Not everyone is still using Google. How do you get your business to show up in AI platforms like ChatGPT?
Search behaviour is changing. While many consumers still use traditional search engines like Google, many are turning to AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini to do their research for them. This shift means businesses should be thinking about the best ways to show up in AI results, and become that top recommendation from AI assistants.
Improving AI Visibility
If you’re wanting to improve your brand’s AI visibility, there are five key things that need to happen.
- AI must recognise your brand as a key player in the market.
- AI must have a good understanding of your business.
- AI must know what makes you different from competitors.
- AI must view your brand as favourably as possible.
- AI must recommend your brand as often as possible.
Fortunately, there are a number of practical ways you can influence each of these areas. By optimising your website content and online presence, you can make it easier for AI platforms to find, understand, and trust information about your business. Let’s have a look at each of them.
1. Help AI to recognise your brand as a key player
AI will only recommend businesses it considers to be among the best possible options for the user. You need to put yourself in the conversation.
External Mentions
AI relies on signals from trusted sources. When your business is mentioned on reputable news outlets, industry websites, or online directories, it boosts credibility. A consistent presence across respected sites reinforces that you’re a legitimate and active player in your field.
Online Profiles
Your Google Business Profile, Bing Places listing, and social media pages are some of the first places AI looks for details. Keep these up to date at all times.
It’s also recommended to encourage customers to leave reviews on Google and other platforms. A high volume of positive reviews strengthens both your credibility and AI recognition.
Tip: Keep your contact details consistent everywhere (name, address, phone, email, website). Inconsistent details can confuse AI and reduce mentions.
2. Help AI to understand your business better
AI can’t answer questions about your business if it doesn’t know the answers! It’s up to you to make sure your website is as easy to understand as possible.
Answer Common Questions
AI thrives on clear answers. By posing common customer questions and answering them directly, you make it easy for AI to grab those self-contained Q&A snippets. The most obvious way to help with this is to create a comprehensive FAQs page. Include realistic customer questions, such as:
Which areas does [your brand] service?
We service all suburbs in [location], including…How long will it take for my order to arrive?
Orders are shipped within one business day, then can take up to…What is [your brand]’s cancellation policy?
We allow free cancellation at least 48 hours in advance…
You can also rewrite blog content in a clear question and answer format. This content style is exactly what AI systems look for to quote in responses. Think of common who, what, how, when, or why questions about your products or services.
Add Schema Code
Schema is a snippet of code that tells AI what type of content is on each page, and where to find important information. While it won’t change how your site looks, it helps AI interpret your content much more accurately.
This may sound complicated, but creating Schema code is actually very simple, as there are tools which will do it for you. Here’s how:
- Open up a Schema Markup Generator
- Select your page category. Here are four of the most common ones:
- LocalBusiness (for Home pages)
- FAQPage (for FAQ pages)
- Product (for product pages)
- HowTo (for step-by-step guides)
- Enter the required information into each box. For example, if you choose LocalBusiness, it will ask for things like your business name, contact details, and a link to your logo.
- Copy the code and paste it directly into the relevant page. It doesn’t matter where it goes, as long as it’s the <body> section. You may need a developer to do this for you.
Provide Clear Facts
Write in straightforward, factual language that is easy for AI to interpret. AI uses verifiable facts to support its answers, so being explicit helps your content get cited. Using clear formatting like headings and bullet points helps as well.
Tip: Avoid overly flowery or vague language. Instead, be direct and include specific data or stats such as “40+ years of experience” or “4.8 star rating from 200+ reviews”.
3. Help AI to differentiate you from your competitors
AI likes to give reasons for its recommendations, so it’s important to make your key selling points clear.
Highlight Unique Selling Points
Throughout your website, emphasise what makes your business stand out. This could be experience, quality, awards, eco-friendliness, customer service, or something else. By addressing the same topics often throughout your website, AI may start preferring your brand or mentioning it alongside competitors in answers.
If AI recommends a competitor based on a particular strength, counter that by showcasing your brand’s value or unique benefits in your website content. For example, you may want to increase mentions for things like “X years of experience” or “money-back guarantee”.
