How to show up in ChatGPT and Google AI answers: a practical guide for business owners
People now ask ChatGPT and Google and get a ready answer that names companies. How these assistants find websites, and what you can do so your name is in the answer — without tricks.
In 2025 Google expanded AI Overviews to more than 200 countries and territories, including in Arabic, and AI Mode followed in Arabic as well. At the same time, more people ask ChatGPT or Perplexity things like “who builds good websites for clinics in Cairo?”. The answer is assembled from pages that already exist on the web — so the real question is whether yours is one of them.
Where do these assistants get their information?
- Google uses the same pages as its regular search index. A page has to be indexed and eligible to appear with a snippet.
- OpenAI runs OAI-SearchBot to surface pages in ChatGPT search, GPTBot for model training, and ChatGPT-User when a person asks ChatGPT to open a specific page.
- Perplexity, Claude and others run crawlers with published names too.
If your robots.txt or your host’s security settings block these crawlers, your site will not appear in their answers however good the content is. Check those settings with whoever manages your site.
What Google actually says
Google’s official documentation says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode: you do not need special AI files or special structured data. The same SEO fundamentals decide it — an indexed page, content written as real text rather than inside images, sensible internal links and a good page experience.
Seven things that raise the chance you get mentioned
- One page per service with a clear title. “Dental clinic website design in Cairo” says far more than “Our services”.
- Open every page with a direct two-line answer: what you do, for whom, and where.
- Your business name, address and phone written the same way on your site, Google Maps and social profiles.
- A complete Google Business Profile with photos, opening hours and genuine reviews.
- Articles that answer your customers’ real questions with examples and numbers, not generic copy that fits any company.
- Structured data that tells search engines who the business is and what it offers — as long as it matches the visible text on the page.
- Other websites mentioning you: a business directory, a news item, a guest article or a client writing about working with you.
What about llms.txt?
llms.txt is a newer proposal for a single text file that summarises a site for AI models. Some tools read it, but Google has said it does not need it. Adding one costs minutes and does no harm; just do not treat it as the secret to appearing. Clear content and a real reputation are what count.
How to tell whether you are showing up
- Ask ChatGPT and Google the questions your customers ask, in Arabic and English, and note who appears each month.
- Watch Google Search Console: which pages appear, which queries bring visits, and the click-through rate.
- In your analytics, look for visits arriving from chatgpt.com and perplexity.ai.
The bottom line
There is no magic switch for AI answers. What works is what always worked with Google, only more so: clear pages that answer a specific question, consistent information about your business everywhere, and a genuine reputation online.
Quick questions
Can I pay to appear in ChatGPT’s answers?
There is no official way to pay for a mention inside the answer itself. Anyone promising that is most likely selling an illusion.
Should I block AI crawlers to protect my content?
That is a business decision. You can allow search crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot while blocking training crawlers such as GPTBot, because each has its own name in robots.txt.
Does an Arabic site show up, or is English better?
Both. Google supports AI Overviews in Arabic, so a genuine Arabic version serves an Egyptian audience best, with English for clients abroad.
Sources
Have a question this did not answer?
Send it over. We answer properly, whether or not you end up working with us.
