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Questions about getting your business recommended by AI

Plain-English answers to the questions business owners ask most about getting recommended by AI assistants: ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity. Want to see where your business stands? Start with the $49 AI Recommendation Report.

It's when someone asks an AI tool like ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude or Perplexity a question instead of typing it into Google. The AI answers with a short list of businesses it recommends. We help your business be on that list.

Who is this for?

Local service businesses such as plumbers, dentists, salons, contractors and restaurants that depend on people nearby finding them.

Which AI search tools do you check?

ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity, all with live web search. Results come from the engines' APIs and can differ somewhat from what you see in each consumer app.

Do I need to do anything technical?

No. The report is written in plain English. With the Fix Kit, we write the copy and code; you or your web person just paste it in.

Why does BeAIOptimized exist?

Because the way customers find local businesses has changed. More people now ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity who to call, and those AIs name only a few businesses. Many good businesses are missing from those answers and have no easy way to find out. We built BeAIOptimized to give them a simple, honest answer: we ask the questions your customers ask, report what each AI said, and explain what to change in plain English. We only report what we actually test, and we never promise rankings, because nobody can.

What if I'm not happy?

You're covered by our money-back promise. Email hello@beaioptimized.com within 14 days of your payment and we'll refund you in full, even if we've already sent your report. It covers the $49 report, the $99 Report + Fix Kit and the $19 Re-Check. You don't need to explain why, though we'd love to know how we could do better.

You can't pay ChatGPT to recommend you. When a customer asks something like "who's the best plumber near me?", ChatGPT (made by OpenAI) and the other AI assistants, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity, search the web and name the businesses they find the clearest, most trustworthy information about. That usually comes from your Google Business Profile, your reviews, directory listings and your own website.

One thing to check today: make sure your business name, address and phone number are the same, word for word, on your website, your Google Business Profile and the big directories. Mismatches make it harder for AI to be sure it's the same business.

What else is holding you back depends on your business and your competitors. Our AI Recommendation Report ($49) asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity 15 real customer questions about your kind of business in your area, twice each, and shows how often you are named, who is named instead (up to 3 competitors), which websites the AI relied on, and the top 5 fixes for your business.

Why doesn't ChatGPT recommend my business?

Usually it's not about how good your work is. It's about what AI can find and read about you. Common reasons: the website blocks automated visitors (a security setting people never notice), there are few recent reviews compared with competitors, services and towns aren't written out clearly, or the business is missing from directories AI relies on.

These are general patterns, and two businesses in the same town can be missing for completely different reasons. Our $49 report shows which of the five AI assistants name you for 15 customer questions, who they name instead, and the specific reasons for your business. More in our guide why AI recommends your competitor instead of you.

Is there a service that checks whether AI assistants recommend my business?

Yes. BeAIOptimized does just this for local businesses. We ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity the questions your customers ask, like "best roofer in [your town]", and record who gets recommended, in what order, and which websites each AI relied on.

Many AI visibility tools are monthly software subscriptions built for marketing teams. Ours is a one-time report written for business owners, usually emailed within 2-3 hours.

How can I check if Perplexity or ChatGPT recommends my company?

You can ask them yourself: open Perplexity or ChatGPT and type the question a customer would ask, such as "who's the best HVAC company in [your town]?". Ask a few different ways, because answers change from one question and one day to the next. One answer on its own doesn't tell you much.

For a consistent test across ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity, with every question asked twice and compared against your competitors, get the $49 AI Recommendation Report.

Why not just ask ChatGPT myself?

You can, and it's a good first look. But one question in one AI on one day is a single snapshot. Ask again tomorrow, or word it a little differently, and you can get different businesses. One answer also won't tell you how you compare with your competitors, which websites the AI relied on, or what to change.

If you try it yourself: include your trade and your town ("best roofer in Plano", not just "best roofer"), ask the same question in more than one assistant, and write down who gets named each time.

Our $49 AI Recommendation Report does this the thorough way: 15 customer questions asked of ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity, twice each, for 150 answers in total, with your results next to up to 3 competitors, the websites each AI relied on, and your top 5 fixes.

How is BeAIOptimized different from AI visibility tools?

Those are software platforms: you sign up, set up the questions to track and check the results on a dashboard. Most are built for marketing teams and agencies and are billed monthly, and many entry plans don't cover all five of ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity.

BeAIOptimized is a done-for-you report for local business owners. We pick the questions your customers ask about your trade in your town, test them in ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity, and email you a plain-English report for a one-time $49. Nothing to set up, no logins, no subscription. If you have a marketing team that wants daily tracking of hundreds of questions, a monitoring platform may suit you better.

See the full side-by-side comparison → Prices, which of the five AIs each tool covers, and where each one is the better pick. Looking at more options? See our roundup of the best AI visibility tools for local service businesses.

How is your report different from an audit that lists "answer engine visibility"?

Some audits list "answer engine visibility" as one line, without saying which AIs they asked or what they asked them. Our $49 report asks all five: ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity. We show you the questions we asked, word for word, and what each AI said, including who it named and which websites it used.

Which websites do AI assistants look at when recommending a local business?

It depends on the trade, the town and the assistant, but the usual sources are your Google Business Profile, review sites like Yelp, your Facebook page, trade directories (for example Angi or Houzz for home services), local news and "best of" lists, and your own website. AI assistants trust a business more when several of these say the same thing about it.

