How to Show Up in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Search

What is AI search?

More and more people ask questions to AI tools instead of scrolling through ten blue links. Google shows AI Overviews at the top of many results and offers AI Mode for longer conversations. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and others search the web and write an answer, often with links to the sources they used.

For a business, this changes the question from “Do I rank first?” to “Am I one of the sources the AI trusts and cites?” Some marketers now call this generative engine optimization or answer engine optimization. The name matters less than the reality: the foundations are very close to good SEO and good local marketing.

What Google and OpenAI actually say

A lot of advice online about AI search is speculation. Here is what the companies have documented publicly.

Google: its Search Central documentation states there are no additional requirements and no special optimizations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. A page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet. Google also says these features may use “query fan-out”, running several related searches on subtopics to find a wider range of sources. Google recommends allowing crawling, keeping important content in text form, making sure structured data matches visible content, and keeping your Business Profile and Merchant Center information up to date. Appearing is never guaranteed.

OpenAI: ChatGPT search uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot. According to OpenAI, sites that block it in robots.txt will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, apart from basic navigational links. This is separate from GPTBot, which collects content for model training. You can allow one and block the other.

Nobody outside these companies knows the exact selection formula, so be wary of anyone who guarantees AI placement.

Five steps to improve your AI visibility

None of these steps is exotic. They are the same habits that help in classic search, applied with the way AI tools read and summarize content in mind.

Step 1: Make sure AI tools can read your site

• Check your robots.txt. Make sure you are not accidentally blocking Googlebot, Bingbot or OAI-SearchBot.
• Check your security or CDN settings. Some firewall and bot-protection tools block AI crawlers by default.
• Put key information in real text, not only in images, PDFs or videos.
• Make sure important pages are indexed in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Step 2: Write clear answers to real questions

AI tools build answers from passages that respond directly to a question. Make your content easy to quote:

• start service pages with a plain one- or two-sentence summary of what you do, where and for whom;
• use headings phrased like real questions customers ask;
• answer the question in the first sentence under each heading, then add detail;
• include concrete facts: service areas, hours, process, timelines, what is included and what is not;
• add a short FAQ section to your main pages.

Write in both French and English if you serve both markets. Many people in Quebec ask AI tools questions in French, and your French pages need the same depth as your English ones. Under the Charter of the French language, your site must be available in French anyway.

Step 3: Use structured data accurately

Structured data (schema.org markup) helps search engines understand who you are: a LocalBusiness with an address, hours and phone number, a Product with a price, an FAQ, an article author. Google is clear that it is not a special requirement for AI features, but it helps machines interpret your pages correctly. The rule is simple: the markup must match what visitors see on the page. Many WordPress and Shopify themes and SEO plugins add basic markup automatically; check it with Google’s Rich Results Test and fill in missing details such as your hours and service area.

Step 4: Build your reputation beyond your own website

AI answers often summarize what many sources say about a business. Your own site is only one of them. Work on:

• Reviews on Google and relevant platforms, with replies from you;
• Mentions in local media, industry associations, chambers of commerce and partner websites;
• Directory listings with the same name, address and phone number everywhere;
• Expert content, such as guides or interviews, that others can reference.

Step 5: Strengthen local signals

For a question like “best renovation contractor in Laval”, AI tools lean heavily on local data. Keep your Google Business Profile complete: categories, services, hours, photos, service area and posts. Also claim your listing in Bing Places, since Microsoft Copilot draws from Bing. Create a page for each main service and each key area you serve, with genuinely useful local content, not copies with the city name swapped.

AI search readiness checklist

What not to expect

AI answers change often, vary from one person to another and are hard to track precisely. Being cited does not always mean a click, since some people get their answer without visiting a site. Measure what you can: branded searches, Google Business Profile actions, referral traffic from AI tools in your analytics, and leads that say they found you through ChatGPT or Google.

The bottom line

Showing up in AI search is mostly about doing the fundamentals well: a crawlable site, clear and helpful answers in French and English, accurate structured data, a complete Google Business Profile and a good reputation across the web. There are no shortcuts or guarantees, but businesses that are clear and trusted online give AI tools the best reasons to mention them. Loubane can audit your site and local presence with AI search in mind.

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