Guide · AI answers
How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT.
ChatGPT recommends businesses it can find through search, read clearly and see mentioned elsewhere. To get your business recommended in the UAE, let its search crawler in, state what you do in plain sentences on pages named like the questions buyers ask, keep your facts identical everywhere and earn mentions on sites it already cites. Then measure how often you are named, in English and in Arabic.
Sources
- OpenAI. Overview of OpenAI crawlers: OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search, GPTBot for model training. Undated documentation. Read on .
- Ahrefs. Study of 1.4 million ChatGPT prompts on why pages get cited, title match to the question being the strongest signal. 2026. Read on .
- BrightLocal. Research on the sources ChatGPT search uses for local businesses: business websites, mentions and directories. Read on .
- SparkToro. Research showing AI tools rarely give the same list of brands twice, and why visibility should be tracked as a rate. Read on .
- Google Search Central. Guide to optimising for AI features in Google Search: no special files or markup required, Business Profile for local businesses. Updated July 2026. Read on .
- Google Search Central. Spam policies for Google web search, including attempts to manipulate generative AI responses. Read on .
- OpenAI. Our approach to advertising: ads in ChatGPT and OpenAI’s statement that ads do not influence answers. 2026. Read on .
01 · Step one
Let ChatGPT’s search crawler read your site
When ChatGPT searches, it uses OpenAI’s search crawler, OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI says sites that block it are not shown in ChatGPT search answers. Check your robots.txt and any firewall or bot protection rule: a security setting that blocks unknown bots can block this one too. GPTBot is a separate crawler used for training, and blocking it does not remove you from search answers.
02 · Step two
Name your pages like the questions buyers ask
In a study of 1.4 million ChatGPT prompts, Ahrefs found that the strongest predictor of a page being cited was how closely its title matched the question and the sub questions ChatGPT searches for. A page called Services says little. A page called AI receptionist for clinics in Dubai answers a question someone actually types.
Open each of those pages with two or three sentences that answer the question outright: what you do, for whom, where. Engines quote plain statements, not slogans.
03 · Step three
Keep your facts identical everywhere
For local businesses, BrightLocal found ChatGPT search draws mostly on business websites, then on mentions and directories. If your name, area, services and phone number read differently on your site, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and directories, the engine has no single fact to repeat. Fix the record first.
Google points local businesses to Business Profile for its own AI features, so in the UAE a verified profile is part of the same work.
04 · Step four
Earn mentions where ChatGPT already looks
Ask ChatGPT the questions your buyers ask and note which sites it cites: directories, comparison articles, trade press. Those are the places to be listed, reviewed or written about. Real reviews from real clients, real articles, real listings. Planted posts and attempts to manipulate AI answers are spam under Google’s policies.
05 · Step five
Measure a rate, in English and in Arabic
SparkToro found AI tools almost never return the same list of brands twice. So one screenshot proves nothing. Ask each buyer question many times, in each engine, and record the share of answers that name you, with the date. In the UAE, ask in English and in Arabic separately: the language of the question changes which sources and which businesses come back.
Questions, answered.
Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?
No. ChatGPT shows ads in some markets, but OpenAI says ads do not change the answers. Being named in the answer itself comes from search, your pages and mentions elsewhere.
Do I need an llms.txt file or special schema?
Google says no special files or markup are needed for its AI features, and OpenAI’s crawler documentation does not mention llms.txt. Neither does harm, but neither replaces clear pages and consistent facts.
How long does it take to start appearing?
Changes to your own pages can be picked up within days once they are crawled. Being named in answers usually takes weeks, and competitive questions take months. Measure from a dated baseline so you can see the movement.
Does Althea Growth do this for businesses in Dubai?
Yes. We measure what ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity say for your buyers’ questions in English and Arabic, fix the pages and facts, plan earned mentions, and send dated before and after answers. We never promise a position.
Start with a brief.
Tell us what you want to build or fix. We reply within one working day.