Short answer: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews recommend businesses they can clearly identify and trust. Make sure your website states who you are, what you do and where in plain words, keep your name, phone and service area identical everywhere, complete your Google Business Profile, collect real reviews, and write pages that answer your customers' actual questions.
More of your customers now ask an AI assistant before they search. "Who's a good roofer in Kirkwood?" "Is there a web designer near Crestwood who does online ordering?" The assistant writes a short answer and names a few businesses. If yours isn't one of them, that customer may never see your website at all.
The good news: AI assistants mostly reward the same things good local SEO always has. Here's what I check for my own clients, in the order I'd do it.
1. Say exactly what you do, and where, in the first sentence
AI tools summarize. Give them a sentence worth repeating. Your homepage should open with something like "Smith Plumbing is a family-owned plumber in Webster Groves serving St. Louis County since 2009." Not "Welcome to our website" and not a slogan.
2. Keep your business details identical everywhere
Your business name, phone number and service area should match on your website, Google Business Profile, Facebook page, Yelp and any directories. When details disagree, AI systems are less sure they're looking at the same business and less likely to recommend it.
3. Finish your Google Business Profile
Google's AI Overviews and Maps lean heavily on it. Fill in every field: categories, services, service area, hours, a description, photos of real work, and your website link. Post an update now and then. It's free and it's the single biggest local lever most small businesses aren't fully using.
4. Ask happy customers for reviews
Reviews are one of the clearest trust signals for both search engines and AI assistants, and the wording matters: a review that says "they rebuilt our website and added online payments" tells an AI what you're good at. Send satisfied customers a direct link to leave a Google review. Never buy or fake reviews.
5. Give each service its own page that answers real questions
One page per main service, written the way customers talk: what it is, who it's for, roughly how it works, how long it takes, and how to get started. Add a short FAQ with the questions you hear on the phone. AI assistants love pages that answer a question directly, because they can quote them accurately.
6. Add structured data
Structured data (schema.org markup) is a small block of code that tells machines, in their own language, that you're a local business, where you are, what you offer and what your FAQs say. Visitors never see it, but search engines and AI tools read it. Most website builders don't add much of it on their own.
7. Don't block AI crawlers by accident
Some sites block AI crawlers in their robots.txt file without the owner knowing. If you want to show up in AI answers, the assistants have to be allowed to read your site. Many sites now also publish a short llms.txt file: a plain-text summary of the business that points AI tools to the most important pages.
8. Make the site fast and mobile-friendly
Slow, broken or hard-to-read sites lose people and rankings. Use https, compress images, and check your site on a phone. If it's painful on your own phone, it's painful for customers.
What not to worry about
You don't need a "GEO hack" or to stuff keywords into pages. Nobody can guarantee you'll be named in ChatGPT's answer, and anyone who promises that is guessing. Do the basics well and keep them current, and you give every search engine and AI assistant the best possible reason to mention you.
If you'd like a second pair of eyes, send me your website and business name. I'll look at how you show up on Google, Maps and a few AI assistants and tell you what to fix first. It's free. Here's how I handle SEO and AI search.
Questions about this? Get in touch or book a free 30-minute consult.