When Customers Ask ChatGPT or Google for a Recommendation Nearby, Here's How Your Business Shows Up

When a customer asks ChatGPT or Google for a recommendation nearby, the AI searches based on the customer's approximate location. Then it picks businesses from map listings, reviews and web pages. To get picked, you need three basics: a complete and accurate Google Business Profile, a steady flow of real reviews, and a website that says in plain text what you do, what area you serve, when you're open and roughly what it costs. No one can guarantee an AI will recommend you. But without those three, the AI has a hard time connecting you to the customer's question.

ChatGPT turns “near me” into a city name before it searches

OpenAI's help center is clear on this. ChatGPT can search the web, and it uses location information to find local results, such as restaurants. It estimates a person's approximate location from their IP address. OpenAI's own example: someone types “What are some good restaurants near me?”, ChatGPT figures out they're in the San Francisco area, and it may rewrite the prompt into the search query “top restaurants San Francisco” before sending it to a search partner. ChatGPT may also share location with third-party providers that supply local information, such as nearby business listings (source: OpenAI Help Center, “Searching the web with ChatGPT”).

Here's what that means for you. The customer says “near me,” but the AI actually searches for a city plus a type of business. So your listing and your website should mention both your area and what you do, for example “East Austin” and “brunch.” OpenAI hasn't said which company supplies its local business data. It only says third parties. So don't put all your effort into one platform.

There's also a technical requirement. OpenAI says that for a site to be eligible to appear in ChatGPT search results, it has to allow OpenAI's search crawler, OAI-SearchBot. Sites that block it won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers. A different crawler, GPTBot, collects training data, and it has its own separate setting (source: OpenAI crawler documentation). If someone else built your website, just ask them: “Does our robots.txt block OAI-SearchBot?” OpenAI also says ChatGPT ranks search results using multiple factors, and placement is not guaranteed.

Google's AI Overviews have no special requirements, but Google says to keep your Business Profile current

Google's guide for site owners, “AI features and your website,” says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special optimization is needed. A page only has to be indexed and eligible to show in Google Search with a snippet. Then it can be a supporting link next to the answer. Google also says AI Overviews and AI Mode may split one question into several related searches across subtopics and data sources. Among its best practices, Google lists one that matters directly for brick-and-mortar businesses: check that your Business Profile information is up to date (source: Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”).

For local results in Google Maps and Search, the Google Business Profile help center says three things matter most: relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance, and prominence (how well-known you are). Prominence also depends on how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. More reviews and positive ratings help. And there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking (source: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google). Google hasn't published how AI Overviews pick local businesses. But since Google lists the Business Profile in its best practices for AI features, getting it right is the most practical first step. For a field-by-field guide, see the Google Business Profile checklist.

Five things affect whether you get recommended, and they all need to be complete and consistent

Put the official guidance together, and five places decide whether you show up:

A common pattern: the owner puts all their effort into social media posts, while the website is just a photo of the menu. An AI may not be able to read the words in a photo, and Google recommends making important content available as text. The rule on consistent names, and the note that Google reads your website and mentions across the web, come from Google's business guidelines. The point that categories affect your ranking comes from its category help page.

Reviews have to be voluntary, never traded for discounts or freebies

Google Maps' content policy is explicit. Businesses can't offer payment, discounts, free goods or services in exchange for reviews, or for changing or removing a negative review. They also can't discourage negative reviews, or invite only happy customers to post positive ones. What a business can do is encourage customers to share a genuine experience, without offering anything and without trying to influence the rating or the content. Reviews that break these rules are removed (source: Google Maps content policy: Prohibited & restricted content).

• OK: Hand customers a review QR code at checkout, and ask them to share an honest opinion when they have time. Google even shows you how to create a review link or QR code (Tips to get more reviews).
• Not OK: Anything that trades a benefit for a review, like “free coffee for a five-star review” or “$5 off when you leave a review.”
• Not OK: Inviting only the customers who look happy, or asking unhappy customers not to post.
• Not OK: Requiring customers to write a review on the spot in your store, or telling them to mention a specific dish or stylist by name.
• Not OK: Giving staff a monthly review quota, or asking employees or family members to write reviews.

Eight things you can do today, most of them on your own

1. Search Google for your business name. Check whether you have a Business Profile and whether you're the one managing it. If not, create one and verify it. Google says verified businesses are more likely to show up in search results.
2. Change your primary category to the most specific one. Google's example: choose “Nail salon,” not just “Salon.”
3. Check your hours, and use special hours for upcoming holidays and days you'll be closed. If a storm or an emergency closes you unexpectedly, update it that same day.
4. Open your website and make sure your homepage or services page says, in text: what you do, what area you're in, your hours, your price range and how to book. If something only appears in an image, add a text version.
5. Write your business name, address and phone number the same way everywhere: your Business Profile, website, Facebook, Instagram and booking platform.
6. Print a review QR code for your counter or receipts, and ask customers to leave an honest review if they'd like to.
7. Reply to your recent reviews, starting with the negative ones. Explain what you can and can't do.
8. Ask whoever built your website to confirm that robots.txt doesn't block Googlebot or OAI-SearchBot.

Check for yourself with a private window and five questions, and log mentions and citations separately

Once you've done the steps above, test it yourself once a month. Here's a hypothetical example: a brunch café in Austin (an example, not a real business).

1. Open a private or incognito window and stay logged out. ChatGPT search works without logging in. OpenAI also says that when memory is on, ChatGPT may use saved memories to rewrite a search, so testing while logged in shows you your own personalized results.
2. Write five questions a customer would ask that don't include your business name. For example: “best weekend brunch in East Austin,” “kid-friendly brunch in Austin,” “cheap brunch in Austin,” “brunch in Austin that opens at 7 a.m.” and “Austin brunch spots that take reservations.”
3. Put the area right in the question. When you test from your shop, your location is already nearby. When you test from home, it may be a different part of town. OpenAI also suggests adding your city or neighborhood to the question when local results show the wrong area.
4. Ask each question once in ChatGPT and once in Google, where you look at the AI Overview or AI Mode answer. The two often give very different results. Record them separately, and don't add them up into one total score.
5. For each question, record three things: whether you're mentioned (your business name appears in the answer), whether you're cited (the answer links to your website or Business Profile as a source), and which URLs the answer cites.
6. Next month, ask the exact same questions again, word for word, and write down the date.

Being mentioned and being cited are two different things. A mention means the AI knows about you. A citation means the AI used your page as evidence. If you're mentioned but the AI cites someone else's article, those URLs tell you where the AI learned about you. Your next step is to make sure the information in those places is correct and complete.

Don't draw conclusions from a single check, either. AI answers change on their own. We asked the same 14 questions twice, and the mention rate came out 31.5% one time and 41.7% the other. That's why you should look at a range (see our methodology). For the full do-it-yourself tracking method, and when it's worth switching to a tool, see manual tracking vs. a tool.

Frequently asked questions

Next step: work through the eight things above to fill in your Business Profile and website, then test yourself with five questions. If you'd like to know first whether ChatGPT can understand your website, run a free quick scan. It looks at ChatGPT only, needs no sign-up and takes about 1–2 minutes. It checks your website, then runs 2 live test questions in ChatGPT.