Tip: AI often recommends businesses for certain strengths, such as “XYZ is known for cheapest prices”. If little to no content mentions your key selling points, create pages/blogs focused on them. This may be a page about your awards, a collection of your best reviews, or an article about your team’s qualifications.
4. Help AI to view your brand more favourably
Is AI actually on your side? Does it view your brand as positive, negative, or somewhere in the middle? Here’s how you can encourage recommendations that are more favourable.
Showcase Success Stories
Publish case studies and testimonials that demonstrate real results. AI models pick up on factual, positive language which can influence the tone they use. For example: “Brand X has earned more than 50 five star reviews, with many mentioning their professionalism.”
Address Customer Concerns
Make sure your website’s tone is helpful and professional, addressing any common pain points with reassuring messaging. For instance, this could be a blog post that addresses and answers specific customer concerns confidently. You could also reassure customers that if something does go wrong, you will be committed to making it right. This content not only helps customers, but also trains AI that your brand is knowledgeable and reliable.
Encourage & Manage Reviews
As mentioned, reviews matter, not just for recognition but sentiment. Continue to gather 5 star reviews on Google and other review sites. High volume of positive reviews with detailed comments (“excellent service” or “great price”) will bolster the overall sentiment AI perceives.
Monitor reviews for negative feedback as well, and respond promptly and professionally to resolve issues. Even though a single bad review won’t tank your score, AI might pick up repeated complaints if they appear across sources. Showing that you care and are quick to address concerns can demonstrate reliability, both to customers and to AI.
Maintain Consistent Positive Messaging Everywhere
Ensure all your website content and other online profiles emphasise your strengths. Feel-good messaging might include eco-friendliness, community involvement, or awards. Consistency is key: if these positives are mentioned in multiple places across the internet, AI will have a unified, positive narrative to draw from. By controlling the narrative and highlighting genuine positives, you’ll keep sentiment high.
Tip: Remove or correct any old information that could be misleading. Things like outdated pages or expired offers can actually confuse the AI.
5. Help AI to recommend your brand more often.
It’s not just about quality, it’s also about quantity. Here are a couple of tips to increase the number of AI results you show up in.
Cover More Question Topics
The broader the range of questions your content answers, the more opportunities AI has to mention you. Brainstorm and research the full range of questions locals might ask about your services. This includes broad searches (“Who are the best accountants in Rotorua?”) and niche ones (“Are there any accountants who specialise in small tourism businesses?”).
Then, ensure you have content (pages, blogs, or FAQs) addressing each of those topics. The more questions your content can answer, the more frequently AI will mention you as part of the answer.
Strengthen Industry Authority
AI systems tend to prefer recommending businesses that demonstrate authority and depth of knowledge. That means you should work on positioning your brand as the go-to authority for your industry in your area. This can be done through thought leadership articles, local guides, or resources that showcase your expertise.
Check Your Progress
Once you’ve implemented the above steps, why not measure how you’re doing? Hubspot has a handy AI Grader tool that gives an overview of your AI visibility. You’ll receive a score for the below five metrics:
- Brand Recognition: How much AI engines recognise your brand.
- Presence Quality: How easy your website is for AI to understand.
- Market Score: How AI compares you against your competitors.
- Brand Sentiment: How favourably AI views your brand.
- Share of Voice: How often AI recommends you.
You’ll notice that each of these lines up with one of the five goals above.
Keen To Get Started?
Learning how to show up in AI search results isn’t about chasing trends, it’s about future-proofing your digital presence. By making your brand recognisable, understandable, and trustworthy, you’re not only improving your AI visibility, but also strengthening your online marketing overall.
At Dubzz Digital Marketing, we’ve been helping New Zealand businesses maximise their online presence since 2011. From website optimisation to content creation and strategy, we can help ensure your brand is showing up in AI search, and looking great when it does.
Ready to make your business more visible in AI search results? Get in touch with Dubzz today for tailored advice and support.
Sources
Revved.Digital: Make ChatGPT Recommend Your Business: Proven Steps for Better AI Search Results
ScrunchAI.com: Guide to Boosting Brand Presence in AI Search
InboundDesignPartners.com: Unlock AI Visibility with HubSpot’s AEO Grader
