“Who is the best plumber in Nantes?”, “A quiet restaurant for a business dinner in Lyon?”: your prospects now ask these questions to ChatGPT, Gemini or other assistants too. And unlike a Google results page, the AI does not offer ten links: it mentions a few names. Being among them is becoming a commercial issue.
This work has a name: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). Here is what you need to know, without false promises.
How an AI chooses whom to recommend
A generative AI does not “know” your business the way a loyal customer does. To answer, it relies on what it has learned and, more and more, on real-time online searches. It favours information that is:
- consistent from one source to another (name, address, business, specialties);
- explicit: a website that clearly says what you do, for whom and where;
- corroborated by third-party sources: customer reviews, directories, guides, local articles;
- recent: visible, up-to-date activity inspires more trust.
The consequence: GEO does not replace classic SEO, it extends it. Many signals that matter for Google also matter for AIs.
The actions that increase your chances
1. Say clearly what you do, on your website
One page per service or specialty, written simply: what you offer, for whom, in which area, at what price or under what conditions. AIs readily pick up clear wording; they ignore vague pages.
2. Take care of your Google Business Profile
A precise category, a complete description, opening hours, services, recent photos, answers to questions: your profile is one of the most consulted sources for local searches.
3. Get more reviews… and richer ones
Numerous, recent and detailed reviews give AIs material to work with. A review mentioning “warm welcome, ideal for families” associates you with those qualities. Hence the value of getting more of them and replying to them.
4. Be present where AIs look
For each type of business, certain sources keep coming up in the answers: professional directories, local guides, specialized review platforms, tourist office websites… Check that you are listed there, with identical information everywhere.
5. Structure your information
Structured data markup (schema.org) helps engines read your opening hours, address and services. It is not a magic wand, but it is a clean foundation.
What not to believe
- “I guarantee you first place on ChatGPT”: nobody controls an AI’s answer, which varies from one session to another.
- “An llms.txt file is enough”: at best a technical detail, not a strategy.
- “A single AI visibility score”: without the details of the questions asked, the answers and the sources, a score does not tell you what to do.
The central role of your Google profile
AI assistants rely heavily on public, structured sources to recommend a local business. Your Google Business Profile is one of them: categories, description, services, opening hours, reviews and replies give a precise picture of your business. A complete, up-to-date profile with plenty of recent reviews increases your chances of being mentioned. Our guide to optimizing your Google profile covers each section, and profile management in Replik lets you keep it up to date in one place.
Reviews: what AIs read about you
When someone asks “what is the best Italian restaurant near the station?”, the AI does not just look at a rating: it rephrases what customers say. If your reviews talk about “fresh pasta”, “attentive service” or “a quiet terrace”, these elements can come up in the answer. Hence the value of regularly receiving detailed reviews, and replying with answers that highlight your strengths. See also our guide to getting more Google reviews.
A concrete example
A physiotherapy practice notices that ChatGPT recommends two colleagues when asked for a physiotherapist specializing in sports in its town, but never them. Looking more closely, they realize that their Google profile does not mention sports rehabilitation, that their website only refers to it at the bottom of a page, and that no specialized directory lists them. Within three months, they add the service to their profile, publish a dedicated page on their website, ask their athlete patients for reviews and sign up to two reference directories. The next measurement now shows them mentioned in some of the answers.
How long before seeing results?
Allow several weeks to several months. AIs do not update their sources in real time, and some rely on older data than others. That is why measurement must be repeated over time, on a stable panel of questions, to tell real progress from a passing variation.
Frequently asked questions
Can you pay to appear in ChatGPT? No: there is no paid placement in assistants’ answers. Your presence depends on the quality and consistency of the public information about your business.
Does my website need to be rebuilt? Not necessarily. Most of the time, it is about clarifying what you do and where, adding pages about your main services, and keeping consistent information everywhere (website, Google profile, directories).
Do reviews really matter? Yes: they provide concrete details about your business, and their volume strengthens the trust of the sources AIs consult.
Measure before you act
The hardest part is not acting, it is knowing where to act. Whom do AIs recommend instead of you? Which sources do they rely on? For which questions are you missing?
That is what Replik’s AI visibility measures: your prospects’ real questions, asked several times to several AIs, cross-checked with Google and Google Maps, and turned into an action plan. To see what it looks like, check out our sample report and our methodology.