What is ChatGPT SEO?
ChatGPT SEO (also called LLM SEO or ChatGPT search optimisation) is the practice of optimising your business to appear in the answers that ChatGPT generates when users ask it questions. When a buyer asks ChatGPT "who is the best web design agency in North London" or "which AI SEO company is best for small businesses," ChatGPT produces a response that names specific businesses. ChatGPT SEO is the discipline of making your business one of the names it mentions.
This matters because buyers who ask ChatGPT for a recommendation are further down the funnel than someone Googling the same query. They have already decided to hire; they are asking for who. The business named at this moment earns the enquiry at a significantly higher conversion rate than a cold organic click.
How ChatGPT decides which businesses to recommend
ChatGPT (when used in search mode, the mode that references current web content rather than training data alone) pulls from Bing's index via the OAI-SearchBot crawler. Understanding this mechanism is the foundation of ChatGPT SEO:
- Bing indexation is mandatory - ChatGPT's web-browsing capability pulls from Bing, not Google. A business that appears on page one of Google but is not properly indexed in Bing is invisible to ChatGPT search. This is the most common reason businesses with strong Google SEO still do not appear in ChatGPT answers.
- OAI-SearchBot must not be blocked - OpenAI's crawler (OAI-SearchBot) must be permitted in your robots.txt and not blocked by your CDN or WAF. Many sites on Cloudflare or similar CDNs block AI crawlers by default with "Block AI Bots" settings that include OAI-SearchBot.
- Topical authority signals trust - ChatGPT weights content from sites with deep topical coverage. A site with 20 interconnected pages about AI SEO is more likely to be cited than a site with one optimised landing page.
- Corroboration across sources - ChatGPT cross-references information it finds on your site against other sources - GBP, LinkedIn, directories, review sites. Inconsistency between these sources reduces citation confidence.
- Factual, structured content is extracted first - ChatGPT's extraction prefers content with clear direct answers, specific facts (prices, dates, credentials) and structured formatting over narrative prose.
Step-by-step: how to rank on ChatGPT
Step 1: Verify Bing indexation
Go to Bing Webmaster Tools, submit your sitemap, and verify that your key pages appear in Bing's index. Use the URL Inspector tool to check specific pages. If pages are not indexed, submit them directly and use IndexNow to trigger fast crawling. This alone can unlock ChatGPT visibility within two to four weeks.
Step 2: Allow OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot
In your robots.txt, ensure OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot are not blocked. If you use Cloudflare, check that "Block AI Bots" is turned off, or create specific allow rules for OpenAI's and Perplexity's published IP ranges. This is the most common ChatGPT SEO blocker that goes unfixed.
Step 3: Build the corroboration stack
Publish your business name, address, services and credentials consistently across: Google Business Profile, Bing Places, LinkedIn, Clutch (or equivalent sector directory), and your website's Organization schema. LLMs treat multi-source corroboration as a trust signal. Your business name should be identical everywhere - no variations.
Step 4: Publish topical authority content
Build a cluster of content covering your topic thoroughly. For an AI SEO agency, that means: what is AI SEO, how GEO works, how AEO works, LLM SEO explained, how to rank on ChatGPT, how to rank on Perplexity, ChatGPT SEO costs, a best-of roundup including you, and case studies. Each piece reinforces the others and collectively builds the topical authority signal that LLMs recognise as expertise.
Step 5: Format content for extraction
Every page targeting a question should lead with a direct answer in the first 60-130 words. Use question-style H2s, numbered lists and a FAQ section at the bottom of key pages. FAQPage JSON-LD schema tells ChatGPT exactly where your question-answer pairs are. This is the difference between content that gets cited verbatim and content that gets paraphrased without attribution.
Step 6: Add Person schema for your founder
ChatGPT citations frequently name the author or founder of a business as part of the recommendation. A Person schema on your About page and author schema on posts, linking to LinkedIn and other verified credentials, makes the attribution more specific and thus more trustworthy.
Step 7: Monitor and iterate
Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude specific queries about your service and location every month. Track which responses mention you, which competitors they name instead and what content those competitors have that you do not. Close the gaps systematically.
ChatGPT SEO vs Google SEO: key differences
| Factor | Google SEO | ChatGPT SEO |
|---|---|---|
| Primary index | Bing | |
| Crawler to allow | Googlebot | OAI-SearchBot + Bingbot |
| Key ranking signal | Backlinks + PageRank | Topical authority + entity corroboration |
| Content format | Keyword usage + length | Atomic facts + answer-first + clear structure |
| Result type | Blue link in SERP | Named citation in AI answer |
| User intent | Research and transactional | Decision-ready (higher conversion) |
How fast can you rank on ChatGPT?
Technical fixes (Bing indexation, OAI-SearchBot access) can be completed in days and typically trigger first indexation within one to two weeks. Corroboration stack alignment takes two to four weeks. First ChatGPT citations - appearing in response to buyer-intent queries - typically emerge six to twelve weeks after all foundations are in place. The timeline is faster than classic Google SEO on competitive terms because ChatGPT does not weight domain authority the way Google does, making new and smaller sites more competitive.
Common ChatGPT SEO mistakes
- Only focusing on Google - Google SEO does not automatically produce ChatGPT citations. Bing indexation is a separate, required step.
- Blocking AI crawlers - Cloudflare's default "Block AI Bots" setting blocks OAI-SearchBot. This is not obvious and is responsible for a large number of businesses that wonder why they never appear in ChatGPT.
- Publishing one optimised page - A single well-optimised service page is not enough to build topical authority. LLMs need to see a cluster of content on your topic.
- Ignoring the corroboration stack - Brand facts on your website alone do not satisfy LLM trust requirements. The same facts need to appear independently on GBP, LinkedIn and directories.
- No schema markup - Unstructured content is harder to extract and attribute. FAQPage, Organization and Service schema significantly improve citation probability.
Frequently asked questions about ChatGPT SEO
Does ChatGPT use Google to decide who to recommend?
No. ChatGPT's search function uses Bing's index (via OAI-SearchBot), not Google's. Google rankings do not directly determine ChatGPT citations. This is why some businesses with strong Google SEO are invisible on ChatGPT while competitors with less Google presence appear in ChatGPT answers if they have invested in Bing indexation and AI-citation content.
Is ChatGPT SEO worth it for a small UK business?
Yes, particularly for local and professional service businesses. The buyers asking ChatGPT for local recommendations are typically decision-ready - they want to hire, not research. Being named in those responses at a cost of £999/mo produces a strong ROI if one additional client per month is worth over £1,000 to the business.
Can I do ChatGPT SEO myself?
The technical foundations (Bing indexation, OAI-SearchBot access, basic schema) can be set up without an agency. The ongoing content production, corroboration management and citation monitoring require consistent time investment that most business owners cannot sustain alongside running their business. An AI SEO agency manages the programme so you focus on delivery.
Check if ChatGPT currently cites your business with a free AI visibility audit, or see our LLM SEO service for the full ChatGPT citation programme.
