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How a local business can show up in ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI search

People now ask ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini or Google's AI answers things like “who can fix a cracked iPhone screen near me?” Those assistants don't have a secret list of shops. They build the answer from the same public information search engines use.

Updated October 23, 2026

Where AI assistants get local answers

  • Business listings: your Google Business Profile, Apple Maps, Bing Places, Yelp and the data networks behind maps and voice assistants.
  • Directories and other sites: trade directories, local news and community pages that mention you.
  • Reviews: what customers say about you, how many and how recent.
  • Your own website: its pages about what you do and where, and the structured data (schema markup) that labels your name, address, hours and services for machines.

Google says its AI Overviews and AI Mode draw on its ordinary search index, and that a page needs nothing special to appear in them beyond being indexable (Google's guidance on AI features).

What a local shop can do

  1. Complete your Google profile: the right categories, every service you offer, real hours including holidays, and a plain description.
  2. Be listed, the same way, everywhere that matters: identical name, address and phone on the big directories and the ones for your trade.
  3. Keep reviews coming and answered, from every customer, the allowed way.
  4. Give your website a real page for each service that says what you do, where, and for whom, in plain sentences an assistant could quote.
  5. Add structured data to your site describing your business (LocalBusiness), so your details can be read without guessing.
  6. Allow the AI search crawlers. If your website blocks bots such as OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot or PerplexityBot (some hosting and security settings do by default), those assistants can't read it.

What nobody can do

No tool, agency or file can make an AI assistant mention you. The answers change from one question to the next and from one week to the next. A business with complete listings, steady reviews and a clear website has a real chance; a business with missing listings and no content has almost none.

Where KILLCRITIC fits

KILLCRITIC works on the sources above, not on the assistants themselves. It helps you complete your Google profile, keeps your reviews answered, guides you through getting listed the same way everywhere (the essential directories on Starter, 40+ directories and data networks on Growth and Pro), and on the Pro plan writes service pages with schema markup for your website. Today it doesn't check what ChatGPT or any other assistant says about you. Start with the free score, or read why a business might not show on Google Maps.

Common questions

Can anyone guarantee ChatGPT or Gemini will recommend my business?

No. Nobody controls what an AI assistant says, and anyone promising a mention is guessing. What you can do is make sure the public sources these assistants read describe your business completely and consistently.

Do I need an llms.txt file or special AI markup?

Not for a local shop. Google says its AI features use its normal search index and need nothing special. A complete Google profile, consistent listings, reviews and a clear website do far more.

Keep reading

KILLCRITIC is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. Google, Google Maps and Google Business Profile are trademarks of Google LLC.