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How to get your local business recommended by ChatGPT

Updated October 17, 2026

Ask ChatGPT “Who’s the best plumber in Columbus?” and it doesn’t show ten blue links. It names two or three businesses and says why. For local businesses that’s a big change: if you’re not one of those names, the customer may never see you.

Nearly half of Americans (45%) now ask AI tools like ChatGPT, Google and Siri who to call or where to buy, according to BrightLocal’s 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey. The good news: most of what decides who gets named is free and in your hands.

How ChatGPT picks the names

When someone asks for a local business, ChatGPT searches the web, reads what it finds, and sums it up. It doesn’t rank pages one by one like Google does. It looks for businesses that many places agree on: listings, reviews, local news, “best of” lists, forums.

So the question isn’t “is my website good?” It’s “do enough places on the internet say clearly what I do, where, and that people like it?”

What the named businesses usually have

  1. A complete Google Business Profile. The right category, every service listed, real photos, opening hours, and a clear description.
  2. Lots of recent reviews that mention the service and the town in the customer’s own words.
  3. The same name, address and phone everywhere: Google, Bing, Apple Maps, Yelp, Facebook and the directories for their trade.
  4. A spot on local “best of” lists, like “The 10 best plumbers in Columbus” on a local news site or city blog.
  5. A website that says it plainly: what they do and where, in the very first sentence, with real prices and answers to common questions.

What to fix first

  • Check what ChatGPT says today. Open a private browser window, ask the questions your customers ask, three times each in a new chat, and write down who it names. Answers change from one try to the next, so one answer doesn’t tell you much.
  • Fix your Google listing. It’s the most important page about your business, and you don’t need a website for it.
  • Ask every happy customer for a review. A steady stream beats a big burst. Never pay for reviews and never write fake ones.
  • Claim Bing Places and Apple Business Connect. Both are free. Many tools, including Microsoft Copilot, lean on Bing, and Siri uses Apple Maps.

How long it takes

AI answers change over weeks, not days. Do the basics, keep collecting reviews, and check again every month. Nobody can promise that AI will recommend you, but you can give it every reason to.