How to get your business cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity

Traditional search engine optimization is about ranking. You optimize a page, it climbs the results, more people see it. The game is position.

AI search works differently. ChatGPT and Perplexity don't show a list of results. They generate an answer and cite the sources they used. If your business is one of those sources, you get mentioned. If not, you're not in the response at all.

Getting cited by AI tools is a different goal than ranking on Google — and it requires a somewhat different approach. Here's what actually works.

Understand what AI is looking for

AI language models like ChatGPT were trained on enormous amounts of text from across the internet. When someone asks for a business recommendation, the model draws on what it learned during training combined with any real-time search capability it has. Perplexity searches the live web and synthesizes what it finds.

In both cases, the AI is looking for the same things: clear information, consistent data across multiple sources, evidence of credibility, and content that directly answers the question being asked.

A 2025 analysis of over 350,000 websites found that only 0.12% of businesses score high enough to be considered genuinely AI-ready. The gap is large, which means the opportunity is significant for businesses willing to close it.

Build a presence on platforms AI trusts

AI tools don't rely solely on business websites. They pull from platforms they consider authoritative — places that have editorial standards, verification processes, or strong community signals. For local businesses, the most important of these are:

• Google Business Profile — the single highest-impact platform for local AI citations. Complete, accurate, actively updated GBPs get pulled into AI responses frequently.
• Yelp — still heavily indexed and frequently cited by AI for service businesses.
• Better Business Bureau — AI treats BBB listings as a credibility signal, particularly for service industries.
• Industry-specific directories — HomeAdvisor, Angi, and similar platforms for home services; Avvo for legal; Zocdoc for healthcare. If there's a reputable directory in your industry, get listed.
• Local news and community mentions — a local news article, a chamber of commerce feature, or a community sponsorship listing carries real weight with AI tools because these sources have inherent editorial credibility.

The pattern is consistent: AI cites businesses it can verify from multiple independent sources. If the only place your business exists online is your own website, you're asking AI to trust a single source. It generally won't.

Write content that answers real questions

Perplexity, in particular, searches the live web when generating responses. When someone asks it a question about a local service, it's looking for pages that directly and clearly answer that question — then it cites them.

This means your website content matters. Not just for keywords, but for actually being useful. A landscaping company that has a page answering "When is the best time to aerate a lawn in Utah?" is more likely to get cited when someone asks Perplexity that question than a competitor whose site says nothing beyond "we offer lawn care services."

You don't need dozens of articles. Two or three pages that directly answer the questions your customers ask most often can make a real difference. Think about what people call you asking. Write clear, helpful answers to those questions. That's the content AI wants to cite.

Make your information machine-readable

There's a technical layer here that's worth understanding, even if you don't implement it yourself. Structured data — specifically something called Schema markup — is a way of labeling the information on your website so that AI systems can read it unambiguously. You're essentially telling the machine: "This text is our business name. This is our address. These are the services we offer."

Without it, AI has to interpret your website the same way a human would — guessing from context. With it, the information is explicit and reliable. Businesses with proper structured data are easier for AI to understand, which makes them easier to cite.

If your website is on a modern platform like WordPress, Squarespace, or a custom build, a developer can add Schema markup in an afternoon. It's not expensive and the payoff in AI citability is real.

Earn mentions, not just links

Old-school SEO was heavily focused on backlinks — getting other websites to link to yours. AI search cares less about links specifically and more about mentions. Being named in a relevant context on a credible site — even without a link — counts.

This opens up some practical opportunities:

• Local newspaper or TV station coverage (even a small community feature)
• Guest articles on industry blogs or local business publications
• Being quoted as an expert in an article someone else writes
• Podcast appearances, even local ones
• Sponsorships that get your business name mentioned on other organizations' websites

None of these require a PR firm. They require showing up and being willing to share what you know. A local HVAC company owner who answers a few questions for a home improvement blog article is building AI citation potential — in addition to being genuinely helpful.

Keep your reviews moving

According to BrightLocal, 71% of consumers use Google reviews to evaluate local businesses. AI tools are doing something similar — using review recency and volume as a signal of whether a business is active, trusted, and worth recommending.

A steady stream of recent reviews tells AI that your business is operating, serving customers, and earning ongoing trust. This is one of the clearest signals you can send, and it's entirely within your control. Build a simple system for asking — a follow-up text after a job, a reminder card, a line at the bottom of your invoice. Consistent beats occasional.

The longer-term view

Getting cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity isn't something you do once. It's something you build over time through consistent signals of credibility, usefulness, and presence. The businesses that will be most visible in AI search two years from now are the ones doing this work today, before it's obvious and before the competition has caught up.

The gap between "invisible to AI" and "regularly cited by AI" is not as wide as most people assume. It's mostly a matter of making your information clear, complete, and present across the right places. That's work any business can do.