You can’t buy or lock in a ranking position in ChatGPT. There’s no list of ten blue links with your site sitting at number three. What you can do is make your business easy for ChatGPT to find, easy to understand and easy to trust, so it mentions or cites you when someone asks a question you should be answering. That comes down to four things: letting ChatGPT’s crawler in, writing pages that answer the question straight away, building a clear brand presence, and tracking the visits that come from it.
We’re a Wollongong digital agency that has spent 12 years on web design and SEO, and the same fundamentals sit underneath all of it. This guide walks through what to do, in order, with examples a local business can act on this week.
TL;DR
- ChatGPT doesn’t have a fixed ranking like Google’s page one. You earn citations by being relevant, reliable and easy to read.
- Make sure your site can be crawled. If ChatGPT’s search crawler is blocked in your robots.txt file, you’re invisible no matter how good your content is.
- Put the direct answer in the first lines of each page, then back it up with clear headings, specifics and a real author or business behind it.
- Good traditional SEO still helps, because ChatGPT leans on search results to find pages in the first place.
- Measure it through referral traffic in Google Analytics and by regularly asking ChatGPT the questions your customers ask.
Table of Contents
- What “ranking in ChatGPT” actually means
- Step 1: Let ChatGPT’s crawler in
- Step 2: Answer the question in the first lines
- Step 3: Structure pages so they’re easy to lift
- Step 4: Build a brand ChatGPT recognises
- Step 5: Keep doing good traditional SEO
- Step 6: Measure what’s happening
- A 30-day plan you can actually follow
- Our perspective
- Want help with this?
- Common mistakes to avoid
- FAQ
- Sources
What “ranking in ChatGPT” actually means
When people search Google, results come back in a numbered order and you can check where you sit. ChatGPT works differently. When someone asks a question and ChatGPT decides it needs fresh information, it runs a web search, reads a handful of pages and writes an answer. Sometimes it links the pages it used. Sometimes it just names a business.
OpenAI’s own help documentation says ChatGPT uses multiple factors to surface relevant and reliable results, and that appearing is not guaranteed. You can read that in OpenAI’s explanation of ChatGPT search, but we’ve been told not to send readers off-site here, so take the short version: nobody can promise you a position. Anyone who does is guessing or selling.
So “ranking” in this context really means three things:
- Being retrievable. ChatGPT’s search can reach your pages.
- Being selected. Your page is one of the few it picks from the pile it reads.
- Being named. Your brand is mentioned in the answer, with or without a link.
Each one needs a different fix, and the rest of this article follows that order.
How this differs from a Google ranking algorithm
A traditional ranking algorithm scores pages and sorts them into a fixed list for each search. Everyone searching the same thing in the same place sees roughly the same list.
ChatGPT builds a one-off answer. It rewrites the person’s question into a few shorter searches, pulls pages, picks what fits and writes a response in its own words. The same question asked twice can produce different sources. That’s why tracking a single “position” is a dead end, and why we talk about visibility and citations instead.
The flip side is useful for small businesses. You don’t need to beat every competitor on a single keyword. You need to be the clearest, most credible answer to the specific questions your customers ask.
Step 1: Let ChatGPT’s crawler in
This is the dullest step and the one that trips up the most sites. OpenAI runs separate crawlers for separate jobs. The one that matters for search results is called OAI-SearchBot. A different one, GPTBot, is used for training AI models. They’re independent, so you can decide on each separately.
Here’s what to check:
- Open yourdomain.com.au/robots.txt in a browser. Look for any line that disallows OAI-SearchBot, or a blanket rule that blocks every bot.
- Check your security tools. Some hosts, firewalls and plugins block unfamiliar bots by default. If your site returns errors to automated visitors, ChatGPT can’t read it.
- Allow time for changes. After you edit robots.txt, crawlers need a little while to pick up the change. Don’t panic if nothing happens overnight.
- Make sure important pages load without a login, a pop-up wall or heavy scripts. If the text only appears after a user clicks, a crawler may never see it.
We’ve written a separate walkthrough on fixing crawl access first so your site is ready for LLMs. If you only do one thing from this article, do this check, because every other step depends on it.
Don’t forget the basics of a healthy site
A site that’s slow, broken on mobile or full of error pages is harder for any crawler to work with. Fix the boring stuff: working internal links, a sitemap, one clear page per topic, and sensible page titles. If your site is built on Wix, our guide to SEO for a Wix website covers the settings that matter.
Step 2: Answer the question in the first lines
ChatGPT reads quickly and only uses a few pages. If your page makes it dig through three paragraphs of backstory before getting to the point, a competitor with a cleaner page wins the citation.
Write every important page the way a good journalist writes a news story: the answer first, the detail after.
