How AI search decides which business to recommend
When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini "who should I hire?", the assistant doesn't roll dice — it reads what's findable about you. Here are the eight things it actually reads, and what to do about each one. No shortcuts exist; no one can promise you a recommendation. But every one of these is fixable by you, for free.
Your facts, consistent everywhereYour name, address, phone, and hours should match across your site, your Google Business Profile, and every directory. Assistants cross-check multiple sources; conflicting hours or an old phone number reads as unreliable. One afternoon of fixing listings beats any trick.
A homepage that says what you do in plain words"Best roof repair in Allentown — licensed, free estimates" beats a poetic tagline. The assistant has to match your page to a customer's plain-language question. If your homepage never states your service and your town, you're invisible to the match.
One page per service you actually sellA dedicated page for "emergency roof repair" outranks a generic "Services" list for that query, every time. Each page should answer: what it is, who it's for, what it costs (or how pricing works), and how to book.
Reviews the assistant can quoteRecent, specific reviews — "fixed our leak same day, fair price" — are the trust signal machines lean on when they can't visit your shop. Ask happy customers; a steady trickle of real reviews beats a burst of suspicious ones.
FAQ-style answers on your own siteAssistants lift phrasing from pages that answer questions directly: "Do you offer free estimates? Yes — here's how." A short FAQ page on the questions customers actually ask is one of the cheapest visibility wins there is.
Structured data so machines read you rightSchema.org markup (LocalBusiness, with your name, hours, phone, services) hands your facts to crawlers in a format they can't misread. It's free, it's standard, and most small-business sites skip it.
Other sites citing youDirectories, local press, supplier "where to buy" lists, chamber membership pages. The citation graph is how assistants discover businesses they haven't been asked about before. Get listed anywhere legitimate that will have you.
Signs of lifeRecent reviews, updated hours, a post from this year. A page last touched in 2019 reads like a closed business to a machine. You don't need a blog — just don't look abandoned.
Quick answers
Can I pay to be recommended by an AI assistant?
No — and anyone selling you that is selling fiction. Assistants recommend based on what they can find and understand about your business. The work is making that information easy to find and trust.
How long do these fixes take to show up?
Weeks to months, and on nobody's schedule but the assistants'. Site and directory changes get picked up when each system's next crawl reaches them. Do the work, then re-run the self-test monthly and watch the trend, not any single day.
My business is brand new. Where do I start?
The free 10-minute self-test first — it shows your current baseline. Then the free checklist gives you twelve concrete things to fix, and the Google Business Profile guide fixes the single most-read source.
How is this different from the $99 audit?
This page explains the mechanics so you can do the work yourself. The $99 AI Visibility Audit runs 12 checks across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, writes up the findings in plain English, and delivers a prioritized fix list within 48 hours.
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12 checks across all three AI assistants — $99
The $99 AI Visibility Audit tests how your business actually appears to ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini: 12 checks, findings written up in plain English, with a prioritized fix list delivered within 48 hours.
Get the AI Visibility Audit — $99 →
Want the full website audit instead? The $149 Hector SEO audit →
Related free guides
Does AI search know your business? — the free 10-minute self-test across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.
Does ChatGPT read your Google Business Profile? — 6 fixes for the single most-read source.
How AI search picks your plumber — 7 trade-specific visibility fixes for plumbers, HVAC, roofers, and landscapers.
Test where you stand first
Before you fix anything, find out where you are: the free 10-minute self-test asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini whether they know your business — no email required.