AI assistants recommend local businesses they can find in a search index, confirm through consistent listings and reviews, and quote from a clear web page. So getting recommended is mostly good local SEO plus a few extra steps: let AI crawlers reach your site, get indexed by Bing as well as Google, keep your listings identical everywhere, build honest reviews, and publish pages that answer the exact questions customers ask. Then check every month whether it's working.
This matters more every year. BrightLocal found that 45% of consumers used AI tools to find local business recommendations in the past 12 months, up from 6% the year before. Semrush found that the average visitor from AI search is worth 4.4 times a traditional organic search visitor, based on conversion rate. The checklist at the end covers what to do about it.
Where do ChatGPT and Google's AI get their answers?
Mostly from the same places regular search does. OpenAI says ChatGPT search uses third-party search providers along with content from its partners, and Microsoft announced in 2023 that Bing would be the default search engine in ChatGPT. Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode draw on Google's own index. Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond being indexed and eligible to show in search with a snippet.
That's good news for a local business, because there's no secret trick to learn. It also means that if Google and Bing don't know much about you, the AI tools won't either.
Step 1: Can the AI crawlers reach your site?
Some sites block AI crawlers without the owner knowing, through a security plugin, a firewall setting, or a robots.txt file someone copied years ago. OpenAI says a site that blocks its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers. Check yours at yoursite.com/robots.txt. If you want to be found, a simple version looks like this:
User-agent: *
Allow: /
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
Also make sure the text on your pages is in the HTML itself. Many crawlers don't run JavaScript, so a site that builds its content in the browser can look empty to them.
Step 2: Are you indexed in Bing as well as Google?
Most owners set up Google Search Console at some point. Very few have opened Bing Webmaster Tools. Add your site to both, submit your sitemap, and check that your main pages are indexed.
Then do the same for your listings. Claim your Google Business Profile, your Bing Places listing, and Apple Business Connect for people searching in Apple Maps. These listings are where search engines get your name, phone, hours, service area, and categories.
Step 3: Do your listings all match?
An AI tool is more confident recommending a business when every source agrees. Your business name, phone number, website, and services should be identical on Google, Bing, Apple, Facebook, Yelp, Nextdoor, the BBB, Angi, and your chamber of commerce. Old phone numbers and old addresses from a previous location are common problems. Fix them one listing at a time.
Keep the name clean, too. Google's business profile guidelines don't allow extra keywords in the business name, so "Smith Plumbing" is fine and "Smith Plumbing Best Emergency Plumber Phoenix" can get the profile suspended.
Step 4: Are you building honest reviews?
Reviews are one of the clearest signals of who's good in a town, for Google's local rankings and for the AI tools that summarize them. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking (Google Business Profile help).
Ask every customer, right after the job, with a direct link. Don't offer discounts or gifts for reviews, and don't only ask the happy ones. Google prohibits both (Google's review policy), and the FTC's 2024 rule on consumer reviews bans fake reviews and incentives tied to a particular sentiment. Reply to every review, good and bad. More on doing reviews the right way.
Step 5: Do your pages answer the questions people ask?
People ask AI tools full questions: "Who's a good emergency plumber in Columbus?" "How much does it cost to replace an AC unit in Phoenix?" "Do I need a permit for a water heater?" Pages that answer those questions in the first sentence or two are the ones that get quoted.
That usually means:
- One page per main service, starting with a plain description of what you do and where.
- A page for each main area you serve, with real local details (neighborhoods, towns, local conditions), not the same page with the city name swapped.
- An FAQ page written the way customers ask, with short, direct answers.
- Your phone number, service area, hours, and license number in plain text on the page.
Blog posts that answer one question each help here too.
Step 6: Does your schema match the page?
Schema markup is structured data in your site's code that tells search engines your business name, phone, service area, services, and FAQs. Google says no special schema is needed for its AI features, but standard business and FAQ schema still helps search engines understand the page. The rule that matters is that it must match what's visible on the page. Don't mark up reviews or FAQs that aren't actually shown.
Step 7: Are you tracking what the AI tools say?
Write down ten questions a customer would ask, like "best AC repair in Charlotte" or "who installs generators near Denver," and ask them in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google once a month. Note whether you're named, and who's named instead. When a competitor keeps showing up, look at what they have that you don't. Often it's more reviews, a better Google profile, or a page that answers the question directly.
What doesn't work?
Paying for fake reviews, stuffing keywords into your business name, publishing dozens of near-identical city pages, and buying a "guaranteed AI ranking" package. The first two can get your Google profile suspended, the third tends to get ignored, and nobody can deliver the fourth.
The checklist
- robots.txt allows search crawlers, including OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot
- Page text is in the HTML, not built by JavaScript
- Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools set up, sitemap submitted
- Google Business Profile, Bing Places, and Apple Business Connect claimed
- Name, phone, and website identical on every listing
- Business name with no added keywords
- Every customer asked for a review, with no incentives
- Every review answered
- One page per service and per main area, answer first
- FAQ page in plain language
- Schema that matches the visible page
- Monthly check of ten customer questions across AI tools
If you'd rather hand this off, it's what Kedvezo's AI search optimization and local SEO services do every month. And when those new customers call, the AI receptionist makes sure someone picks up.