When someone asks ChatGPT "Which bakery in Kecskemét makes good sourdough?", the answer names a few places and explains why. Business owners increasingly ask us the same question: how do I get on that list?
The honest answer is that there is no ranking to buy and no listing form to submit. But there is a clear pattern in which businesses get recommended, and most of it is within your control.
How ChatGPT decides what to say
When ChatGPT searches the web for an answer, it runs searches, reads a handful of pages, and writes a summary. Gemini does the same with Google's index, and Perplexity with its own. Three things shape whether your business appears:
- Can it find you? Your pages need to be in the search indexes the assistants use, and your site must not block their crawlers.
- Can it understand you? Your pages need to say plainly what you do, for whom and where.
- Can it verify you? Other sources (reviews, directories, articles, your Google Business Profile) should say the same thing.
Without web search, an assistant falls back on what it learned in training, which is older and favours businesses that were already widely mentioned. That is another reason consistent mentions across the web pay off.
A seven-step plan
1. Let the assistants in
Check your robots.txt. OpenAI uses OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search and GPTBot for training; Perplexity uses PerplexityBot. If you block them, you are invisible to those answers. Also make sure your site is in Bing Webmaster Tools as well as Google Search Console, because assistants do not rely on Google alone.
2. Write your one-sentence definition
"[Name] is a [category] for [audience] in [place], known for [specific thing]." Put it on your home page, your about page, your Google Business Profile and your social profiles. Identical wording helps.
3. Answer real questions on your site
Collect the questions customers ask you on the phone and in email. Answer each one on the most relevant page, with the answer in the first sentence. Assistants quote direct answers far more readily than marketing copy.
4. Publish facts, not adjectives
Prices or price ranges, service areas, opening hours, delivery times, certifications, the year you started, named team members. "Award-winning" means nothing to an assistant; "Hungarian Bakery of the Year 2025" can be checked.
5. Earn mentions where assistants look
Google reviews, industry directories, local news, partner websites, comparison articles, and well-moderated communities. When an assistant recommends a competitor, look at the sources it cites: those are the places you are missing.
6. Keep your Google Business Profile complete
Categories, services, photos, regular posts and replies to reviews. Gemini and Google's AI answers lean heavily on it, and other assistants pick it up through search.
7. Measure every month
Ask the same set of buyer questions each month and record: are you named, who is named instead, and which sources are cited. Change one thing at a time and watch the answers move.
Mistakes to avoid
- Writing for robots. Keyword-stuffed pages read badly to people and to language models.
- Inconsistent facts. Two prices or two addresses make an assistant hedge or skip you.
- Chasing one prompt. Answers vary by wording, location and time. Track a set of questions, not one.
- Expecting a guarantee. Anyone promising a guaranteed ChatGPT ranking is selling something that does not exist.
How Vistobi helps
Vistobi's AI answers check runs your buyers' questions through ChatGPT and Gemini and shows whether you are named, who is recommended instead and which pages shaped the answer. Tobi then turns the gaps into tasks on your Today list, from a missing FAQ to a full article written in your brand's voice. The check is included in every plan, and you can start with the free SEO check on the Vistobi home page without an account.
Key takeaways
- There is no ChatGPT ranking to buy, but recommendation follows a clear pattern: findable, understandable, verifiable.
- Allow the AI crawlers, publish plain facts and answer real questions.
- Use the sources an assistant cites for competitors as your to-do list.
- Measure monthly with the same set of questions.
Read next: GEO vs SEO: what changes when customers ask ChatGPT.