Oakpress Studio Get recommended by ChatGPT
Get your business recommended by ChatGPT.
When a customer asks ChatGPT or Google’s AI for the best one near them, it names a handful of businesses. I find out whether you’re one of them, then fix what’s leaving you out. Free check, fixes from £149.
· by Jack Thomas
Your customers are asking ChatGPT who to call
More people now skip the list of links and just ask: “Who’s a good roofer in Middlesbrough?” or “Best physio near Stockton?” ChatGPT, Google’s AI answers and Copilot reply with a short list of names, and most people ring one of them.
It’s a short list, and a hard one to get on. A 2026 study of 350,000 business locations found ChatGPT recommended only about 1.2% of them. If you’re not one of the names, you’re not in the running, and you’d never know it happened.
Why good businesses get left out
These tools don’t know your business. They read what the web says about it: your website, your Google profile and other listings, your reviews, and whether local guides, lists and news mention you. ChatGPT’s search leans heavily on Bing, which many owners have never set up.
So a business with brilliant reviews can still be invisible: no website, or one that hides what you do and where inside pictures; different opening hours or phone numbers on different sites; reviews in only one place; and no mentions anywhere else. When the AI can’t be sure, it plays safe and names someone else.
What I do about it
- Check where you stand first. The free Found Check includes what ChatGPT actually says when asked for your trade in your town, next to where you show up on Google and Google Maps.
- Fix the facts it reads. The £149 Search Fix sorts your Google Business Profile, Bing Places and your main listings so your name, address, phone and hours match everywhere, and gives you a written fix list for your website.
- Build a site the AI can read. Every website I build has your services, towns, prices and answers to real customer questions in plain text, with the schema Google and Bing read, and it’s open to the bots ChatGPT and Bing use.
- Keep checking every month. On Grow (£99 a month) I check what ChatGPT says when someone asks for your trade in your town, and show you in your monthly report next to your Google clicks and Maps views.
What I won’t promise
Nobody controls what an AI says, so anyone who says they can make it recommend you isn’t being straight with you. What I can do is remove the reasons it leaves you out and, on Grow, show you every month whether you’re being named. Listings and profile fixes can show up within weeks; being recommended regularly usually takes longer, because it depends on reviews and mentions building up across the web.
Based on Teesside? See SEO in Middlesbrough or local SEO across Teesside. Not showing on Google either? See why a business doesn’t show on Google.
Prices
Where you show up on Google, Google Maps and ChatGPT, plus the 3 things I’d fix first.
Your Google profile, Bing Places and listings fixed, plus a website fix list. If I can’t find 5 things holding you back, you get your money back.
Monthly Google posts, reviews, new answers and a report that includes what ChatGPT says about you.
Up to 3 pages, written so Google and AI tools can read what you do and where.
Websites are 50% to book your slot and 50% when the site goes live. Care (hosting, updates and 30 minutes of changes) is £40 a month.
Can you get my business recommended by ChatGPT?
Not with certainty, because nobody controls what an AI says. What I do is fix the things that make it leave you out: missing or mismatched listings, a website it can’t read, and no Bing presence. On Grow, I then check every month whether you’re being named, so you can see it changing.
How does ChatGPT decide which businesses to recommend?
It searches the web and pulls together what it finds: websites, Google and Bing listings, reviews and mentions in local guides, lists and news. ChatGPT’s search leans heavily on Bing’s results. Businesses with clear, matching facts in several places and plenty of good reviews tend to be the ones it names.
Do I need a website to be recommended by AI?
Not always, but it helps a lot. A website is the one place you control that says plainly what you do, where you work and what customers ask. Without one, the AI has to piece you together from listings and reviews, and many good businesses get left out because there isn’t enough to go on.
How long does it take to show up in ChatGPT?
Fixing your listings and profile can make a difference within weeks, and new pages can be picked up by Bing within days. Being recommended regularly usually takes longer, because it depends on reviews and mentions building up. On Grow, I show you every month where you stand, so you can see the progress.
How much does it cost?
The Found Check, which includes what ChatGPT says about your trade in your town, is free. The Search Fix is £149 one-off and fixes your Google profile, Bing Places and listings. Grow is £99 a month and includes what ChatGPT says about you in your monthly report. Websites start at £295.
Come in.
Send me your business name and town, and within one working day I’ll show you where you come up on Google, Google Maps and ChatGPT, plus the 3 fixes that would move you up. Free, with no obligation.