Local business ChatGPT recommendations, and AI answers in general, largely depend on what the sources an assistant reads say about you: your Google Business Profile, review platforms, directories, local press and your own website. If those sources describe your service, location and reputation clearly and consistently, you give an assistant something solid to recommend. If they’re thin or contradictory, a competitor with a better-documented presence is the safer pick.
People now ask assistants “best dentist in Lyon” or “plumber near me open on Sunday” and get a short list with reasons. This guide covers what local prompts look like, where assistants find local information, a step-by-step plan for AI SEO for local business and the honest limits of measuring it.
Key takeaways
- AI visibility for a local business is mostly local SEO done well: a complete Business Profile, real reviews and a website that states what you do and where.
- Google says Business Profiles can help your products and services be visible in its AI responses as well as in regular search results.
- Google’s local ranking depends on relevance, distance and prominence, and prominence includes how many reviews you have and how many websites link to you.
- Local answers depend on where the person asking is, so “near me” prompts give different results in different places.
- To measure local AI visibility, write the city into your prompts and run the same set repeatedly, rather than trusting one check.
What local prompts look like
Local questions to an assistant tend to fall into a few patterns:
- Category plus city: “best dentist in Lyon”, “accountant in Bordeaux for freelancers”.
- Near me: “plumber near me”, “emergency locksmith near me open now”.
- Need plus constraint: “dentist in Lyon who takes new patients and speaks English”, “plumber in Lille who can come today for a leak”.
The constraints matter. An assistant can only match “open on Sunday” or “speaks English” to your business if those details are written somewhere it reads.
Why “near me” is different
Google explains that it estimates your location when you search from several signals: device location, saved home and work addresses, past activity and IP address. The same “near me” query can return different businesses depending on where the person is. Other assistants may also adapt local answers to location, depending on their settings.
Where AI assistants get local information
Google AI Overviews
Google is the most explicit. Its guide to optimizing for generative AI features states that Merchant Center and Google Business Profiles “can help your products and services to be visible in both AI responses and other Google Search results”. Its best practices also include keeping Business Profile data current.
Google’s help page on improving your local ranking lists three factors for local results:
- Relevance: how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for.
- Distance: how far the business is from the person searching.
- Prominence: how well known the business is, based partly on “how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have”.
Google also says there’s “no way to request or pay for a better local ranking”.
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and others
Other assistants don’t document how they source local answers in the same detail. When they search the web, the sources cited for local questions commonly include review platforms, directories, map listings, local media and business websites. Which ones dominate varies by assistant, city and trade, so check the citations for your own prompts rather than assuming. Our guide on how AI chooses sources explains the general mechanics.
| Source | What it gives an assistant | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | Category, address, hours, attributes, reviews | Complete, verified, current |
| Review platforms | Independent opinions and ratings | Recent reviews, replies, accurate details |
| Directories and trade listings | Confirmation of name, address, services | Same details as your profile |
| Local press and partners | Proof that you’re known locally | Accurate mentions and links |
| Your website | Services, areas, prices, credentials | Facts in text, easy to find |
How to get recommended by AI as a local business
Nothing guarantees a recommendation. These steps follow Google’s published guidance and give every assistant clearer material to work with.
- Complete and verify your Business Profile. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results. Fill in the category, address, hours, special hours and attributes, add photos and verify the profile.
- Earn reviews and reply to them. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and that replying shows you value feedback. Ask real customers at the right moment. Never buy reviews or write fake ones.
- State the facts on your website. One clear page per real service, the areas you actually serve, opening hours and prices or price ranges where you can give them, all in text. An assistant can only repeat “open Saturdays” or “treats children” if it’s written somewhere.
- Keep details consistent everywhere. Your name, address, phone number, hours and services should match across your profile, website, directories and review platforms. Contradictions make you harder to recommend with confidence.
- Get known locally. Local press, trade associations, suppliers and community sites that mention and link to you feed prominence. Google warns that seeking inauthentic mentions “isn’t as helpful as it might seem”, so earn them.
- Don’t mass-produce city pages. Thin, near-identical pages for towns you don’t really serve help no one.
Our guide to getting cited through review sites goes deeper into steps 2 and 5. For Google specifically, see how to get cited in Google AI Overviews.
The limits of measuring local AI visibility
- Answers depend on location. A “near me” prompt answered in central Lyon may not match one answered across town.
- Answers depend on the account. Personalization, memory and the signed-in account can shape the response.
- Answers vary between runs. One check is an anecdote. A pattern over repeated runs is evidence.
The practical fix is to write the city or neighbourhood into your tracked prompts (“best dentist in Lyon 6e”) instead of relying on “near me”. Our method for checking if ChatGPT recommends your brand applies to local businesses too.
How to track local AI recommendations with Citegram
Citegram is a Chrome extension that asks your prompts in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, DeepSeek, Grok and Google AI Overviews and records the answers.
- Write your local prompts. Use the patterns above, with the city written in. The free AI prompt generator can help you draft variations.
- Run them across assistants. Citegram asks each prompt in background tabs, using the accounts already signed in to your browser, with no API key. Questions count toward your own assistant plans.
- See who gets recommended. Each answer records whether your business is mentioned, its position and the sources cited. For Google, it records whether an AI Overview appeared and which sources it cited.
- Find the sources that matter. Reports show the most cited domains, so you know which review platforms or directories to prioritize.
- Compare and re-run. Share of voice per brand and per assistant shows how often nearby competitors are named, and trends over repeated runs show whether that moves. First results arrive in about 10 minutes.
One honest caveat: Citegram runs from your browser, so answers reflect your accounts and your location. It doesn’t simulate a customer elsewhere, and it doesn’t track Google Maps or the local pack. Brands with shops and products, rather than a single location, may prefer our page on AI visibility for e-commerce brands.
FAQ
How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT?
Make sure the sources an assistant is likely to read describe you clearly: a complete Business Profile, recent genuine reviews, consistent directory listings and a website that states your services, areas and hours in text. Then check what ChatGPT actually says for prompts with your city in them, and repeat over time.
Does Google Business Profile affect AI Overviews?
Google says Merchant Center and Google Business Profiles can help your products and services be visible in its AI responses as well as in regular search results. Keeping your profile complete and current is one of the clearest steps you can take.
Why does ChatGPT recommend a competitor instead of my business?
Usually because the sources it read describe the competitor better: more reviews, more complete listings or clearer details matching the prompt. Check which sources were cited and compare what they say about each business.
Can I pay to be recommended by AI assistants?
Not in their organic answers. Google states there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking, and organic recommendations in assistants are separate from any ads. The reliable route is a well-documented, well-reviewed presence.
See whether assistants recommend you
If you want to know whether AI assistants recommend your business for the questions local customers ask, start with the free plan: 1 prompt across all assistants, forever. Pro adds unlimited prompts and competitors for $10 per seat per month. See pricing.
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