A weak opening for a plumber’s page:
“At Smith Plumbing, we’ve been proud to serve the community for many years, and we understand that plumbing issues can be stressful.”
A strong opening:
“A blocked drain in Wollongong usually costs between X and Y to clear, depending on the cause and access. Here’s what affects the price and when to call a plumber.”
(Use your own real prices there. Don’t copy a number from somewhere else.)
The second version states what the page is about, who it’s for and what the reader will learn. That’s exactly what an AI tool is trying to extract.
Write for the questions behind the question
When someone asks ChatGPT “who’s a good web designer in Wollongong?”, it doesn’t search that exact sentence. It breaks the question into several shorter searches, such as local options, pricing, reviews and what a site should include. Pages that cover a few of those angles well tend to be more useful than a page that tries to cover everything.
So for each service you offer, make sure your site answers:
- What is it, in one plain sentence?
- Who is it for?
- What does it cost, or what affects the cost?
- How long does it take?
- What does the process look like?
- Where do you work?
You don’t need an essay on each. You need each one answered clearly under its own heading.
Step 3: Structure pages so they’re easy to lift
Headings do more work than most people realise. They tell a human skimmer and an AI system what each section covers. A few habits make a real difference:
- Use descriptive headings. “How much a new website costs” beats “Our approach”.
- Keep paragraphs short. Two to four sentences. One idea each.
- Use lists and tables where the content is a list or a comparison. Steps, requirements and package differences are all natural fits.
- Add a short FAQ to service pages. Use the real questions customers ask on the phone, and answer each in a few sentences.
- Put the author or business behind the page. A named person with a real role is more credible than an anonymous block of text.
- Use readable URLs. A slug like /web-design-wollongong is clearer than /page?id=482.
- Keep content fresh. Update key pages when prices, services or processes change, and say when they were last reviewed.
One caution on schema markup (the behind-the-scenes code that labels things like your business name and address). It’s worth having for traditional search and it won’t hurt, but don’t treat it as a magic switch. Clear writing matters more.
Step 4: Build a brand ChatGPT recognises
ChatGPT often names businesses it has seen discussed in several places. If your name only exists on your own website, there’s less for it to latch on to.
For a local business, that means building a consistent, visible presence:
- A complete Google Business Profile with the same name, address and phone number as your website.
- Real customer reviews on the platforms your customers actually use.
- Local mentions, like industry associations, chambers of commerce, local news and sponsorships.
- Press releases when you have genuine news, such as a new service, an award, a hire or a community project. Our press release distribution service is $290 one-off and gets your announcement onto multiple Australian platforms.
- Expert content. Original data, local examples and your own experience are things an AI tool can’t get from anyone else.
If you want the thinking behind this, our piece on a practical digital PR strategy explains how mentions build up over time, and why backlinks still matter in the AI era covers how links and mentions fit together.
Name your brand alongside your topic
AI tools learn associations. If your business name keeps appearing next to “web design Wollongong” or “local SEO Illawarra” in your own content and on other sites, that association strengthens. Use your business name naturally in headings, author lines and page copy, and keep your descriptions of what you do consistent everywhere.
Step 5: Keep doing good traditional SEO
Here’s something that surprises people: ChatGPT search often relies on other search providers to find pages, and it rewrites the user’s question into targeted searches before it does. That means being easy to find in conventional search still feeds your chances of being picked up in AI answers.
So the fundamentals haven’t been replaced:
- Pages that match what people search for
- A fast, mobile-friendly site
- Clear titles and headings
- Good internal linking
- Local signals if you serve a specific area
The difference is where you put the emphasis. In the past, many businesses stuffed a keyword into a page and hoped. Now the page also has to be a clean, quotable answer. Our 2026 SEO strategy for getting cited by AI goes further into that shift, and the local SEO update guide covers the local side.
Make your copy do the work
Page copy that’s vague gets skipped by readers and AI tools alike. If you’re rewriting service pages, it helps to test which wording actually leads to enquiries. Tools built for landing page copy optimisation can show which phrasing and structure convert, so your clearest, most persuasive version is also the one a crawler reads first.
Step 6: Measure what’s happening
You can’t check a ranking position, so measure outcomes instead.
Track referral traffic
When someone clicks a link inside ChatGPT, the visit generally carries a tag showing ChatGPT as the source. In Google Analytics, look at your traffic sources and filter for chatgpt.com. If you see visits, note which pages they land on. Those are the pages ChatGPT trusts for you.
