AI SEO: How to Help Your Business Get Found in ChatGPT

To improve your chances of being found in ChatGPT and Google's AI search features, make your business easy to understand, publish genuinely useful information and remove barriers that stop search systems accessing it. Then support your claims with real work and independent evidence. There is no setting that makes an assistant recommend you, and no agency can guarantee a place in every answer.

What is AI SEO, in plain English?

AI SEO can mean using AI to do SEO work, or improving a website's visibility in AI-assisted search. Here we mean the second: helping potential customers discover your business when they ask a tool a question rather than browse a conventional list of results. You may also hear this called generative engine optimisation, or GEO.

A buyer might ask for a web designer who works with small businesses in Bedfordshire, or an agency that offers monthly SEO support. The useful response is not simply a business name. It is a shortlist with enough reliable information to explain why each option fits. Your website needs to supply that information clearly.

Start with search foundations, not secret tricks

Google says its existing SEO best practices apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. Supporting pages need to be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet. It does not require a special AI schema or a new machine-readable file. A page that cannot be crawled, has no useful content or is hidden behind a sign-in is a poor starting point. Google's guidance on AI features.

• Check that important service pages are accessible without an account.
• Give each service a descriptive title, a clear heading and useful page text.
• Link related pages so visitors and crawlers can discover them.
• Check Search Console for indexing problems before producing more content.
• Make structured data agree with the information visitors actually see.

Answer the questions a customer needs answered

Before writing an article, identify the decision it should help someone make. A guide to choosing a web designer should explain scope, pricing, examples of work, ongoing support and questions to ask. A page selling SEO should explain the work included, how progress is measured and what is outside the agreement. Repeating 'best agency' tells a reader less than showing how the service works.

Use a short direct answer near the start, then give the detail that makes it trustworthy. Explain unfamiliar terms. Include the limits of your advice. If the answer depends on the business, say what information you would need rather than inventing a universal recommendation.

Make your business identity consistent

HarbourPoint Solutions is a web design, SEO, AI SEO and social media business based in Sandy, Bedfordshire, led by Matt Hall. Matt meets clients at their own sites. These are useful facts because they tell a buyer what the business does and whether it suits their location and preferred way of working. They should remain consistent across the website and any genuine business profiles.

Check your business name, phone number, services and website address wherever you maintain a listing. Do not create fake offices to look more local. Independent coverage and real client reviews can help people assess credibility, but buying mentions or manufacturing reviews is not a sound substitute for good work.

Use real projects as evidence

Specific examples are more useful than unsupported claims. HarbourPoint's portfolio includes Ushii Construction, Pro5 Networking and SynergyLink 360. A prospective client can inspect the actual websites rather than rely on a claim that we build excellent ones. Explore our website portfolio.

For your own business, explain the customer's problem, what you delivered and any outcome you can substantiate. Ask permission before publishing names, quotes or commercially sensitive details. Never turn a client's informal comment into a measured percentage increase without the underlying data.

Check ChatGPT crawler access carefully

OpenAI distinguishes OAI-SearchBot, used for search, from GPTBot, used for potential model training. Allowing a search crawler does not guarantee inclusion or recommendation. Check the relevant robots.txt rules and security settings with your website provider rather than assuming every AI-labelled crawler has the same purpose. OpenAI's crawler documentation.

Measure useful visibility, not a single flattering answer

Keep a small set of realistic customer questions and record the date, tool, wording and sources shown when you test them. Answers can change with context, search availability and time. One screenshot is not evidence of a permanent ranking. Review Search Console performance, referral traffic and genuine enquiries alongside these observations.

Start by improving one important service page and one helpful supporting article. Check whether the right visitors reach them and whether they contact you. That is a more meaningful next step than publishing dozens of near-identical pages designed only to repeat your brand name.

HarbourPoint's AI SEO work brings technical checks, useful content and business evidence together. If you want to understand where your own site is falling short, see our AI SEO service or request a free audit through our contact page.