To get recommended by ChatGPT, make sure it can reach your website and say clearly what you offer and who it’s for. Back that up with real reviews and case studies. Then ask ChatGPT the questions your buyers ask and fix the gaps you find. No one can guarantee a recommendation, but clear, consistent evidence gives ChatGPT a reason to pick you.
How Does ChatGPT Decide Which Companies to Recommend?
When ChatGPT searches the web, it can turn the buyer’s question into more targeted searches. Then it recommends the companies that look like the best fit. In our test, those recommendations changed with the buyer’s question.
OpenAI says ChatGPT search typically rewrites a question into one or more targeted queries and ranks the results using multiple factors. It also says placement isn’t guaranteed.
We saw this in our own test in August 2026. We asked ChatGPT for the best WordPress website management companies for small and midsize B2B service businesses. It put Pronto first and called us “probably the strongest fit for a typical B2B service company.” Then we asked as a small MSP in Nevada that needed a WordPress redesign, SEO, and ongoing support. The needs were almost the same, but Pronto disappeared, and agencies in Henderson, Las Vegas, and Reno took its place.
We asked both questions again in October 2026 for this blog post. Pronto still came first for the first question. We asked the Nevada question three times. Pronto came first in two of the answers, but the third left us out and recommended other MSP specialists and agencies in Henderson, Las Vegas, and Reno.
ChatGPT’s answer to “What are the best WordPress website management companies for small and midsize B2B service businesses?” in October 2026.
ChatGPT’s third answer to “I run a small MSP in Nevada. Which agencies should I consider for a WordPress redesign, SEO, and ongoing support?” in October 2026.
We can’t prove exactly how ChatGPT weighed each detail. One possible explanation is that “in Nevada” pushed it toward local agencies, even though the buyer never said the agency had to be local. Our results show that recommendations can change with the buyer’s context, and even when the question stays the same.
Both questions came from a bigger test. We asked ChatGPT 21 questions about our own company, from what we do to which agency a buyer should hire. We walk through what it got right, and where it filled in the gaps, in our video, ChatGPT May Be Getting Your Business Wrong.
Can ChatGPT Actually Reach Our Website?
For ChatGPT search, let OpenAI’s crawler, OAI-SearchBot, reach your site. Blocking it excludes your pages’ content from search answers, though a link may still appear.
Ask whoever manages your website to check for rules that block OAI-SearchBot. Your robots.txt file, security plugins, and firewall or CDN settings can all block it without anyone noticing. Also put your important service details on public pages as real text, not only in images or behind a login.
OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot do different jobs. Source: OpenAI.
Don’t mix up OpenAI’s bots, either. GPTBot collects content that may be used to train OpenAI’s models, and blocking it is a separate choice that doesn’t remove you from ChatGPT search. For the other basics that help across AI tools, see our guide on how to show up in AI search results.
What Does ChatGPT Need to See Before It Recommends Us?
Our test points to five things to make clear:
- what you do
- what clients say
- who you’re right for
- where you’ve done similar work
- how you’re different
In our test, the closer the questions got to choosing a provider, the more ChatGPT filled the gaps with guesses.
What ChatGPT got right in our 21-question test, and where it filled in the gaps.
Our questions moved from discovery (“What does Pronto Marketing do?”) to trust (“Is Pronto Marketing a reputable company?”) to a buying decision (“What are the best alternatives to Pronto Marketing for a small B2B service company?”). ChatGPT handled the documented facts well. The weakest answers came when ChatGPT had to judge which company was better. Each of the gaps below is something you can fix.
- Can ChatGPT verify what you do?
Describe what you sell and who it’s for in plain words, and use the same description on your site and every profile. ChatGPT got our main services right, but it assumed we don’t offer the services we rarely mention. If a service matters to your business, name it clearly on your website. “WordPress redesign, SEO, and ongoing support for B2B service businesses” beats “full-service digital marketing.”
- Do your reviews tell the full story?
Ask clients for reviews that describe their need, the work, and the result. ChatGPT used real reviews, including our G2 ratings, to speak well of us, but it also made a few complaints sound like a bigger problem. So deal with any complaint that keeps coming up, and ask happy clients for detail, not just stars. A detailed review gives ChatGPT far more to work with than a rating alone.
What a useful review covers, beyond the star rating.
- Is it clear who you’re the right fit for?
Spell out who your service suits, what’s included, what needs a separate project, and how the process works. Where we were vague, ChatGPT made up an ideal client size of 5 to 100 employees and scored our services out of 5. When the limits of your offer are unclear, ChatGPT may set them for you. You don’t need rigid rules for every buyer, just enough detail that it doesn’t have to guess.
- Can you show you’ve worked with buyers like them?
Show results from the markets you want, such as an MSP case study, and explain how you work with clients remotely. Local agencies replaced us in some of our Nevada answers. Location may have mattered, but several details changed between the two questions, so we can’t be sure why. To be considered for a specific industry or location, you need real proof that you belong there. Avoid pages that only swap in a new city name.
- Is it clear how you’re different?
Explain how you work, who your approach suits, and what your partners do. Comparison questions got the weakest answers in our test, and ChatGPT even suggested our partners as replacements for us. A fair comparison gives buyers and ChatGPT something better than guesses. You don’t need to claim every competitor is worse. Say when a freelancer, a specialist, or an ongoing team makes more sense.
How Can We Check What ChatGPT Says About Us?
Run the same test on your company. Ask your buyers’ questions with and without your company name, and save the answers. Check the sources and separate facts from ChatGPT’s own conclusions. Then ask the same questions again after you make changes.
A four-step test you can run on your own company.
Ask a range of questions, from “What does [Company] do?” to “Which companies offer [service] for [buyer type]?” Then change one detail at a time, such as the industry or the location, and note who replaces you.
Keep the test fair. Use a Temporary Chat and choose Unpersonalized, so your memories and custom instructions don’t shape the answers. Leave search on automatic and note whether ChatGPT searched. Treat each answer as a snapshot, not a verdict. Results can change each time you ask, so repeat your key questions and retest once your changes have been live for a while.
We’ve shared the exact prompt list we used, along with the sheet we used to track answers, sources, and unsupported claims. Get the free ChatGPT Business Visibility Test Tracker and run the same test on your company. To see which competitors ChatGPT recommends instead of you, read why competitors show up in ChatGPT.
Do Ads Influence Which Companies ChatGPT Recommends?
No. OpenAI started testing ads in ChatGPT in February 2026, but it says ads don’t influence ChatGPT’s answers and advertisers can’t shape or rank them. Ads are labeled as sponsored and kept separate from the answer.
Buying an ad doesn’t buy a recommendation in the answer.
The Bottom Line on Getting Your Company Recommended by ChatGPT
Make it easy for ChatGPT to see why your company fits what the buyer asked for, and back up your strengths with clear facts and real proof. Sort out access and wrong facts first, then add proof of who you serve, where you’ve worked, and how you’re different. Then test again, because the answers will keep changing.
Want to know what ChatGPT tells your buyers about your company? Our AI search optimization services start with an audit of where you stand today.
