How to make ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and other AI cite your website

You are probably already accustomed to using ChatGPT to quickly find answers to both everyday and work-related questions. Your customers do the same. In any business, from local beauty services to wholesale equipment purchases, some customers come after communicating with AI assistants. Statistics testify to the involvement of GPT chat in people’s lives. This AI assistant attracted 1 million users in just the first five days of its existence. And by December 2025, the number of visits to the resource reached 5.2 billion per month. We will tell you how to use this situation to your business advantage and get AI to quote your website. 

How ChatGPT and other AI read your website

Let’s say a user asks ChatGPT to find a nearby car service centre where they can get their car serviced quickly and inexpensively. In just a few seconds, the assistant provides a detailed response with a list of candidates. What happens in those few seconds, and why were these particular garages chosen?

LLM (large language models) focus not on keywords, as traditional search engines do, but on the user’s intention (in this case, to conduct a technical inspection without spending too much time and money on it). Upon receiving a query, the neural network reinterprets it and begins searching. To do this, it either sends queries to Google or Bing search engines, or scans websites through its access to browsing.

In this way, the neural network formed a database of workshops, from which it selected several that were suitable for our user.

Now for the main point – how specific workshops ended up in the final answer:

• Their websites provided relevant information: availability and description of the required service, open contact details and location, published price list.
• The information on the websites was presented in a format that was understandable to LLM: specific headings, small blocks of information, tables, answers to questions.
• Good technical optimisation allowed neural networks to quickly scan the website: clean code, uncluttered JavaScript, fast page loading.

By analysing a large number of sources simultaneously, the neural network takes into account information about the company not only on its website, but also on external resources. Reviews on maps, discussions on thematic forums, and author publications in specialised publications are also important.

How AI search differs from traditional search and how it affects SEO

Both searches consist of the same three stages: the user enters a query, algorithms monitor information on the network, and the system provides an answer. All three stages will be different for AI search and conventional search engine use.

First, the user forms a more abstract query for AI, often similar to a request for advice or recommendations. For example, if a person wants to buy a new smartphone, they will enter the model name in Google with the additional words ‘buy’ or ‘price.’ In ChatGPT, they can ask a more general question. For example, ‘recommend an Android with an iPhone-level camera for up to £30,000.’

Secondly, the search engine will analyse pages for SEO factors (relevance to the keyword, uniqueness and quality of the text, compliance with E-E-A-T principles, behavioural factors). The neural network algorithm focuses not only on SEO factors, but also on the user’s intent. Its priority is easy-to-read pages with a clear structure, convenient layout, and comprehensive information.

Thirdly, the presentation of answers is different. In classic search results, the user receives links to resources where they can continue their search on their smartphone. AI, on the other hand, provides ready-made solutions. These can be a convenient selection of models with specifications, short reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for choosing.

SEO in the age of AI is focused on optimising content that will be understandable to users, search algorithms, and artificial intelligence.

We offer a comparison of both systems in the table below.

How to get AI systems to recommend your website content

To get into the responses of ChatGPT and other smart assistants, you need to optimise your content for AI, focusing on the current behaviour of algorithms. Here are some recommendations on how to do this.

Start with technical optimisation

The chances of getting into AI search results are higher for websites that have no code issues, load pages quickly, have correctly configured redirects, are adapted for mobile devices, and have a logical and understandable page structure. Therefore, in optimisation for intelligent systems, as in classic SEO, the technical component remains in first place.

Work on the quality and variety of content

In fact, to create quality content for AI, it is enough to think about your target customer and provide information in a way that they would like. ChatGPT and other intelligent assistants are focused on the user’s intent. Therefore, it will look for reliable, authoritative sources.

To prove that your content can be considered expert, focus on the following:

• Use real statistics and research results with references to primary sources.
• Create unique articles in a niche where you are truly an expert.
• Don’t forget to indicate authorship.
• Write clearly and present information in the form of answers to questions.
• Avoid ambiguities, lengthy formulations, and fluff.
• Prove your expertise with real experience, publish case studies, and share your reviews.
• Update data if it is outdated, and constantly work on adding new content. AI loves live sites with up-to-date information.

And remember that content is not just text. Add tables, diagrams, graphs, photos, and videos. Combining these formats makes the page more diverse and helps to make the information easier to understand.

Structure your information

AI systems prefer structured data. The reason is that it is easier to process, compare, and use to form a response. Use the following methods to structure your content:

• Headings (h1, h2, h3, etc.), bulleted and numbered lists, tables.
• Short paragraphs (optimal formula: one paragraph = one complete thought).
• Micro-markup for semantic blocks (FAQ, HowTo, Article, Product, etc.).

Artificial intelligence prefers content that can be quickly analysed and does not require ‘guessing’ what it is about.

