How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT and AI search.

To get your business recommended by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews, you need the facts about your business to be clear, structured and consistent across the web — because that's what AI systems trust and repeat. Very few UK small businesses have done this yet, which makes it the cheapest visibility advantage available in 2026.

Why this matters now

A fast-growing share of customers no longer scroll Google's results — they ask an assistant: “best family dentist in Norwich?”, “a good vet near me that takes emergencies?”, “affordable web designer for a café?”. The assistant returns a short list of names. If you're not on it, you're invisible to those customers — and they never see a search results page you could have ranked on.

What makes AI recommend a business

1. Verifiable, structured facts. Clear service descriptions, opening hours, location or service area, and pricing where possible — marked up with schema (the structured-data layer AI reads directly from your site's code).
2. Consistency across the web. The exact same business name, contact details and description on your website, Google profile, directories and social pages. Contradictions make AI drop you as unreliable.
3. Mentions on sources AI trusts. Assistants lean on Google, Bing, reputable directories and review sites. Being present and consistent on those feeds the recommendation.
4. Content that answers real questions. Plain, factual pages and FAQs that state answers directly — the first sentence doing the work — are exactly what gets quoted.
5. A real, identifiable business. A named founder or team, a proper domain email, an About page. AI prefers to recommend businesses it can verify are real.

A checklist you can start this week

• Make sure your website states your services, area and hours in plain text — not trapped inside an image or a PDF.
• Add schema markup for your business, services and FAQs (or have a site that ships it by default).
• Match your name, address and phone number everywhere they appear online, character for character.
• Turn your most common customer questions into a clear FAQ, each answer stated in the first sentence.
• Claim your Google Business Profile and keep reviews coming — AI reads them too.
• Once a month, ask ChatGPT and Perplexity the questions your customers would ask, and see whether you appear.

This is the natural next step after the fundamentals in how to get found on Google. Every website Zanolla Studio builds ships with the structured-data layer AI systems read — see how that works for clinics or for restaurants.

Common questions

How do I get my business to show up in ChatGPT answers?

Make your business facts clear, structured and consistent: plain-text services and hours on your site, schema markup, matching details across Google and directories, and a real About page. AI recommends businesses it can easily verify — most UK small firms haven't done this, so it's a fast advantage.

Is AI search optimisation different from normal SEO?

It overlaps but isn't identical. Classic SEO earns rankings on a results page; AI optimisation (AEO/GEO) earns a mention inside an assistant's answer. Structured data, factual clarity and consistency across the web matter even more for AI than for traditional search.

Do I need a special website to be recommended by AI?

You need one with clean structure and schema markup, factual content, and consistent business details — not a special platform. Many DIY sites bury key facts in images or skip schema entirely, which makes them hard for AI to read.

How do I know if it's working?

Ask the assistants directly, monthly: pose the questions your customers would (“best [your service] in [your town]”) in ChatGPT and Perplexity and note whether you're named. It's the simplest KPI for AI visibility.