AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews recommend businesses they can clearly understand and verify. To be one of them, keep your name, address and phone number identical everywhere, publish pages that answer the questions customers ask, collect genuine reviews, get listed on the directories these tools read, and make sure AI crawlers are allowed to read your website. Nobody can guarantee a mention, but these steps put you in the running.
| Signal | Why it matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Consistent details | AI tools cross-check several sources before naming a business | Use exactly the same name, address and phone number on your website and every listing |
| Pages that answer questions | AI answers are built from pages that respond directly to what was asked | Write a page for each question customers ask, with the answer at the top |
| Reviews | Reviews show a business is real and trusted | Ask happy customers for Google reviews that mention the service and the town |
| Listings and mentions | AI tools read directories and "best of" lists as well as your own site | Get listed on Google, Bing and the directories for your trade |
| Crawler access | A tool cannot recommend a site it is not allowed to read | Check your hosting is not blocking AI crawlers |
| Clear facts | Prices, areas covered and services are easy to quote | State them plainly on your website |
When someone asks "who is a good electrician in Wigan?", an AI tool looks at what it can find about local electricians and names a handful it is confident about. It favours businesses whose details agree across several sources, whose websites explain clearly what they do and where, and which other sites and reviewers also mention.
It works like asking around for a recommendation: the name that comes up from several directions is the one that gets passed on.
Mostly it is the same work, done thoroughly. Good SEO already means accurate listings, useful pages and real reviews. The extra steps for AI are writing direct answers to questions, stating facts plainly enough to be quoted, and paying attention to Bing as well as Google, because some AI tools draw on Bing's results.
It has for us. Mako Digital has won clients who found us by asking an AI tool for a web designer in Wigan. It is still a small share of enquiries compared with Google, but it is growing, and the businesses that sort this out early are the ones being named now.
You cannot choose what an AI says, and the answers change from one day to the next. Anyone who guarantees a mention is guessing. What you can do is make your business a clear, credible answer, and check regularly how you are being described.
Not for the ordinary answers. Recommendations come from what the tool can find and verify about your business, which is why the groundwork matters.
ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity are the main ones people use to ask for recommendations.
Ask them the questions your customers would ask, such as "who is a good plumber in Leigh?", and see who is named. Repeat it every few weeks, because the answers change.
No. The same website serves Google and AI tools. It needs clear pages, accurate details and nothing blocking the crawlers.
Yes. Every Mako Digital SEO plan includes work on being found by AI tools, from £225 a month on a 12-month plan.
Tell us what you need and we will tell you honestly what it would take and what it would cost. Free, with no obligation.