Optimise your website for crawl bots

To avoid losing visibility in AI responses, it is important not to hide your website from neural networks. Systems such as ChatGPT may ignore resources with difficult data access due to JavaScript overload, advertising, and pop-ups. Websites that prohibit the use of fragments are also excluded from AI results.

It is also worth checking the robots.txt file. If it blocks access for user agents, AI algorithms will not be able to obtain or correctly interpret data.

Boost your brand’s reputation

Properly preparing and formatting content is only part of the task. In order for AI to want to recommend your site, it is important to prove your authority in your niche.

Your assistants in this matter are:

• Social networks. Be active, share relevant posts about your activities, communicate with your audience.
• Specialised websites. Post expert articles with backlinks.
• Partners. Participate in joint events, interact with other market participants.
• Your customers. Respond to reviews and comments.

Since LLMs analyse a large number of sources simultaneously, any external citation increases the chance of being noticed and included in AI responses.

Content optimisation for various IS systems

Although ChatGPT has captured nearly 80% of AI chatbot users, other assistants also have an audience of several million users. Therefore, in order not to lose customers who use different services, we suggest understanding their differences.

ChatGPT

The most popular AI assistant generates responses based on one of two scenarios: with web browsing turned off and with web browsing turned on. The second option is more relevant for the paid Plus and Pro versions. The free version also offers internet search, but without advanced features. If web browsing is disabled, the chat is based on prior training.

For your link to be included in ChatGPT’s recommendations, the user must have internet search enabled. Your content must match the intent of the query, be clearly worded, have a clear structure, and contain reliable data.

Google AI Overviews

Google AI Overview’s generative responses appear above other search results. This mainly applies to informative queries. It is even easier to see fragments of your content there than to get into ChatGPT’s answers. The fact is that Google has already indexed your site, and if the page is in the top 10-20, it means that its quality is quite satisfactory. Classic SEO, good structure, and high-quality content increase your chances.

Gemini

This neural network uses Googlebot and Google-Extended search bots. Therefore, its quality indicators are the same as those of standard Google search. To get into Gemini’s results, you cannot do without classic SEO optimisation of your website, compliance with E-E-A-T principles, and a good reputation on the web.

Perplexity

It can be called a full-fledged AI search engine, as the system works in constant web search mode. It prefers structured materials and responds well to micro-markup. The presence of FAQ formats, tables, and lists on the page will be a plus.

Claude

This AI assistant can work without direct web search. But if web browsing is enabled, it uses Google and Bing for search. Claude is mainly used for analysing complex topics, analytics, and complex information. Therefore, it focuses on sources where information is presented in the most reasoned way possible.

If you are wondering which algorithms are better to focus on — ChatGPT, Perplexity, or other assistants — it is worth starting from the niche and needs of your audience. For example, among Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity users, queries related to programming, technology, and other professional activities predominate. ChatGPT, on the other hand, is more often used for everyday questions and recommendations.

How to track visibility in neural networks and traffic from AI search results

While classic SEO uses very specific metrics (search engine rankings, number of clicks, conversions) to measure effectiveness, the approach to assessing visibility in AI is less formalised.

How to track visibility in neural networks and traffic from AI search results

While classic SEO uses very specific indicators (positions in search results, number of clicks, conversions) to measure effectiveness, the approach to assessing visibility in AI is less formalised.

We offer you the latest tools to help you assess your website’s relationship with neural networks:

• Google Analytics. Here, through traffic sources, you can check whether users came to the site via links from neural networks. To do this, look for parameters such as openai.com or UTM tags that indicate an AI source.
• SE Ranking. This service shows keyword positions in AI search results. You can also compare your brand’s visibility with competitors, view links and mentions related to interesting queries, and track trends.
• Mentions.so. With this service, you can track mentions in AI assistant responses and compare your brand’s visibility with competitors in real time.
• Your website logs. Here you can track the activity of crawler bots such as Googlebot, Google-Extended, GPTBot, and Bingbot.
• AI citations feature in Ahrefs. Evaluates mentions of your site in ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
• Manual check. By entering queries that interest you into the neural network, you can analyse what content is mentioned, whether your site is among it, and how it is presented.

When SEOGeeks handles your promotion, you always receive clear, visualised reports. For the convenience of our clients, we prepare reports in Looker Studio, where we display data on traffic from AI services in an accessible format. Here you can see how much traffic was attracted from popular AI assistants, the total viewing time, and the bounce rate for the period you are interested in.

Sources

• https://www.semrush.com/website/top
• https://gs.statcounter.com/ai-chatbot-market-share
• https://gptrends.io/blog/mid-2025-ai-chatbot-scorecard
• https://explodingtopics.com/blog/chatgpt-users