GEO · 8 min read
How to Get Your Business Cited in ChatGPT & Perplexity
When someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity "who should I use for X in Sydney?", the model names a few businesses. Getting your business into that shortlist is not luck — it follows a handful of repeatable moves.
Here is the practical playbook, in roughly the order you should tackle it.
Step 1: Make sure you are findable in the first place
AI engines read the web that search engines have already crawled. If your site is not indexed in Google, or your business details are inconsistent across the web, the models have nothing reliable to cite.
So the groundwork is: get indexed (submit your site in Google Search Console), keep your name, address and phone identical everywhere, and complete your Google Business Profile. Unglamorous, but nothing else works without it.
Step 2: Add structured data (schema.org)
Structured data is invisible code that tells machines exactly what your business is, what you sell and where. It removes guesswork — instead of inferring, the model is told outright.
At a minimum, mark up your organisation/local business, your services, and your FAQs (FAQPage schema). It is one of the highest-leverage, most-skipped fixes.
Step 3: Write answer-shaped content
Models quote sentences that cleanly answer a question. Marketing fluff ("we are passionate about quality") gives them nothing. A clear, factual answer under a question heading is a gift.
For each real question your customers ask, write the heading as the question and put a concise, factual answer directly beneath it. FAQs and short explainer articles (like this one) are ideal.
Step 4: Earn third-party citations
This is the hardest and most important step. AI models weight consensus: one business praising itself is weak, but several independent, trusted sources naming you is strong. This is the AI-era version of backlinks.
- Get listed in the directories your category uses (industry directories, local listings, review sites).
- Aim to be included in the "best [category] in [city]" roundups — these are exactly the pages AI tools pull from for recommendation queries.
- Earn genuine reviews; review signals are corroboration models read.
Step 5: Track and repeat
Run the questions your customers would ask through ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews on a regular schedule. Record where you are cited, where a competitor is cited instead, and watch the trend as you do the work.
GEO is a compounding loop, not a one-off. The businesses that win keep finding fresh questions and keep earning fresh citations.
Frequently asked
How quickly can I get cited?
For niche, low-competition questions, sometimes within weeks of fixing the foundations and publishing answer content. Competitive category recommendations take longer and depend heavily on third-party citations.
Can I pay to be in AI answers?
No — AI citations are earned, not bought. You influence them by being the clearest, best-described, most-corroborated answer. That is also why they are durable once you achieve them.
Does my website speed matter for AI citations?
Indirectly but yes. If crawlers cannot read your site easily (slow, JavaScript-walled, blocked), neither search engines nor the AI tools that depend on them can use your content.
Curious what's actually costing you customers?
AI visibility is one signal — but most businesses lose more in the gap between an enquiry and a booked, paid job. Start with a free Workflow Audit and we'll show you exactly where that's happening.
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