# How to get your brand mentioned by ChatGPT and other assistants

[Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/perplexity-chatgpt-search-brand)

There is no button that makes an assistant recommend you, and anyone selling one is guessing. There is a practical routine that makes it more likely, and it happens to be good marketing anyway.

## The short version

- No one can guarantee that ChatGPT or any other assistant will mention a brand, because answers depend on the question, the model and the sources it finds.
- Assistants recommend brands that are described clearly and consistently across many independent sources, not only on the brand's own site.
- Being named in reviews, comparison articles, directories and genuine community discussions makes a brand more likely to appear in AI answers.
- Testing the same set of customer questions in several assistants every month shows whether your visibility is changing.
- Hidden text, fake reviews and instructions aimed at AI models are risky and can damage how both search engines and people see a brand.

To **get your brand mentioned by ChatGPT**, Perplexity, Claude or Google's AI answers, you need to be the obvious answer in the sources they read. That means a site that says plainly what you do, and other people saying the same thing about you: reviews, comparison articles, directories, local listings and real conversations. Nobody can promise a mention, but you can make one far more likely, and measure whether it is working.

## Start by asking the assistants

Before changing anything, find out where you stand. Write down the questions a customer would actually type, not your brand name, and ask several assistants. Use a fresh chat each time so earlier conversations don't colour the answer. Note who gets named, what is said about them and which sources are linked.

| Question type | Example prompt | What to note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Category | Best bakery for sourdough in Bristol | Are you named? Who is named first? |
| Problem | Where can I order a birthday cake with two days' notice | Does the answer match what you offer? |
| Comparison | Harbour Bakery or Crumb and Co for wedding cakes | Are your facts right? What sources are cited? |
| Brand | What is Harbour Bakery known for | Is the description current and accurate? |
| Alternative | Alternatives to [a bigger competitor] | Do you appear as an option? |

Five kinds of question to test. Keep the exact wording in a sheet so you can repeat the test and compare.

## Make your own site easy to describe

Assistants that search the web often fetch your pages directly. If your homepage says "crafting moments that matter", an assistant has nothing to repeat. If it says "a neighbourhood bakery in Bristol making sourdough, pastries and celebration cakes", it does. Write one plain sentence about what you are and use it word for word on your site and every profile.

```text
[Name] is a [what you are] for [who it is for] in [where],
known for [one or two specific things].

Harbour Bakery is a neighbourhood bakery for Bristol's
harbourside, known for long-fermented sourdough and
celebration cakes made to order.
```

A one-line description template and a filled-in example. This is the sentence you want an assistant to repeat.

The technical side matters too: AI crawlers must be allowed to read your pages, the answer to each page's question should come first, and facts should be in the text rather than in images. [AI search optimization](https://gradiently.design/guide/llm-seo) covers robots.txt, llms.txt and page structure in detail.

## Be mentioned where assistants look

This is the part most brands skip. Assistants are more likely to repeat a claim when several independent sources agree on it. Your site saying you make the best cakes in Bristol is one voice. Three local guides, forty reviews and a thread where people recommend you is a pattern. The useful places differ by business, so start with the ones your customers already use.

| Business | Places worth being mentioned |
| --- | --- |
| Local shop or café | Google Business profile, local guides, review sites, neighbourhood forums |
| Software product | Comparison articles, software review sites, community threads, docs and changelog |
| Online store | Marketplace listings, gift guides, product reviews, creator videos |
| Freelancer or agency | Portfolio sites, client case studies, industry directories, podcast guest spots |
| Creator | Interviews, collaborations, newsletter mentions, a clear profile bio |

Earn mentions in places people already trust. Each one is also useful to the humans who read it.

1. **Ask happy customers for reviews** Make it easy: one link, one line asking what they liked. Specific reviews mention products and places, which is exactly what assistants pick up.
2. **Get into comparisons honestly** Write to authors of "best of" and comparison articles in your field with accurate facts and an offer to answer questions. Don't ask for a ranking.
3. **Publish your own comparison pages** A fair page explaining how you differ from well-known alternatives answers questions assistants are asked every day. Describe others accurately and without digs.
4. **Join real conversations** Answer questions in forums and communities where you have genuine expertise, and say who you are. Helpful answers get quoted; promotional ones get removed.
5. **Keep every listing current** Hours, address, products and descriptions should match everywhere. A stale directory entry can become the answer.

## What doesn't work, and what can backfire

Because AI answers are new, there is a market for shortcuts. Most of them are old spam tactics with a new label. Some can get pages removed from search, and every one of them risks your reputation with the people who find out.

### Avoid

- Hidden text or instructions aimed at AI models
- Fake or paid reviews
- Mass-produced pages stuffed with your brand name
- Posting the same promotion across dozens of forums
- Buying "guaranteed" AI rankings

### Do instead

- Plain text that says what you do
- Asking real customers to review
- A few genuinely useful pages
- Answering where you have real expertise
- Testing and improving every month

> **Answers change** The same question can produce different answers on different days and in different assistants. Judge progress over months and across many questions, not from one screenshot.

## Make the click worth it

A mention only matters if the person who follows it likes what they find. When someone clicks through from an assistant to your profile or site, the first thing they meet is how you look. A feed that is recognisably yours, post after post, confirms the recommendation. [Brand recognition](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-recognition) and [why every feed looks the same](https://gradiently.design/guide/why-every-feed-looks-the-same) explain why that consistency builds trust, and [consistent branding across platforms](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-consistency-across-platforms) shows how to keep it.

A signature look also gives people something to describe. "The bakery with the deep teal posts" is the kind of detail that ends up in reviews and conversations. A Gradiently Mark is a living gradient and material background; once you claim one, it has exactly one owner, so the look you build your posts on is yours alone. For more on making a brand easy to recognise, read [distinctive brand assets](https://gradiently.design/guide/distinctive-brand-assets).

## FAQ

### How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business?

Describe your business plainly on your own site and profiles, and earn mentions in the places assistants read: reviews, comparison articles, directories and community discussions. No one can guarantee a recommendation.

### Where does ChatGPT get its information about brands?

From what the model learned in training and, for many questions, from web pages it searches and reads at the moment you ask.

### How can I see if my brand appears in AI answers?

Ask several assistants the questions your customers would ask, in fresh chats, and record who is named and which sources are cited. Repeat the same questions monthly.

### Can I pay to appear in ChatGPT answers?

Be wary of anyone promising guaranteed AI rankings. The dependable route is being clearly described and genuinely recommended across many independent sources.