How to rank in ChatGPT: what OpenAI says and what works in practice
Yakiv Romanchuk, founder of JW2D · Published
Short answer
There is no “ranking” in ChatGPT in the classic sense, but there are clear conditions for getting into its answers. According to OpenAI, any public website can appear in ChatGPT search; the site must not block the OAI-SearchBot crawler. ChatGPT search uses third-party search providers, one of which is Bing, so indexing in Bing matters too. Then the content decides: clear answers, facts, numbers and sources.
How ChatGPT finds websites
When ChatGPT searches the web, it relies on two things:
- Its own crawler. OpenAI documentation says OAI-SearchBot is used to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT’s search features.
- Third-party search providers. OpenAI states that ChatGPT search leverages third-party search providers; Microsoft Bing is one of them.
This means two conditions: OAI-SearchBot must be able to read your pages, and your pages should be indexed in Bing.
Three OpenAI crawlers and which one matters
| Crawler | What it is used for (according to OpenAI) | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| OAI-SearchBot | Surfacing websites in ChatGPT search results | Do not block it if you want to appear in ChatGPT answers |
| ChatGPT-User | Visiting pages for certain user actions in ChatGPT and custom GPTs | Usually leave it allowed |
| GPTBot | Crawling content that may be used to train OpenAI models | Your choice: block it if you do not want your content used for training |
OpenAI writes that sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as navigational links. Check your robots.txt: a general “block all bots” rule or an overly strict firewall setting can hide your site from ChatGPT without you noticing.
How to get your business into ChatGPT answers: step by step
- Check robots.txt. Make sure OAI-SearchBot is not disallowed.
- Get indexed in Bing. Add the site to Bing Webmaster Tools and submit a sitemap. IndexNow, a protocol supported by Bing, lets you notify search engines about new and changed pages immediately.
- Answer real questions. Collect the questions customers ask about your niche and answer each one on the site in the first sentences of a page.
- Add facts, numbers and sources. In the research paper that introduced GEO, adding quotations, statistics and citations increased a source’s visibility in AI answers by up to 40%, while keyword stuffing gave little to no improvement.
- Keep company facts consistent. In our practice, when the website, directories and profiles show different prices or addresses, AI answers repeat the mistake or skip the company.
- Grow independent mentions. In our practice, directories, media, partner sites and real reviews help the AI find confirmation that the business exists and is relevant.
- Check the answers regularly. Ask ChatGPT the same set of questions every month and record whether you are mentioned and which sources it cites.
How to see visits from ChatGPT
OpenAI states that ChatGPT automatically adds the parameter utm_source=chatgpt.com to referral links. In Google Analytics or another analytics tool you can filter visits by this source and see how many people came from ChatGPT and what they did on the site.
Not every mention brings a click: ChatGPT may name your company without the user opening the site. That is why, besides traffic, we also track mentions in the answers themselves.
Example from Tallinn
Our AI case studies show how this works for small local businesses: for questions asked in Russian, Gemini names Prjanja first for designer gingerbread in Tallinn and Smoked House second for smoked fish. The same principles — clear facts, answers to real questions, a well-indexed site — apply to ChatGPT. Queries, screenshots and dates are on the AI case studies page.
Sources
FAQ
Can any website appear in ChatGPT?
According to OpenAI, any public website can appear in ChatGPT search, as long as it does not block the OAI-SearchBot crawler.
Does blocking GPTBot remove my site from ChatGPT search?
GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot are different crawlers. OpenAI describes GPTBot as crawling content that may be used for training and OAI-SearchBot as surfacing sites in ChatGPT search. Sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers.
Does ChatGPT use Google or Bing?
OpenAI says ChatGPT search uses third-party search providers and its own crawler; Bing is one of those providers.
How do I know if visitors come from ChatGPT?
ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to referral links, so these visits can be filtered in Google Analytics and other tools.
How long does it take to appear in ChatGPT answers?
There is no fixed timeline: it depends on indexing, on how often sources are updated and on competition in the niche. We check the answers regularly and report the changes.
Want AI to recommend your business?
We will check what ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity say about your niche today and show you where to start.
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