How do I get my business found in ChatGPT?

Where does ChatGPT get information about businesses?

ChatGPT doesn't always look things up. OpenAI's help center says ChatGPT may search the web automatically when a question would benefit from current information, and that people can also start a web search themselves from the tools menu ^[1]. When a search runs, the answer can include citations and a Sources list that show where the information came from ^[1].

When ChatGPT answers without searching, it relies on what the underlying model already learned. OpenAI's GPTBot crawler collects content that may be used to train its models ^[2], but OpenAI doesn't say when that content would show up in an answer. For a local business, the search path probably matters more, because it is the main documented way current hours, services and contact details can reach an answer. That is our inference.

ChatGPT search doesn't rely on one crawler alone. OpenAI says ChatGPT search sometimes partners with other search providers and typically rewrites a person's question into one or more targeted queries that it sends to those providers ^[1]. OpenAI's 2024 launch post described ChatGPT search as using third-party search providers as well as content provided directly by partners ^[3].

OpenAI doesn't publish which provider handles which question. Its help page links to the Microsoft privacy statement and the Shopify privacy policy for readers who want to know how search providers may process queries ^[1], and it stops there. If you want to know whether Google Business Profile data is involved, see what is and isn't documented about ChatGPT and Google Business Profiles.

Which OpenAI crawlers matter for being found?

OpenAI documents four web agents ^[2]. Three of them matter for most business websites; the fourth, OAI-AdsBot, only visits pages submitted as ChatGPT ads. Each has a different job, and only one decides whether your site can appear in ChatGPT search answers.

These settings are independent. OpenAI gives the example of allowing OAI-SearchBot so a site can appear in search results while disallowing GPTBot so its content isn't used for training ^[2]. A business that wants to be found, but would rather not contribute to model training, can make exactly that choice.

What can a business owner actually control?

OpenAI doesn't document a way for an individual business to submit its details to ChatGPT or edit its answers. What you can control is whether OpenAI's search crawler can reach your website and what it finds when it gets there.

1. Allow OAI-SearchBot in your robots.txt file. OpenAI recommends this to help your site appear in search results ^[2], and its help center lists allowing OAI-SearchBot as one of two steps that make a website eligible for inclusion; the other is letting OpenAI's published searchbot IP addresses through your host or CDN ^[1].
2. Check your host and CDN. OpenAI's help center also asks site owners to confirm that the website host or content delivery network allows traffic from OpenAI's published searchbot IP addresses ^[1]. The list is published at openai.com/searchbot.json ^[2]. Bot-protection features are worth checking specifically, because they can block crawlers you meant to allow.
3. Give changes time. OpenAI says it can take about 24 hours from a robots.txt update for its search systems to adjust ^[2].
4. Make the facts easy to read. Put your business name, location or service area, phone number, hours and main services on your website as plain text. The visibility checklist covers this step by step.
5. Be findable in web search generally. Because ChatGPT search sometimes sends queries to third-party search providers ^[1], a site that ordinary search engines haven't indexed may give ChatGPT little to work with. This is our inference; OpenAI doesn't describe the exact dependency.

How does location shape ChatGPT's local answers?

ChatGPT uses location to make local answers relevant. OpenAI says ChatGPT may estimate a general location from a person's IP address and gives the example of turning "good restaurants near me" into the search "top restaurants San Francisco" ^[1]. Sharing device location is optional and off by default ^[1].

Other context can shape the search too. If memory is turned on, ChatGPT may use saved memories when rewriting a query, such as adding a dietary preference to a restaurant search ^[1]. OpenAI also says ChatGPT may share location with trusted third-party providers that supply local information such as nearby business listings ^[1]. Those providers aren't named.

OpenAI's June 24, 2026 release notes said an updated model makes better use of location context to surface relevant nearby options for local business questions ^[4]. The practical takeaway is our inference: if searches get rewritten around a city or neighborhood, a website that names the places you serve in plain words is easier to match than one that never says where you work.

What are the limits?

OpenAI says ChatGPT ranks search results using multiple factors intended to help people find relevant, reliable information, and that placement is not guaranteed ^[1]. OpenAI doesn't list those factors. Anyone who claims to know them precisely, or promises a spot in ChatGPT's answers, is going beyond what OpenAI has published.

Answers can also be wrong. OpenAI's help center warns that search results and citations can be incomplete, outdated or incorrect, and suggests opening the cited source to check it ^[1]. If ChatGPT gets your hours wrong, look at which page it cited. Correcting that page is usually the only lever you have, because we haven't found an OpenAI process that lets a business edit how ChatGPT describes it.

Finally, one answer isn't a measurement. Results can vary with location and saved memories ^[1], and often with wording too, so test several realistic questions over time. See how to check whether AI knows your business for a simple method, and why ChatGPT can't find a business if you seem to be missing.