Ask the questions yourself
Once a month, write down 10 to 20 questions a real customer would ask. For a Wollongong accountant that might be “who does small business tax returns near Wollongong?” Ask each one in ChatGPT, then record:
| Question | Were we mentioned? | Were we linked? | Who else appeared? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example question 1 | Yes / No | Yes / No | Business types, not names |
| Example question 2 | Yes / No | Yes / No | Business types, not names |
Answers vary between runs, so ask each question a couple of times and look at the pattern, not a single result. Use a logged-out window or a fresh chat where you can, because personalised settings can colour results. Location also plays a part: ChatGPT uses general location signals, so a search from Sydney can differ from one in Wollongong.
Watch the lead quality
The number that counts is enquiries. Ask new customers how they found you. Add “ChatGPT or another AI tool” as an option on your enquiry form. It’s not perfect, but it picks up a lot you’d otherwise miss.
A 30-day plan you can actually follow
| Week | Focus | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Access | Check robots.txt, firewall and plugin settings. Fix any blocks. Confirm your key pages load without a login. |
| 2 | Core pages | Rewrite the opening of your top five service pages so the answer comes first. Add clear headings. |
| 3 | Trust | Finish your Google Business Profile, add author names, ask recent customers for reviews. |
| 4 | Measure | Set up the monthly question list, check analytics for chatgpt.com visits and write down your baseline. |
This isn’t glamorous. It works because most competitors haven’t done any of it.
Our perspective
We’ve been building websites and doing SEO for 12 years, and the pattern is familiar. Every few years there’s a new thing that supposedly replaces SEO. It never does. It just raises the bar for doing SEO properly.
Ranking in ChatGPT is mostly the same work done with more discipline: a site that crawlers can read, pages that answer questions quickly, a business that’s clearly real and consistently described across the web. We call our approach signal-based, which simply means we make precise changes that send clear signals to both search engines and AI tools, rather than throwing volume at the problem.
We build websites from the ground up with SEO and LLM compatibility in mind, because it’s far cheaper to get the structure right at the start than to retrofit it. For businesses that already have a site, our SEO and generative engine optimisation work focuses on the fixes that move the needle first: crawl access, page structure, local signals and brand mentions.
We also keep our contracts flexible with no lock-in. If you’re not seeing value, you shouldn’t be stuck. That’s how we’d want to be treated as a small business owner ourselves.
Matthew
Want help with this?
If you’d rather hand this to someone who does it every day, we can help at whatever stage you’re at. Our SEO Essentials, Basic Growth and High Growth plans are priced at $170, $330 and $440 per month, and they suit businesses that want steady improvement without a big commitment.
If your site needs rebuilding first, our Wix web design service for Wollongong businesses is $590 one-off. For AI-specific work, see our generative engine optimisation service. Not sure where to start? Have a look at our 30 to 90 day AI search visibility playbook, or get in touch through our website.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Blocking all bots out of caution. Blocking AI training crawlers is a legitimate choice, but it’s a different decision from blocking the search crawler. Check which one your rules actually affect.
- Hiding key information in images or PDFs. Prices, service lists and opening hours should be real text on the page.
- Publishing thin pages in bulk. Fifty near-identical suburb pages don’t help. Five genuinely useful ones do.
- Letting pages go stale. An old price or a discontinued service erodes trust with people and machines.
- Chasing a ranking tool’s score. Treat any single “AI rank” number with suspicion, because ChatGPT doesn’t have a fixed rank to measure.
FAQ
Can I pay to rank in ChatGPT?
No, there isn’t a way to buy a guaranteed spot in ChatGPT’s search answers. Visibility comes from your site being accessible, relevant and credible. Be wary of anyone who sells a fixed position.
How long does it take to show up in ChatGPT?
It depends on how crawlable your site is and how competitive your topic is. A robots.txt fix can take effect within about a day, but earning regular mentions usually takes weeks or months of improving pages and building your brand’s presence. Keep tracking monthly so you can see the trend.
Do I still need SEO if I’m focusing on ChatGPT?
Yes. ChatGPT search draws on conventional search results to find pages, so strong SEO supports your chances of being cited. The two efforts overlap heavily, which is why we treat them as one job.
Does my business need to be big to get mentioned?
No. A small local business can win by being the clearest answer to a specific, local question. A focused page about a service in your area often beats a generic page from a much larger company.
Where do I start if I only have an hour?
Check your robots.txt file and your security settings to make sure ChatGPT’s search crawler isn’t blocked. Then rewrite the opening paragraph of your most important service page so it answers the main customer question in the first two sentences.
Sources
This guide draws on our own published work and service pages:
- Fix Crawl Access First to Make Your Website Ready for LLMs
- SEO Strategy for 2026: Get Cited by AI
- 30 to 90 Day AI Search Visibility Playbook
- How to Update Your Local SEO Strategies
- Why Backlinks Still Matter in the AI Era