The short answer: nobody can guarantee ChatGPT names a business in its answers. You can make sure its search crawler is allowed to read your site. Then publish the kind of proof it quoted for the businesses it did name.
Here's how to rank in ChatGPT, in the order I'd work:
Let ChatGPT's search crawler in.
Earn reviews from every customer.
Say what you do, for whom, and where.
Publish proof it can quote.
The guides I found on how to rank on ChatGPT are written for marketers and big websites. This one is for owners of local businesses. It starts with a test I ran on my own business, which ChatGPT didn't name.
What I asked ChatGPT, and what it said
On Oct 6, 2026, I asked ChatGPT four questions. I used a Temporary Chat with search on, so my past chats wouldn't shape the answers.
"What are the best SEO companies for contractors?"
"I need an SEO agency for my plumbing business. Who would you recommend?"
"Who's a good video production company in Dallas for a small business?"
"What do you know about Carpenter Growth?"
The first three are questions my own customers could ask. The fourth is my business by name.
Carpenter Growth wasn't named in any of the first three answers. I wasn't surprised. My Google profile had one review on Oct 5.
The contractors question gave three different lists in three runs. I'd asked it twice earlier that day in my normal account, where past chats may have shaped the answers. Only three companies appeared in all three lists. ChatGPT said its shortlist was "Based on current 2026 offerings and case studies".
The plumbing question named no place, but ChatGPT assumed DFW. It opened: "For a plumbing business in DFW, I'd lean toward a plumbing/home-services specialist rather than a general SEO agency." All five agencies it suggested came with a city: Fort Worth, Argyle or Dallas.
The Dallas video question came with a map. Each of its four picks had a star rating and a review count beside it. The map showed the same four as pins.
Asked about my business by name, ChatGPT's one meaningful result was my Clutch profile. It described me in that listing's own words. Then it said "the public footprint is still very small." It added that "there isn't yet a large search footprint with reviews, case studies, articles, directory profiles, etc."
That stung, because my site has case studies and articles. It didn't surface them for that question.
What the businesses it named had in common
This is my reading of four answers on one day. OpenAI's page on its crawlers doesn't explain how ChatGPT picks businesses, and I won't pretend to know.
Reviews. In the plumbing and Dallas video answers, 7 of the 9 businesses named came with a star rating and a review count.
A stated specialty. In the same two answers, it described several picks as specialists. One was "plumbing-specific". Another "specifically work[s] with small-to-midsize businesses".
A place. In the plumbing answer, every agency came with a city. The video answer put its picks on a map. The contractors list had no cities at all.
Case studies it could point to. In the plumbing answer, one agency was praised for "actual plumbing case studies".
Details it could repeat. It quoted published prices for one business in the plumbing answer and one in the video answer. Whether to publish yours is your call. I don't publish mine.
Listings elsewhere. For my own name, the one source it cited was a directory profile.
None of this is exotic. It's the same proof a customer would want before calling.
Step 1. Let ChatGPT's search crawler in
ChatGPT's search features use a crawler called OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI's own page is blunt about it:
"Sites that are opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though can still appear as navigational links."
OpenAI recommends "allowing OAI-SearchBot in your site's robots.txt file". After a change, it says it "can take ~24 hours" for its systems to adjust.
Training is a separate switch. OpenAI says a site can "allow OAI-SearchBot in order to appear in search results while disallowing GPTBot". GPTBot is its training crawler.
To check yours, open yoursite.com/robots.txt. Look for Disallow: / under User-agent: OAI-SearchBot, or under User-agent: *. Either one can shut it out. Mine allows every crawler, as of Oct 9.
If your host or firewall blocks bots, check that too. OpenAI also asks sites to allow "requests from our published IP ranges".
Step 2. Earn the reviews it quoted
In the plumbing and video answers, ratings and review counts came up for 7 of the 9 businesses named. I can't tell you where ChatGPT got them. The habit that builds them is simple, though.
Ask every customer for a review, not just the happy ones. Never offer anything in return. My home-service Google profile setup guide covers the profile side.
I'm starting from one review myself, so this is my first job too.
Step 3. Say what you do, for whom, and where
The plumbing answer kept describing specialists: "plumbing-specific", "Very home-services focused". My read is that a business that says plainly what it does gives ChatGPT words to repeat.
Give each service its own page, and name the city or area you serve. Contractor website structure shows the layout I recommend. If you're a plumber, SEO for plumbing businesses goes further.
Step 4. Publish proof it can quote
One plumbing agency was singled out for "actual plumbing case studies". My read: proof with real details gives ChatGPT something specific to say. A vague claim doesn't.
Write up real jobs, with the client's permission. My own case studies are where I'm doing this. For trades, project pages versus service pages explains how to give each job its own page.
Then keep your directory listings accurate. When ChatGPT looked me up, a listing was the one meaningful result it found, and it repeated it closely.
How to check your own business
You can run the same test yourself:
Open ChatGPT and start a Temporary Chat.
Make sure search is on.
Ask what your customer would ask, with your trade and your city.
Run it three times, because the answers change.
Write down who's named and what proof is mentioned.
Ask, "What do you know about [your business name]?"
Then run my free AI Visibility Check on your site. It checks your phone speed, structured data and page title. If you'd like, I'll also check by hand whether ChatGPT names you.
It doesn't read your robots.txt, so do Step 1 yourself.
What I won't promise
I can't promise ChatGPT will name you, and nobody honest can. Its answers changed from run to run on the same question. The one OpenAI page I found covers the crawler, not how businesses get picked. Everything else here is what I saw, and I've said so.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get mentioned in ChatGPT?
Start with the four steps: let the crawler in, earn reviews, say what you do and where, and publish proof. Then test it yourself, more than once.
Is SEO for ChatGPT different from Google SEO?
The one ChatGPT-specific rule I found is the OAI-SearchBot crawler. The rest of what I saw, like reviews, clear services and proof, is what local SEO already asks for.
The next step
Run the free AI Visibility Check on your site, then try the six-step test above. If you'd rather have the work done with you, see my local SEO services.
Sources
OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers, fetched and checked Oct 9, 2026
My own ChatGPT checks: Temporary Chat with search on, Oct 6, 2026. The contractors question also had two earlier runs in my own account