How to get your small business found in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews
By Ben Thomas, founder of Senderra · 6 October 2026
Quick answer
You can't buy a place in an AI assistant's answer. Assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and Google's AI Overviews recommend businesses they can find, read and trust. To give yourself the best chance: let AI crawlers in, serve your pages as real HTML, describe your business with structured data, answer real customer questions on your pages, keep your business details identical everywhere, earn mentions and reviews on other websites, and check your progress with free tools.
1. Let AI crawlers in
Check your robots.txt file (yourdomain.co.uk/robots.txt). If it blocks crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT search), PerplexityBot or Bingbot (Bing's index feeds Microsoft Copilot), those assistants can't read your site. Google's AI Overviews use Google's normal search crawler, Googlebot. Also check that your hosting or firewall isn't blocking these crawlers.
2. Serve your pages as real HTML
Many modern websites build the page in the visitor's browser with JavaScript. Some AI crawlers don't run JavaScript, so they see an empty page. Open your page, choose View Source, and search for a sentence from your page. If you can't find it, crawlers that don't run JavaScript can't either.
3. Describe your business with structured data
Structured data (schema.org) is a block of code that tells machines who you are: your legal name, address, services, prices and FAQs. Use Organization or LocalBusiness for your business, Service for what you sell and FAQPage for your questions and answers. Only mark up things that are visible on the page, and never add reviews or ratings you don't have.
4. Answer real questions on your pages
Write down the questions customers ask before they buy, such as what it costs, how long it takes, whether you cover their area and what makes you different. Give each a short, direct answer near the top of the right page, then the detail. Create one page per service, and one per place you genuinely serve.
5. Keep your business details identical everywhere
Use the same business name, address, phone number and description on your website, your Google Business Profile, Bing Places, LinkedIn, Companies House and directories. Assistants cross-check sources, and inconsistent details make you harder to trust.
6. Earn mentions and reviews on other websites
AI assistants lean heavily on what other websites say about you: reviews, directories, trade bodies, local press and partner websites. Ask happy customers for reviews, list your business in relevant directories, and get mentioned by the businesses you work with.
7. Add an llms.txt file and check your progress
An llms.txt file is a short plain-text summary of your business and your key pages for AI tools. It's a proposed standard, and not every assistant uses it, but it's quick to add. Then check your progress with free tools:
- Google Search Console: which searches show your pages, and how often
- Bing Webmaster Tools: Bing's index feeds Microsoft Copilot, and its AI Performance report (in preview) shows how often your pages are cited in AI answers
- Schema Markup Validator: checks your structured data
- Once a month, ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot and Google the questions your customers ask, and note who gets recommended and which websites are cited
A worked example: Send It Direct
We built senditdirect.co.uk, the website of our sister company, a Bristol same-day courier, using these steps: every page served as ready-made HTML, structured data describing the business, its services and its FAQs, an llms.txt file, a robots.txt that welcomes AI crawlers, and 76 pages that each answer specific customer questions. Its monthly Google impressions grew from about 2,000 in October 2025 to more than 40,000 in July and August 2026, according to Google Search Console.
Want this done for you?
Every Senderra website is built for AI search from day one. See how our AI-built websites work, or book a free 30-minute consultation.
AI search FAQs
Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?
No. You can't buy a place in an AI assistant's own answer. You earn it by making your business easy to find, read and trust, on your own website and on other websites.
What is llms.txt and do I need one?
llms.txt is a plain-text file at the root of your website that summarises your business and links to your key pages for AI tools. It's a proposed standard, and not every assistant reads it, but it takes minutes to add and does no harm.
Does structured data help with AI search?
It helps machines understand who you are, what you offer and where, which makes your business easier to describe accurately. It works best alongside clear page content that says the same thing.
Should I block AI crawlers from my website?
If you want AI assistants to recommend your business, no. Blocking crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot or PerplexityBot stops those assistants from reading your site.
How long does it take to show up in AI answers?
There's no fixed timescale, and nobody can guarantee it. It depends on how competitive your market is, how clear your website is, and what other websites say about you.