How Does ChatGPT Decide Which Businesses to Recommend?

ChatGPT recommends businesses it can find, understand and trust. It looks at how clearly your website says what you do and where. It checks if your details match across the web. It reads what reviews and trusted sites say about you. When it searches live, it also looks at which pages rank for the question. No one can pay for a spot.

More Australians now ask ChatGPT things like "Who's a good plumber in Newcastle?" They get back three or four names. If yours isn't one of them, that customer may never find you. So it pays to know how those names get picked.

Does ChatGPT use its training data or a live search?

It uses both. ChatGPT was trained on a huge amount of text from the internet. That gives it general knowledge. But that knowledge has a cut-off date. It may not know about your new shop or your latest award.

So for many questions, ChatGPT now searches the web in real time. This is common for local questions like "best café in Fremantle". When it searches, it reads a handful of pages and builds an answer from them. It often shows links to its sources.

This matters for you. Training data is hard to change. Live search results are not. If your business shows up well on the web today, ChatGPT can find you today.

What signals make a business "trustworthy" to AI?

AI tools are careful. They don't want to recommend a business that turns out to be closed, fake or poorly rated. So they look for proof.

Here are the main signals:

• Clarity. Your website says exactly what you do, where you do it and who it's for.

• Consistency. Your name, address and phone number are the same everywhere.

• Corroboration. Other sites back you up. Think reviews, directories, local news and industry groups.

• Access. AI crawlers can read your site. Nothing is blocking them.

Think of it like asking a friend for a tradie. Your friend won't name someone they've barely heard of. They'll name someone they've seen do good work, and who others speak well of. ChatGPT works in a similar way.

How much do reviews matter?

A lot. For local businesses, reviews are one of the strongest signals there are.

ChatGPT reads what people say, not just the star rating. A review that says "Sarah fixed our hot water system in Mitcham the same day" tells AI three things. It says what you do, where you do it and that you do it well.

Three things count most:

1. How many reviews you have. More reviews give AI more to go on.

2. How recent they are. Fresh reviews show you're still open and still good.

3. What they say. Reviews that name a service and a suburb help AI match you to the right search.

Google reviews matter most for most Australian businesses. Reviews on sites like ProductReview.com.au, Facebook and industry sites help too.

Why does consistent NAP information matter?

NAP stands for name, address and phone number. It sounds boring. It's actually a big deal.

Say your website lists "Smith & Co Electrical, 12 Main St". But your Google profile says "Smith and Co Electric, Shop 3/12 Main Street". And an old directory still has your old phone number. To a person, that's clearly one business. To AI, it might look like three. Or it might look like a business it can't trust.

When your details match everywhere, AI can join the dots. It can link your reviews, your listings and your website to one clear business. That makes you easier to recommend.

A quick fix: search your business name and check the first two pages of results. Write down every place your details appear. Then fix anything that doesn't match.

Does being mentioned on other sites matter more than your own site?

Both matter. But other sites often carry more weight. Your own website is where you describe yourself. AI knows every business says nice things about itself. So it looks for other sources that agree.

Useful mentions include:

• Local news stories about your business

• Industry awards and member lists (like Master Builders or the HIA)

• "Best of" lists on local blogs and guides

• Reddit threads and community forums where people recommend you

• Supplier or partner pages that link to you

You don't need hundreds of these. A handful of trusted, relevant mentions can make a real difference. Our guide to [how to check if your business appears in ChatGPT](LINK: post 3) shows you how to see where you stand now.

Example: why one Adelaide landscaper keeps getting recommended over another

Two landscapers work in Adelaide's eastern suburbs. Both do good work. Both have been around for ten years. Landscaper A has a website with one "Services" page. It lists everything in a single paragraph. They have 14 Google reviews, most from four years ago. Their business name is spelt two ways online.

Landscaper B has a page for each service, like retaining walls, paving and garden design. Each page names the suburbs they cover, such as Burnside, Norwood and Magill. They have 120 Google reviews, with new ones every month. They were featured in a local news story about a garden makeover. Their details match everywhere.

When someone asks ChatGPT for "a landscaper in Burnside who does retaining walls", Landscaper B gets named. Landscaper A doesn't. It's not because B is better at landscaping. It's because B is easier for AI to find, understand and trust.

What can you actually influence?

Good news: most of it. You can't control how ChatGPT was trained. You can't change how it works inside. But you can control what it finds about you. Here's where to start:

1. Check your crawler access. Make sure your site doesn't block AI bots like OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot.

2. Fix your NAP details. Make them identical on every listing.

3. Build clear service pages. One page per service, with suburbs and plain answers.

4. Grow your reviews. Ask happy customers, and ask them to mention the job and the suburb.

5. Earn a few mentions. Local news, industry groups and community sites all help.

Want to know which sources ChatGPT leans on for local answers? Read what sources ChatGPT actually uses for local businesses. And if you're wondering whether search engines still matter at all, see is SEO dead?. For a full list of fixes, start with why ChatGPT doesn't mention your business.

Does ChatGPT favour big brands?

Not by default. Big brands often show up more because they have more reviews and more mentions online. But for local searches, a small business with strong local signals can beat a national chain. ChatGPT wants the best match for the question, not the biggest name.

Do ChatGPT ads change recommendations?

OpenAI says ads are kept separate from ChatGPT's answers and don't change what it recommends. Paid ads, where they appear, are labelled. The free answers are based on what ChatGPT finds and trusts.

Why does it recommend a competitor and not me?

Usually because your competitor has stronger signals. They may have more recent reviews, clearer web pages or more mentions on other sites. Compare your profile to theirs. The gap is often easy to spot, and easy to start closing.

Can I ask ChatGPT to recommend my business?

You can ask it anything, but that won't change what it tells other people. Your chats don't train its answers for everyone else. The only way to change what it says is to change what it finds about you online.

Find out why ChatGPT picks your competitors

Want to know what ChatGPT says about your business, and why? Get an AI Assessment from Proficlix. We'll test what ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews say about you. We'll show you where competitors are winning. Then we'll give you a clear list of fixes. Get an AI visibility audit →

• ChatGPT uses two sources: what it learned in training, and what it finds in a live web search.

• It trusts businesses that other sites agree about, not just businesses that describe themselves.

• Reviews, matching business details and clear web pages are the big three.

• You can't buy a place in the answer. You can earn one.