How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI Mode

Short answer: there is no form to fill and no way to pay for a mention. AI tools like Google's AI Overviews, AI Mode and ChatGPT search build their answers from pages they can crawl and trust. So the work is: let their crawlers in, explain clearly on your website what you do and where, keep your Google Business Profile complete, and build real reviews and mentions. Google itself says no special schema or "AI files" are needed.

For years, the question business owners asked was "how do I rank on Google?" Now a new one is coming up: "When someone asks ChatGPT for the best clinic in Palakkad, or a good interior designer in Kochi, why does it name my competitor and not me?"

It's a fair worry. Google's AI Mode is now available in India in English, Hindi and Malayalam (Malayalam and six other Indian languages were added in October 2025, according to Google's India blog). More people are asking full questions instead of typing two keywords. If the answer they get doesn't include you, you never get the call.

The good news: most of what gets you into AI answers is the same groundwork that good local SEO always needed. Here's what actually matters, based on what Google and OpenAI have published, not on guesses.

First, how do AI answers pick businesses?

AI search tools don't invent a list of businesses from memory. When someone asks a question, they search the web (and, for Google, things like Maps and Business Profiles), read the pages they find, and write a summary with links.

Google calls part of this "query fan-out". One question like "which dental clinic in Thrissur is good for aligners?" can be split into several smaller searches in the background: dental clinics in Thrissur, aligner treatment, reviews, timings. Your business needs to show up well in those smaller searches to make it into the final answer.

That's why the basics still decide everything. If Google can't find, read and trust your page, its AI can't use it either.

What Google actually says (it's simpler than people claim)

Google has a page for site owners called "AI features and your website". A few lines from it are worth knowing, because they cut through a lot of hype:

• "There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary."
• To be shown as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to show a snippet in normal Google Search.
• You don't need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special schema markup to appear.

Google's recommended practices are the familiar ones: allow crawling, link your important pages internally, keep important content in text (not only inside images), make sure any structured data matches what's visible on the page, keep your Business Profile up to date, and use Search Console.

If someone sells you an "AI ranking package" built around a secret file or special code, ask them to show you where Google says it's needed.

Structured data and files like llms.txt aren't harmful, and this site uses both. But they are helpers, not a shortcut. A clear page with real information will always do more.

What OpenAI says about ChatGPT search

ChatGPT search uses its own crawler, called OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI's crawler documentation explains the difference between its bots:

• OAI-SearchBot is for search. If your site blocks it, your pages won't appear in ChatGPT search answers (they may still show as plain navigational links).
• GPTBot is used for training OpenAI's models. Blocking it does not remove you from ChatGPT search. Each setting is independent.
• After you change your robots.txt, it can take about 24 hours for ChatGPT search to reflect it.

So the first thing I check for any business worried about ChatGPT is boring but important: is the website accidentally blocking these crawlers? Some security plugins, hosting firewalls and "block AI bots" settings do this without the owner knowing.

The practical checklist for Kerala businesses

Here's the order I'd work in. None of it needs a big budget, but it does need consistency.

1. Check that the doors are open

• Open yourwebsite.com/robots.txt and make sure Googlebot and OAI-SearchBot aren't disallowed.
• Check your hosting or CDN settings (Cloudflare, for example, has bot-blocking options) for anything that blocks AI crawlers.
• Verify your site in Google Search Console and use URL Inspection to confirm your main pages are indexed.

2. Say clearly, in text, what you do and where

AI tools read text. A homepage that only says "Welcome to excellence" with a big banner image tells them nothing. Every important page should answer plainly:

• What you offer (specific services, not just "solutions")
• Where you are and which areas you serve (Palakkad town, Ottapalam, Coimbatore side, and so on)
• Who it's for, timings, and how to contact you

Give each main service its own page. A clinic with one page that says "we treat everything" is much harder to recommend than one with a clear page for root canal, another for aligners and another for kids' dentistry.

3. Answer the questions people actually ask

Write down the questions your customers ask on the phone or WhatsApp every week. "How much does it cost?" "Is it painful?" "How many sittings?" "Do you have parking?" Answer them on your website in short, direct sentences. Put the answer first and the explanation after.

This is what people mean by AEO (answer engine optimisation). It's not a trick. It's just making your page the clearest answer to a real question. An FAQ section on each service page is a simple way to start.

4. Treat your Google Business Profile as your second homepage

For local searches, Google's AI pulls a lot from Maps and Business Profiles. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence, and that there's no way to pay for a better local ranking. What you can control:

• Verify the profile and pick the most accurate primary category
• Fill every field: services, hours, holiday hours, attributes, description
• Add real photos of your place, team and work (not stock images)
• Reply to every review, good and bad

5. Build real reviews and mentions

"Prominence" comes from how well known you are: review count and rating, and links and mentions from other websites. In Kerala, that might mean local news coverage, your professional association's member list, event pages, partner businesses linking to you, and a consistent listing on directories people here actually use.

Keep your business name, address and phone number exactly the same everywhere. When an AI tool sees three different phone numbers for one business, it has less reason to trust any of them.

6. Be a real person, not just a logo

For services where trust matters (doctors, consultants, lawyers, B2B firms), show who is behind the business. Name the doctor or founder, add a short bio with qualifications and experience, and link to their LinkedIn or YouTube. This is part of what people call GEO (generative engine optimisation): giving AI tools enough clear, consistent information about you to describe you correctly.

A note for clinics and healthcare brands

Healthcare pages are held to a higher standard, by search engines and by the rules. Doctors in India must also follow National Medical Commission (NMC) guidance on professional conduct and advertising. So when you write those FAQ answers:

• Keep them factual and educational
• Don't promise results or use words like "guaranteed" or "100% success"
• Have the doctor review medical content and show their name on it

If you're also deciding where to spend on ads, I wrote a separate guide on Meta Ads vs Google Ads for clinics in Kerala.

What doesn't work (or isn't worth paying for)

• Stuffing pages with "best in Kerala" phrases. AI tools summarise meaning. Repeating keywords makes the page worse to read and does nothing for trust.
• Hundreds of thin AI-written pages. One page per town with the same text and the name swapped is easy for search engines to spot.
• Fake reviews. They break Google's policies and can get reviews removed or the profile restricted.
• Guarantees. Nobody can guarantee you'll be named in ChatGPT or AI Overviews. Answers change with every question and every user.

How do you know if it's working?

Measurement is still messy. Google counts clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode inside the normal Search Console Performance report (under the "Web" search type), but doesn't show them separately. For ChatGPT, look for chatgpt.com in your Google Analytics referral traffic.

The simplest and most honest method: ask every new enquiry "how did you find us?" and write it down. If people start saying "ChatGPT suggested you" or "I saw you on Google's AI answer", you know it's working.

You can also test it yourself once a month. Ask ChatGPT and Google AI Mode the questions your customers would ask, in English and Malayalam, and note who gets mentioned. Just remember answers vary, so look for a pattern over time, not one result.

So, where should you start?

This week, check your robots.txt and Search Console. This month, fix your Google Business Profile and rewrite your main service pages so they answer real questions in plain text. After that, it's steady work: reviews, mentions and useful content, month after month. It's the same thing that has always built a good local reputation. AI just reads it faster.

If you'd like someone to look at your website and Business Profile and tell you what to fix first, that's exactly what my 1–2 hour consultation is for.

FAQ

Sources

• Google Search Central, AI features and your website
• OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers
• Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
• Google India Blog, New languages in AI Mode & Search Live debuts (October 2025)