If AI platforms mention your competitors but not your company, here’s how to investigate and improve your chances of being discovered.
You’ve probably tried it.
You open ChatGPT and ask a question a potential customer might ask about your industry. A handful of companies appear, some of them competitors you know well. Yours isn’t one of them.
So how do you get ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity or Google’s AI search features to recognize and recommend your company?
There’s no guaranteed formula. Each platform finds and evaluates information differently, and answers can change from one day to the next. But some steps make your business easier to find, understand and evaluate.
Here’s where to start.
1. Find out what AI platforms already say about your business
Before you change anything on your website, see how AI platforms describe your company today. Ask two kinds of questions.
Ask about your company by name:
“What does Northstar Systems do?”
Is the description accurate? Does it get your products, services and customers right?
Then ask the questions a customer would ask:
“Which companies offer inventory management software for manufacturers?”
“Who designs custom closet organizers in [your city]?”
Note which companies appear, how they’re described and which sources are cited. Try a few variations.
Pay particular attention to the sources AI platforms reference when recommending competitors. Are they citing industry publications, software directories, comparison articles or company websites?
These sources can reveal where your business may need a stronger presence. For example, if several competitors appear in a respected industry directory and your company isn’t listed, that’s an opportunity worth investigating.
Why it matters: These checks can reveal whether AI platforms misunderstand your business, overlook important capabilities or regularly mention competitors instead. They’re useful clues, not definitive rankings. Answers vary by platform, wording and day, so one missing mention doesn’t prove something is wrong.
2. Make sure AI search tools can reach your website
If AI search tools can’t access your public pages, it can limit your visibility. Ask your web developer or hosting provider to check that your site isn’t accidentally blocking them through crawler settings or security tools.
What to do: You can send your web team this request:
“Please check that our important public pages are accessible to ChatGPT search, Claude search, Perplexity and Google’s AI search features. Make only the changes needed, keep private areas protected and leave other security protections in place.”
You don’t have to allow AI training crawlers just to allow search access. Those can be separate decisions. Your web team can check each platform’s current guidance.
Why it matters: Access won’t guarantee a mention, but it removes a potential barrier to being found.
3. Make it clear what you offer, and answer the questions buyers ask
AI platforms need reliable information about your business.
If your website relies heavily on vague marketing language, it may be difficult to understand exactly what you sell or who you serve.
Consider our fictional enterprise software company, Northstar Systems.
Its homepage headline reads:
“Transforming Operational Intelligence.”
What the company actually sells is inventory management software for manufacturers with multiple facilities. Saying so plainly helps AI platforms and buyers alike.
People also tend to ask AI platforms longer, more specific questions than they type into Google, such as:
- “What’s the best way to manage inventory across multiple manufacturing facilities?”
- “Which inventory management platforms integrate with SAP?”
- “How much do custom closet organizers cost, and how long does installation take?”
Does your website answer questions like these?
What to do: Rewrite the headlines and descriptions on your homepage and key product pages to name your products, customers and specific capabilities, such as integrations, use cases and where you operate.
Then turn the questions your sales team hears into pages or articles that answer them, without turning every answer into a pitch. [7 SEO improvements that can help more customers find your website] covers how to prioritize pages.
Why it matters: AI platforms can use relevant, accessible information when they build answers, and clear answers reach buyers early in their research.
4. Build credibility on your website and beyond it
Your website tells people what you say about your business. Other sources show what everyone else says.
Start on your own website:
- Team bios and credentials: Introduce the people behind your products, services and expertise.
- Named authors: Identify the specialists responsible for expert articles and advice.
- Case studies: Share real customer challenges, solutions and measurable results where possible.
- Original research: Publish useful findings or insights that others in your industry may want to reference.
Then look beyond your website. AI platforms may draw on third-party sources when they identify and compare providers.
For a B2B technology company, useful sources might include:
- Industry publications: Genuine articles or expert commentary about your company or its area of expertise.
- Partner websites: Profiles describing real technology integrations or business relationships.
- Industry associations: Membership directories, speaking engagements or contributed expertise.
- Software directories: Accurate product listings on established comparison platforms, with verified customer reviews where available.
- Independent comparisons: Editorial coverage that evaluates your company alongside relevant alternatives.
- Google Business Profile: A local business might start with an up-to-date Google Business Profile, reviews from real customers and the local directories its customers use.
What to do: Review your website for evidence of your team’s expertise and customer results. Then search for your company and your competitors. Note which credible websites cover or list businesses like yours, and look for legitimate opportunities to contribute or earn coverage.
Why it matters: Evidence on your website helps customers evaluate your expertise. Accurate third-party information gives AI platforms additional sources about what you do, who you serve and where you fit.
Buying mentions on unrelated websites or distributing generic press releases isn’t the same as earning credible coverage. Focus on sources your customers and industry actually trust.
5. Keep your business information accurate and consistent
You may have heard that schema is the secret to AI visibility. It isn’t, but it can help.
Schema, also called structured data, is code that describes your content in a format search engines can read. Organization schema, for example, can state your official company name, website, logo and related profiles.
What to do: Ask your developer to confirm your site uses accurate Organization schema, plus appropriate product schema if you sell products. Schema should match the information visitors see on the page.
Then check that your company name, description and links are consistent across LinkedIn, Google Business Profile where applicable, and relevant industry directories.
Why it matters: Consistent information reduces confusion about who you are. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode need no special schema or AI-specific files, and no markup guarantees a mention on any platform.
6. A word on Wikipedia
Wikipedia isn’t a marketing directory.
A business generally needs substantial coverage in independent, reliable publications to qualify for an article, and you can’t simply create a promotional page because you want ChatGPT to recognize you.
What to do: If you already have an article, check its accuracy and follow Wikipedia’s conflict-of-interest guidelines when requesting corrections.
If you don’t, focus on earning independent coverage first. Wikidata, a separate structured database, may apply to some organizations, but neither it nor Wikipedia guarantees AI visibility.
Why it matters: Established reference sources can contribute to how organizations are identified and described. But the underlying independent coverage and factual accuracy are more important than simply having an entry.
How do you know whether it’s working?
AI visibility is harder to measure than search rankings, because a company can appear in one answer and vanish from the next.
Instead of chasing a score, set up a simple routine:
- Choose five to ten questions potential customers might ask.
- Test them in ChatGPT and one or two other AI platforms.
- Record whether your business appears, which competitors appear and which sources are cited.
- Repeat the same questions every month or two to spot patterns.
- Watch for referral traffic and inquiries that may be connected to AI discovery, and ask new leads how they found you.
Look for progress over time, not a perfect score.
Focus on becoming a better source, not on gaming the system
No trick guarantees that ChatGPT will recommend your company. But you can make real improvements: let appropriate AI search crawlers access your public content, explain your business clearly, publish what buyers need, show your expertise and build a credible presence elsewhere.
Don’t skip the SEO fundamentals, either. 7 SEO improvements that can help more customers find your website covers them. For the bigger picture, start with SEO and AI visibility aren’t rocket science: What actually matters.
The goal isn’t to appear in every AI answer. It’s to give potential customers more chances to find and consider your business when they’re looking for what you offer.
Not sure how well AI platforms understand or represent your business? DoubleShot Creative can help you evaluate your AI visibility, identify content gaps and strengthen your digital presence. Let’s talk about making your business easier to discover.
