How to get recommended by ChatGPT
When someone asks ChatGPT for a recommendation, it searches the web and cites whoever it finds and understands. For that to be you, it has to be able to get into your site, read it and understand what you offer.
How it decides who to recommend
For current or shopping questions, ChatGPT searches the web before answering and links its sources. Those sources come from what OAI-SearchBot, OpenAI's search crawler, has indexed and from third-party search providers.
When someone pastes a link or asks it to look at a page, ChatGPT-User visits right then. And GPTBot collects text to train future models: blocking it doesn't take you out of ChatGPT search, according to OpenAI itself.
The crawlers that need to get in
If robots.txt or your firewall turns them away, they can't read you. The free analysis checks each one.
What to do, step by step
Let OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User in
It's the first thing and the one that fails most: a robots.txt copied from another site, a security plugin or a firewall that blocks "unusual bots" shut ChatGPT out without warning. Check that robots.txt doesn't name them with Disallow and that your server doesn't answer them with a 403.
Put your text in the HTML
AI crawlers almost never run JavaScript. If your site paints its content in the browser (very common with Lovable, Bolt and other AI-built sites), ChatGPT receives a blank page. Whatever isn't in the HTML your server sends doesn't exist for it.
Say clearly who you are and what you offer
A title and description that say what you do and where, a clear H1 and structured data (Organization or LocalBusiness, Product, FAQPage). AI doesn't guess: if you don't say it, it doesn't know.
Answer what your customer asks
ChatGPT recommends whoever best answers a specific question: "best bike shop in Valencia", "how much does… cost". Prices, area, opening hours, comparisons and FAQs as text, not in images or PDFs.
Be findable beyond your own site
ChatGPT cross-checks sources: industry directories, reviews, local press, forums. When your name, address and what you do say the same thing everywhere, it has the confidence to cite you.
Frequently asked questions
If I block GPTBot, do I disappear from ChatGPT?
No. GPTBot is the training crawler. ChatGPT search goes through OAI-SearchBot and, when someone asks for a page, through ChatGPT-User. You can block GPTBot and keep showing up.
How long until my site shows up?
There's no published timeframe. It depends on when its crawler comes back and what it finds. What you can do today is remove whatever is stopping it.
Can I pay to appear in ChatGPT?
Today ChatGPT's answers aren't for sale: you earn them with a site its crawler can read and that answers better than the rest.