The short version. AI assistants recommend businesses they can find clear, consistent and trustworthy information about, that matches the exact question asked. Check what they say about you now, publish complete and specific facts in one verified place, make your details match everywhere, collect reviews where AI looks, and check again regularly.
How AI assistants choose which businesses to recommend
When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Perplexity “who’s a good plumber near me?”, the assistant doesn’t have a ranked list of plumbers. It builds an answer from what it can find and what it already knows: business listings, review sites, your website, news and directories. Assistants that search the web live (like ChatGPT search and Perplexity) read pages at the moment you ask.
From that, it looks for businesses that:
- Clearly match the question. “Open late”, “takes my insurance”, “does balayage”, “serves Clemmons”. If those words aren’t written down anywhere, the assistant can’t match you.
- Have consistent details. The same name, phone number, hours and address on every site. Conflicting details make an assistant less confident.
- Have trust signals. Reviews, licenses, years in business, mentions in local news.
- Are easy to act on. A booking link, prices, a phone number that works.
None of this is mysterious. It’s the same information a careful person would want before recommending you to a friend. The difference is that AI reads all of it, everywhere, at once.
Step 1: See what AI says about you today
Before changing anything, ask. Open ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and type the questions your customers actually ask, in their words, with your town. For example: “I need a florist who can deliver today in Wilmington. Who’s good?”
Write down whether you’re named, which competitors are named instead, and anything the assistant gets wrong about you. Ask a few different questions, because answers vary. Evnie’s free AI check does this for you, live, in under a minute.
Step 2: Write down the facts AI needs
Most businesses lose AI recommendations because key facts aren’t written anywhere. Make a list of everything a customer might ask about, and publish it:
- What you do, in plain words (“family-run HVAC company”, not “comfort solutions”).
- Every service, with a starting price where you can.
- Hours, including weekends, holidays and late nights.
- Your service area: every town or neighborhood you cover.
- Specialties and things people ask for by name.
- Licenses, certifications and years in business.
- How to book, order or get a quote.
Specific beats clever. “Same-day AC repair in Wilmington, Leland and Hampstead, from $89” is something an assistant can quote. “Your comfort is our priority” isn’t.
Step 3: Make your details match everywhere
Search for your business name and check your Google Business Profile, Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, your website and industry sites. Fix anything out of date: old phone numbers, old addresses, wrong hours, a previous business name. Mismatches are one of the most common reasons an assistant leaves a business out or describes it wrongly.
Step 4: Collect reviews where AI looks
AI assistants lean on review sites to decide who’s trustworthy. For most local businesses that’s Google first, then the sites that matter in your industry: Yelp and Tripadvisor for restaurants, Healthgrades and Zocdoc for practices, Angi and Houzz for trades, Zillow for real estate agents, G2 and Capterra for software. Ask happy customers to review you there, and link those pages from your profile so assistants can find them.
Step 5: Answer the questions customers ask
Write short, direct answers to the questions you hear every week: “Do you take walk-ins?”, “Do you work on BMWs?”, “Is the first consultation free?” Put them on your website or profile as questions and answers. Assistants often quote answers like these almost word for word.
Step 6: Publish in formats AI can read
Structured data (schema.org markup) labels your details so machines can read them without guessing: this is the phone number, these are the hours, this is the price. Many small business websites don’t have it. An Evnie profile includes it automatically, along with an llms.txt index and an open API that AI tools can read.
Step 7: Make it easy to book or buy
A recommendation is only worth something if the customer can act on it. Publish a booking link, an order link or a clear way to request a quote. Some assistants can now book or order directly through services that support it, which is what Evnie’s booking and ordering connect to.
Step 8: Check again, and keep it current
AI answers change as assistants update and competitors change their information. Re-run the same questions every week or month, and update your details when anything changes: new hours, new prices, a new service. Evnie’s paid plans run these checks automatically and show you which assistants recommend you and what to fix.
What doesn’t work
- Buying placement. Normal AI answers can’t be bought. Anyone guaranteeing a spot is guessing.
- Keyword stuffing. Repeating “best plumber” fifty times makes a page less trustworthy, not more.
- Fake reviews. They violate review site rules, can get you penalized and undermine the trust signals that matter.
- Set and forget. Out-of-date details are worse than missing ones.
Questions
How long does it take to show up in ChatGPT?
There’s no fixed timeline. Assistants that search the web live can pick up changes within days; answers based on training data change much more slowly. That’s why it’s worth checking regularly rather than once.
Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?
Not in normal answers. Be wary of anyone selling guaranteed placement. You can make your business the clearest, most trustworthy match, and measure whether it’s working.
Is this different from SEO?
It overlaps a lot. Clear facts, consistent listings, reviews and structured data help both. The difference is that AI assistants answer the question directly, so specific, quotable details matter even more than rankings.