How Can a Small Business Get Recommended by ChatGPT?

To get recommended by ChatGPT, make it easy to match your business to the problem a buyer describes. Say exactly what you do, who for and where, in your buyers' own words. Use that same description everywhere you're listed. Publish plain answers to the questions buyers ask, and get reviewed and mentioned on sites you don't own.

Does ChatGPT actually recommend small businesses?

It does. One of our clients, the CEO of a software company, was talking to ChatGPT one night about a problem in his business: communication and branding, with much bigger clients than he used to have. In his words, "I didn't even say video." It suggested video, and then it suggested us. That conversation ended in a call with Chris, and he's now a client.

It happens unevenly, though. In July 2026 an outside audit put real questions about our own business to Google and Perplexity. We were named on 3 of 3 questions that already contained the words "Ridge Films", and on 2 of 7 where a buyer described the problem in their own words. ChatGPT wasn't part of that test, and answers shift with the session, the model and the location.

So people who already know your name find you. People describing a problem often meet someone else. The steps below are about that second group.

How should you describe your business so AI can match it to a problem?

Specifically, and in the words your buyers use. Write one sentence that says what you do, who it's for and where you do it, then put it on your home page, your About page and every profile you control. Use the phrases you hear on sales calls.

We learned this one the hard way. The same audit found we were named first on questions about desktop video studios, the thing we describe most specifically. On coaching questions we were missing, and the auditors' read was that "video coaching" gets taken as coaching delivered over video, so the results filled with general business coaches.

Why does it matter that you're described the same way everywhere?

Because anyone checking you is likely to look in more than one place. If your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and directory listings disagree, you look like several businesses instead of one.

Our audit found our business name written two ways, two different founding dates in circulation and no street address on our own site. None of it was hard to fix. Check these this month:

• Your business name, written the same way everywhere
• Address, phone and website on every listing
• The one-sentence description from above, in your Google Business Profile and LinkedIn
• Your founding year, team size and the area you serve

What should you publish so ChatGPT has something to point to?

Plain answers to the questions your buyers ask before they've heard of you. One question per page, the answer in the first couple of sentences, the question itself as the heading, and a short FAQ at the end. The questions you hear on calls are your publishing plan.

Then ask whoever runs your website two things: that robots.txt doesn't block AI crawlers, and that the site carries structured data, a standard label for who you are, who runs it and what your FAQs say.

Do reviews and mentions on other websites help?

Yes, and this is where our own website let us down. In the same audit Perplexity was asked about our reviews. It saw the review count on our own site, treated it as a claim we made about ourselves, and told the reader to "check independent reviews on general business and review platforms, not just their own website."

Reviews and mentions on sites you don't own are harder to dismiss than claims on your own website. So ask every happy client for a Google review, with a direct link. Say yes to podcast interviews, association profiles, partner pages and local awards. Each one is somebody else describing you.

Where does video fit into getting found by AI?

Everything above works better when there's more of you to find. A video of you answering a buyer's question becomes a YouTube title and description, a transcript and an answer page, all from one recording. And the person who finds you gets to see and hear you before they call.

Linh Podetti of Outsourcing Angel publishes on YouTube, and she makes a habit of asking clients where they found her. Read how Linh grew her brand with a one-button studio.

"They're like, oh, we Googled you. And then we, we went and watched a YouTube video." Linh Podetti

Byron Trzeciak started out running a traditional SEO agency. Now he calls video his salesperson that never clocks off:

"We use video as like a 24 by seven sales person, and it's something that's working for us all day, every day." Byron Trzeciak

Watch from 11:28

There's more on how he paired video with search in Byron Trzeciak on pairing DIY video with SEO. Business owners are noticing. In September an IT company's marketing team told us AI visibility was their reason for wanting video now, because their competitors were prominent on video and they didn't want to be left behind. For the bigger picture, see why video matters for your business.

Getting recommended by ChatGPT: questions we get asked

How do I check whether ChatGPT recommends my business?

Ask it the question your buyer would ask, in their words, without your business name in it. Note who it names and what it says about them. Try a few phrasings and repeat it every month, because answers change with the session, the model version and your location.

Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitors and not me?

Look at what is published about them that is not published about you: clear descriptions of what they do, pages that answer common questions, reviews on platforms they don't own, and mentions on other people's sites. Those are the gaps to close first.

Do I need an agency to get my business recommended by AI?

Not to start. Describing your business clearly and consistently, answering buyer questions in plain language and asking happy clients for reviews are all things you can do yourself. Structured data on your website may need a hand from whoever built it.

Does video help my business show up in AI search?

Video gives you more to publish: a transcript, a YouTube title and description, and an answer page built from what you said. Nobody can promise it gets you named, but it gives AI tools and people more of you to find, and it lets a buyer see and hear you before they call.

What if you'd rather not do all of this yourself?

Start with the test, because it costs nothing. This week, ask ChatGPT the question your best client asked before they found you, without your name in it, and write down who it names. Then work through the list above.

If the answer page you need is a video of you, and it keeps not getting made, we can help with the studio and with what to say on it. Book a call and bring what ChatGPT told you.