How to Get Your Trade Business Recommended by ChatGPT & AI Search

More and more customers are skipping Google and just asking an AI: "Who's the best shopfront installer in Birmingham?" or "Recommend a reliable glazing company near me." If your business isn't part of that answer, you're invisible to a fast-growing slice of buyers. Getting in is called GEO — Generative Engine Optimisation.

What is GEO and how is it different from SEO?

SEO gets you ranked in a list of blue links. GEO gets you named and cited inside the AI's answer — by ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot. The good news: the foundations overlap, so doing this well helps your Google rankings too.

Where AI gets its answers

AI assistants pull from the open web, from Google/Bing results, and from places they trust — your website, your Google Business Profile, directories, and review sites. To be recommended, you need to be present, consistent and clearly described across all of them.

How to make AI recommend you

1. Make your website answer real questions

AI loves clear, factual content. Add pages and FAQs that directly answer what customers ask: "How much does a shopfront cost?", "Do you cover [town]?", "How long does installation take?". Write in plain, direct sentences — that's exactly what AI quotes.

2. Be explicit about who you are and where you work

State your services, service areas, and credentials in plain text on the page — don't hide them in images. Add structured data (Organization, LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ) so machines understand your business without guessing.

3. Get consistent across the web

Your business name, address, phone and services should match on your site, Google Business Profile, and every directory. AI cross-checks sources; inconsistency makes it distrust — and skip — you.

4. Build reviews and mentions

AI weighs reputation. Steady Google reviews, mentions on local and trade sites, and being listed where your industry is discussed all increase the chance you're the name it surfaces.

5. Earn citations from pages AI trusts

Getting mentioned or linked from reputable local and industry websites tells AI you're a real, credible option — the same links that help SEO also feed GEO.

How to check if it's working

Simply ask the assistants. Open ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and type the questions your customers would: "best [your trade] in [your town]". Note whether you appear, who does, and what sources they cite — then close those gaps. Re-test monthly.

The bottom line

AI search is where Google was 20 years ago — early, and wide open for the businesses that act now. Get your site clear and factual, your profile and reviews consistent, and your structured data in place, and you'll start showing up in the answers your competitors don't even know exist yet.