How does a local business get recommended by ChatGPT and AI search?

How people ask AI for a local business

Nobody types "plumber Lisbon" into a chat. They write the whole situation: "Who can fix a leaking boiler in Benfica this week, and who has good reviews?" or "Quiet restaurant near Príncipe Real for a work dinner, around €40 a head."

That changes what the assistant needs from you. It has to match your business to a service, a place, a time and a level of trust, all at once. If your website says "Welcome to our family business" and nothing else, there's nothing to match. Shoppers do the same with products, as we explained in how shoppers use ChatGPT to find products.

The shift is fast. BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey found AI has become the third most used source of local business recommendations, behind only Google and Facebook, and ahead of Yelp and TripAdvisor. Use is highest among 30 to 44-year-olds: 64% of them had asked an AI tool for a business recommendation in the past year, against 24% of people over 60.

The survey covers US consumers only, and it records what people say they do. It's a strong signal of direction, not a count of how many customers reach you through AI.

Where AI assistants get local business information

Each assistant builds its answer from different sources. This is what the companies themselves say:

Three details from OpenAI's help page on searching the web with ChatGPT are worth knowing:

1. ChatGPT rewrites the question. It turns the user's request into one or more targeted search queries. If memory is on, it can add saved preferences, so "restaurants I might like" can become "good vegan restaurants San Francisco".
2. Location is approximate unless the user shares more. ChatGPT uses general location from the IP address. Precise device location is optional and off by default.
3. Websites must let the search bot in. OpenAI says that to be eligible, a site must allow OAI-SearchBot to crawl it, and that placement is not guaranteed.

For Google, the rule is simpler. Its guide to AI features and your website says there are no extra requirements for AI Overviews or AI Mode: a page needs to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, like any search result.

The 8-step playbook for local businesses

1. Ask the assistants what they already say about you

Open ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and any other assistant your customers use. Ask the questions your customers ask, with your town or neighbourhood in them: "best physiotherapist in Braga for sports injuries", "bakery open on Sunday near Campo de Ourique". Note who gets named, what's said about you and whether any detail is wrong: old hours, a closed branch, the wrong phone number.

Repeat this every month with the same list of questions, so you can see if anything changes.

2. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile

Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results. In its tips to improve your local ranking, it asks for:

• your full address, if customers can visit;
• opening hours, including special hours for holidays;
• the right business category;
• attributes such as parking or Wi-Fi;
• photos and videos, plus in-store products if you're a retailer in an eligible country.

Verify the profile too. Google says verification makes a business more likely to show up in search results.

3. Claim your Bing Places listing

OpenAI lists Microsoft among the search providers behind ChatGPT search. Microsoft says that to add or change your business information in Bing Maps results, you claim or update your listing in Bing Places for Business. It's one more place where your hours, address and phone number need to be right.

4. Keep your details identical everywhere

AI tools combine information from many sources. When your website says you close at 19:00, Google says 18:00 and a directory still lists an old address, the assistant has to guess, or skips you. Make one master record (name, address, phone, website, hours, services) and use it on every listing, booking site and social profile.

If you run a restaurant, check your OpenTable, Resy or Yelp profile as well. OpenAI says ChatGPT may show reservation availability from these providers, depending on the restaurant and country.

5. Make your website answer the questions in plain text

Your site is where an assistant confirms what you do. Make sure each important page says, in text rather than only in images:

• what you offer, using the words customers use ("emergency boiler repair", not just "heating solutions");
• where you work: your address, or the towns and neighbourhoods you cover;
• when you're open or available, and how fast you respond;
• how much, at least as a price range or a starting price;
• proof: years in business, qualifications, and links to your review profiles.

A page per main service, rather than one long page listing everything, gives each service its own chance to match a specific question. For the wider website checklist, see how to get your website cited by ChatGPT.

6. Add LocalBusiness structured data, as hygiene

Google's LocalBusiness structured data guide requires only two properties, name and address, and recommends others such as telephone, url, openingHoursSpecification, geo and priceRange. It also asks you to use the most specific type available, such as Restaurant or Plumber.

Keep expectations realistic. Google says no special schema.org markup is needed to appear in its AI features, and that structured data should match the visible text on the page. Schema helps machines read your details correctly. It won't get you recommended on its own.

7. Earn reviews on more than one platform

Reviews do two jobs. Google lists the number of reviews and positive ratings as part of prominence. And when someone gets an AI recommendation, they check: BrightLocal found 88% of AI users fact-check the reviews or sources an AI tool cites.

BrightLocal's CEO, Myles Anderson, argues that tools like ChatGPT "can't see inside Google's walled garden of reviews", and recommends a "Reviews Everywhere" strategy. Whether or not that holds for every tool, the practical advice is sound: ask happy customers to leave reviews where people in your sector actually look (Google, plus Facebook, TripAdvisor, Yelp or a trade directory), and reply to them. We covered the same pattern for online stores in Do shoppers buy what AI recommends?.

8. Don't block the bots that read your website

Check your robots.txt. OpenAI's crawler documentation says sites that block OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, apart from plain navigational links. Google's AI features need Googlebot to crawl and index your pages. You can still block AI training crawlers such as GPTBot without losing search visibility; our guide on allowing AI search bots but blocking AI training shows the exact lines.

What you can't control

• Distance. Google names distance as one of its three local factors, and ChatGPT localises queries with the user's location. A customer across town may simply be shown someone closer.
• Payment. Google says there's no way to pay for a better local ranking, and OpenAI says ChatGPT search placement is not guaranteed.
• The wording of each answer. AI answers change with the question, the user's location and, in ChatGPT, saved memories.

What you can control is whether an assistant has accurate, consistent and trustworthy information about you when it looks. That's most of the job.

Next step

Want to know if AI assistants can actually read your website? Run the free Web2Agents scan. It checks your homepage across 6 AI-readiness areas, including whether AI search bots can reach your site, and emails you a score with what to fix first. If you want the files and fixes ready to install, the €19 AI-Ready Kit includes them, and the free generator creates a robots.txt and llms.txt in a minute.