency in Casablanca that builds CRMs, WhatsApp AI agents and websites for businesses in Morocco, the Gulf and Europe.”
- Answer first, then explain. Start every service page and article with a two- or three-sentence answer to the main question, like the bold paragraph at the top of this article. This is the part an assistant is most likely to lift.
- Add structured data. Organization or LocalBusiness schema tells machines your name, logo, address, phone, opening hours and social profiles in a format they do not have to guess. Google explains it in its introduction to structured data, and the full list of fields is on schema.org. On WordPress, Yoast or Rank Math add the basics.
- Complete your Google Business Profile. Gemini and Google’s AI Overviews lean on it heavily for local questions. Category, services, hours, photos and real reviews. Our Google Business Profile guide walks through it step by step, and Google’s own getting started page covers verification.
- Keep the same name, address and phone everywhere. If your website says “KIO Agency”, Instagram says “Kolchi In One” and a directory still shows an old number, an assistant cannot be sure they are the same business, and it will prefer one it can be sure about.
- Publish answers to the questions your customers really ask. Look at your WhatsApp and email: the questions people ask before buying are the questions they now ask AI. One honest article per question, with real numbers and real examples, beats ten generic posts. Google’s guide to helpful, people-first content is the best checklist we know.
- Earn mentions on other sites. Client case studies on their sites, partner pages, local press, chambers of commerce, conference speaker lists, honest directory listings. Each one is a second source that confirms you exist and do what you say.
Two extras that help AI read you
An llms.txt file. This is a short plain-text fact sheet at yourwebsite.com/llms.txt that summarises who you are and links to your key pages. It is a proposed standard, not something Google uses, so do not expect miracles, but it costs nothing and some AI tools read it. Ours is live at kolchiinone.com/llms.txt.
IndexNow. ChatGPT search and Microsoft Copilot rely partly on Bing. IndexNow is a free protocol that tells Bing the moment you publish or update a page, so it is re-crawled in minutes instead of weeks. Many SEO plugins support it.
What does not work
- Hidden text “for the AI”. Writing instructions to chatbots in white text or hidden blocks is treated as spam. Google lists hidden text in its spam policies.
- Mass AI-written articles. Hundreds of thin pages saying nothing new do not get quoted. They can pull the whole site down.
- Buying fake reviews or listings. Assistants increasingly cross-check sources; a profile with fifty identical five-star reviews hurts more than it helps.
- Expecting it overnight. AI answers follow search indexes. Expect weeks, not days.
How to check whether AI already mentions you
- Ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot the question a customer would ask, for example “best digital agency for a WhatsApp AI agent in Casablanca” or “who builds custom CRMs in the UAE”. Note who comes up and which sources are linked.
- Ask directly about you: “What is [your business name]?” If the answer is wrong or empty, your own pages are not clear enough.
- In Google Analytics 4, open Reports, Acquisition, Traffic acquisition. Recent versions show an “AI Assistant” channel; in older setups, look for referrals from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot.microsoft.com.
- Repeat once a month. Write the answers down so you can see the change.
What we did on kolchiinone.com
We opened our robots.txt to every major AI crawler, added Organization and ProfessionalService schema with our services, languages and areas served, published an llms.txt fact sheet that updates itself, connected IndexNow so Bing knows about every new page within minutes, and wrote articles that answer the questions clients ask us on WhatsApp, such as what a WhatsApp AI agent is and how to use ChatGPT for your business. The result so far: an AI Assistant channel in our analytics that did not exist a month ago.
If you want the same setup on your website, it is part of the website and SEO work we do. See our services or read our 10-point checklist for choosing a digital agency first.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?
No. There is no paid placement in ChatGPT’s or Gemini’s normal answers today. You earn a recommendation by being findable, clear and confirmed by other sources.
Is AI search optimisation (GEO) different from SEO?
Mostly no. It is SEO done properly: crawlable pages, clear answers, structured data, a complete business profile and mentions on other sites. The difference is that AI assistants reward clarity and direct answers even more than classic search did.
Should I block AI bots to protect my content?
That is a business choice. Blocking training bots such as GPTBot does not remove you from ChatGPT search, but blocking OAI-SearchBot does. Most businesses that want customers should allow the search bots.
How long does it take before AI assistants mention my business?
Usually several weeks after your pages are indexed and other sites mention you. Local businesses with a complete Google Business Profile often appear sooner for local questions.
Can KIO set this up for my business?
Yes. We check your robots.txt and indexing, write or fix your key pages, add structured data, set up llms.txt and IndexNow, and show you how to track AI traffic. Write to us on WhatsApp at +212 688 445 399 or through the contact page for a free 15-minute call.
