How does ChatGPT decide which tradesperson to name?
When someone asks ChatGPT to find an electrician in Bexleyheath, it does not pull a name from memory. According to OpenAI's help page on searching the web (checked September 2026), ChatGPT rewrites the question into search queries, sends them to its search partners, and uses a rough location from the person's IP address, so "electrician near me" becomes a search for electricians in that town. For nearby businesses it may share that general location with "trusted third-party providers" of business listings. The answer then cites the pages it found.
Two details on that page matter to a tradesperson. First, the search providers whose privacy policies OpenAI links are Microsoft and Shopify, which is why Bing matters here more than it does for ordinary Google traffic. Second, OpenAI states plainly that "placement is not guaranteed". The only step it names for a website owner is to let its crawler, OAI-SearchBot, read your site.
Google's AI Overviews and Perplexity work the same way in principle: they answer from pages they can crawl. Google's guidance on AI features (last updated 10 December 2025, checked September 2026) says there are no extra requirements beyond being indexed in normal Search. Perplexity's crawler page asks you to allow PerplexityBot if you want to appear in its results.
What can I actually control?
Five things. None of them is a trick, and every one of them also helps you on ordinary Google.
| What | Why it matters for AI answers | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| A website AI crawlers can read | It is the page ChatGPT, Google and Perplexity can cite. A Facebook page can sit behind a login for anyone not signed in, so it gives them less to read. | From free to a few hundred pounds |
| Google Business Profile | Feeds Google Maps, Search and Google's AI answers. | No charge, says Google |
| Bing Places for Business | OpenAI's search help page names Microsoft among the search providers it works with. | Free, says Microsoft |
| The same name, phone and area everywhere | An answer engine comparing three sources that disagree has a reason to name someone else. | Free, one evening |
| Genuine reviews on your profiles | They are part of what the listings show, and part of what a customer checks before ringing. | Free, one message after each job |
Costs as stated on each official page, checked September 2026.
What is the checklist, in order?
- Check your website lets AI crawlers in. Open yourdomain.co.uk/robots.txt. If you see
Disallow: /under OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot orUser-agent: *, ask whoever runs the site to remove it. OpenAI also asks that your host or CDN lets its published crawler IP addresses through, so ask that question directly. - Write your trade and your towns as plain text. "Boiler servicing and repairs in Sidcup, Welling and Bexleyheath" is a sentence a machine can quote. A photo of your van with the towns painted on it is not.
- Put your registration numbers in text, not only as logos. An AI answer can repeat "Gas Safe registered" followed by your number. It cannot read a badge image reliably. The same goes for NICEIC or NAPIT for electricians, and TrustMark or a trade association for builders. I cover how to show each one in showing trade accreditations online.
- Answer the questions customers now type into ChatGPT. Do you cover my area, do you do emergency call outs, roughly what does a job cost, are you insured. Short, direct answers on your page are the text an answer engine can lift.
- Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. Same business name, phone and service area as your website. My Google Business Profile guide for tradespeople walks through it.
- Claim Bing Places for Business. It is free and quick. Copy your Google details across exactly.
- Ask every happy customer for a review. A short message the same day works best. See how to get more reviews for your trade business.
- Check your old details. Search your business name and your old phone number. Any directory still showing the wrong number is a source that contradicts you.
How do I check whether ChatGPT recommends me?
Test it the way a customer would, then look at the sources rather than the names.
- Open a new chat in ChatGPT and choose Search from the tools menu.
- Ask the customer's question with the town in it, for example "recommend a roofer in Orpington".
- Open Sources under the answer and write down every website and directory it used.
- For each source, check whether you are on it and whether your details are right.
- Repeat on a different day. Answers change between runs, so one test proves little.
If the same directory keeps turning up as a source and you are not on it, that is your next job. If your own site never turns up, check step 1 of the checklist first.
What does not work?
- Paying for a guaranteed AI recommendation. OpenAI does not offer one, so nobody else can sell you one.
- Special AI files as a shortcut. Google says you do not need AI text files or special schema for its AI features. I publish an llms.txt file on this site because it is cheap and harmless, but I do not claim it gets anyone recommended.
- Hiding everything behind images or a Facebook login. If a machine cannot read it, it cannot quote it.
- Invented reviews or fake locations. Answer engines compare sources. Anything that does not match elsewhere works against you.
Do I need a website at all, or is a Google profile enough?
If money is tight, do the free listings first: Google Business Profile and Bing Places cost nothing and they come before anything I sell. A website adds the one source you control completely, with room for your towns, prices, accreditations and answers written the way you want them read. Tradewebsite.uk builds exactly that kind of page: a one page site with your trade, areas and contact buttons as plain text. Tradewebsite.uk costs £299 once if you keep it, with hosting included and no monthly fee, and you can build it free at edit.tradewebsite.uk/start in about 2 minutes and use it free for 14 days with no card. If you already have a decent site that crawlers can read, you do not need mine, work through the checklist instead.
For the wider picture on local search, see how to rank for near me searches, and if your current site is slow or script heavy, why a slow website loses trade jobs.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pay to get my business recommended by ChatGPT?
No. OpenAI says ChatGPT ranks search results using multiple factors and that placement is not guaranteed. Anyone selling a guaranteed ChatGPT recommendation is selling something OpenAI itself does not offer. What you can do is make your business easy to find and easy to trust on the sources ChatGPT searches.
Where does ChatGPT get its information about local tradespeople?
When ChatGPT searches the web it sends a rewritten query to its search partners, and OpenAI's help page links Microsoft's privacy statement among them. For nearby businesses it may share your general location with third-party providers of business listings. It then cites the web pages and listings it found, so your own website and your Bing and Google listings are the parts you control.
Do I need an llms.txt file or special schema to appear in AI answers?
Not for Google. Google's own guidance says you do not need AI text files, new machine readable files or special schema to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. A normal, crawlable website with clear text is what counts. An llms.txt file is harmless, but it is not the thing that gets you named.
Is Bing Places worth setting up for a trade business?
Yes, if you have not done it. It is free, it takes less time than a quote, and OpenAI's help page names Microsoft among the search providers ChatGPT works with. Keep the name, phone number and service area identical to your Google Business Profile.
How do I check whether ChatGPT recommends my business?
Open a new chat, turn on Search, and ask the question your customer would ask, such as recommend a Gas Safe engineer in Sidcup. Open the Sources list and note which websites and directories it used. Run it a few times on different days, because answers change, and fix whichever of those sources has you missing or wrong.
How much does Tradewebsite.uk cost?
Tradewebsite.uk costs £299 once, only if you keep the site, with hosting included and no monthly fee. You build the one page site free in about 2 minutes and use it free for 14 days with no card. If you do not pay, the site is switched off and nothing is charged.
Give ChatGPT something to read
Build a one page trade site with your trade, towns and accreditations in plain text, in about 2 minutes. Free for 14 days, no card. £299 once if you keep it, no monthly fee.
← Back to the blog · Related: Google Business Profile for tradespeople, ranking for near me searches, showing accreditations online