Nexus Labs.
← All articles

How to get your business found in ChatGPT and Perplexity

·2 min read·Jean-Pierre Bonnet
How to get your business found in ChatGPT and Perplexity

More and more "who can I hire for this near me?" questions never reach Google's results page. People ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's own AI summary, read the answer, and act on it. If your business isn't in that answer, those customers never see you — no matter how well you rank in normal search.

Getting included in AI answers even has a name: GEO — Generative Engine Optimization. It's the AI-era cousin of SEO, and the good news is the basics are concrete and learnable.

The whole game in one line

AI assistants recommend the business that is the clearest, most specific, best-corroborated answer to a question. Your job is to be that business.

How AI assistants decide who to mention

These tools don't have opinions. They build answers from content they can read and trust. In practice they favour businesses that are:

What makes a business 'citable'
Clearly described
What you do, who you serve, and where — in plain language, without marketing fog.
Machine-readable
Behind-the-scenes labels (called structured data) that tell a model exactly what kind of business you are.
Corroborated
Said consistently across your site, your Google profile and other pages — so the model sees agreement, not one unverifiable claim.
Specific
"Custom software and AI for SMBs in the Benelux, in Alkmaar" beats "innovative digital solutions" every time.

Practical steps that actually move the needle

No tricks required. You're simply making your business the easiest, most trustworthy thing to recommend.

1
Answer real questions, directly
If people ask "what does a website cost?", have a page that genuinely answers it. Models cite content that resolves the question.
2
Add structured data
The invisible labels that tell AI exactly who you are, what you offer, and where you're based.
3
Publish an llms.txt
A short, plain summary of your business at your website's root, written for AI assistants to read.
4
Be consistent everywhere
Same name, address and description on your site, your Google Business Profile and any listings.
5
Earn real mentions
Genuine listings and references from other sites tell a model that more than just you vouch for you.

The honest caveat

No one can promise a ranking

GEO is new and the AI engines change fast. Nobody can guarantee a specific phrasing in a specific assistant on a specific day. What you can do is become the most legible, specific, well-backed answer in your niche.

The upside: that same work pays off across Google, AI summaries and assistants at once. We build it into our own site and our clients'. Want your business to show up when someone asks an AI for a recommendation? See what we do, or book a free call and we'll look at where you stand today.

Related articles

How to deploy your Lovable or Bolt app to production

You built an app with Lovable, Bolt or Replit. Here's what it actually takes to get it live, safe and stable for real customers — in plain language.

AI agents for Dutch SMBs: what they actually do

Beyond the hype: down-to-earth ways small and mid-sized Benelux businesses are using AI agents today — and how to start safely. In plain language.

What a business website really costs in 2026

Quotes range from €500 to €50,000 for what sounds like the same thing. Here's what actually drives the price — and how to avoid paying for the wrong things.

GDPR CompliantServing BeneluxEst. 2026