One tip: look up your business on the two or three directories that matter most in your trade and fill in every field: services, towns served, hours and photos.

Our report lists the websites the AIs actually relied on for your customers' questions, so you know which ones to work on first.

Does my website need to let AI assistants in?

Yes. OpenAI says that for a website to appear in ChatGPT search, it must allow OpenAI's search crawler (OAI-SearchBot) and its hosting or security service must not block that traffic. The other assistants have their own crawlers too. Some website security settings show automated visitors a "checking your browser" page, which quietly keeps AI out.

One tip: ask your web person to confirm that your site's robots.txt file and security settings allow AI and search crawlers, and that your site is listed in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Even when AI can read your site, it usually leans on outside sources to decide who to recommend. Our $49 report shows whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity cite your website at all, and which sites they used instead.

What is an AI visibility report?

An AI visibility report shows how often AI assistants name your business when customers ask for what you do, compared with your competitors. Ours covers ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity: 15 customer-style questions, each asked twice with live web search, where you stand next to up to 3 competitors, which websites the AIs relied on, and your top 5 fixes. It's written in plain English, no marketing jargon. See a sample report (made for a sample insurance agency in Rockford, IL). Yours is custom built from your own test results.

AI search optimization (also called AI SEO, GEO (generative engine optimization), or AEO (answer engine optimization)) means making it easy for AI assistants (also called SI, Super Intelligence) to find, understand and trust the information about your business. It builds on the same basics as local search: a complete Google Business Profile, steady recent reviews, accurate directory listings, and a website that clearly says what you do and where.

One quick tip: make sure your website doesn't block AI tools. Some security settings show automated visitors a "checking your browser" page, so AI assistants never read your site.

Which of the rest matters most depends on your business and your competitors. Our AI Recommendation Report ($49) asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity 15 real customer questions about your kind of business in your area, twice each, and shows how often you are named, who is named instead (up to 3 competitors), which websites the AI relied on, and the top 5 fixes for your business. Read more in what is AI search.

How can a plumber show up in ChatGPT answers?

When someone asks "who's the best plumber near me?" or "emergency plumber open now in [town]", ChatGPT and the other assistants (ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity) name the plumbers they find clear, consistent information about: service area, the jobs you do (water heaters, drain cleaning, emergency calls), hours, and recent reviews that describe real work.

One tip: ask happy customers to mention the job and the town in their review, like "fixed our water heater in Plano the same day". Reviews like that match what customers ask AI. Never buy reviews.

The same approach works for HVAC companies, electricians, roofers and other trades. Our $49 report tests the questions people ask about your trade in your area and shows where you're being missed. See also how roofers get recommended by AI.

Is there an affordable AI search audit for a local contractor?

Yes. Our AI Recommendation Report is a one-time $49 AI search audit for local contractors and service businesses: no subscription, no contract, nothing technical to set up. After you pay, you fill in a 3-minute form (business name, address, services, areas served) and the report arrives by email, usually within 2-3 hours. Full refund within 14 days of payment if you're not happy.

Want the words written for you too? The Report + Fix Kit ($99) adds a Google Business Profile description, website FAQ text, a review request message and a ready-to-forward note for your web person, plus 1 re-check included within 12 months. We never log in to your accounts.

How long does it take for AI to start recommending my business?

It varies. AI assistants re-read the web on their own schedules, so changes can show up within a few weeks or take a few months. Fixes that make your business easier to find and trust tend to keep helping over time. No one can promise a timeline, which is why re-checking matters. Once you've made your fixes, you can order a re-check anytime for $19, one-time: we ask your same 15 questions again in ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity and show your new results next to your first ones. The $99 Report + Fix Kit includes 1 re-check, which you can use anytime within 12 months.

Can anyone guarantee that ChatGPT will recommend my business?

No. Be careful with anyone who promises it. AI answers change, and OpenAI, Google, xAI, Anthropic and Perplexity don't publish the details of how their assistants choose. What we do is show where you stand today and the changes most likely to help, based on the sources these AIs actually cite.

Can I pay ChatGPT or Gemini to recommend my business?

Not in the regular answers. You can't buy a spot in what ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude or Perplexity recommend. They name businesses based on the information they can find online, which is why getting that information right matters.

What's the difference between SEO and AI search optimization?

Classic SEO is about ranking in Google's list of links. AI search optimization is about being one of the few businesses an AI assistant actually names in its answer. They overlap a lot (good reviews, a clear website, accurate listings), but AI assistants lean heavily on outside sources like reviews and directories, and they often name only two or three businesses. Ranking on Google doesn't guarantee you'll be named by AI.

Do ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity give the same answers?

No. In our tests the same question often gets different businesses from each assistant, and even from the same assistant on a different day. That's why our report asks every question twice in all five and reports percentages, not a single screenshot.

How do you test the AI assistants?

We use official APIs with live web search turned on: OpenAI's API for ChatGPT, Perplexity's API for Claude, Gemini and Grok, and Perplexity's Sonar API for Perplexity. Results can differ somewhat from what you see in each consumer app.

Find out if AI recommends your business

Get the full picture: we ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity 15 real customer questions and show you what your business needs to fix. Reports start at $49.

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