How to Rank in ChatGPT, Gemini and Other AI Tools

What Does Ranking in AI Tools Mean?

Ranking in AI tools means your website, brand, service or content appears inside answers generated by platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews.

In traditional SEO, users see a list of links. In AI search, users often receive a direct answer with selected sources, citations, brand mentions or suggested websites. That means your goal is not only to rank on page one of Google. Your goal is to become a trusted source that AI systems can understand and include in their answers.

For example, a user may ask:

“What is the best SEO agency for small businesses?”
“How can I rank my website in ChatGPT?”
“What is the difference between SEO and AEO?”
“Which agency helps with AI search visibility?”

If your website has strong content, clear structure, trusted signals and proper technical SEO, it has a better chance of being found, understood and referenced by AI tools. For businesses that want stronger online visibility, professional SEO services are still the foundation of AI search growth.

Why AI Visibility Matters for Businesses

AI tools are changing how people search for information. Instead of typing short keywords, users now ask full questions. They expect quick, clear and reliable answers.

This creates a big opportunity for businesses. If your brand appears in AI answers, it can build trust before the user even visits your website. AI visibility can help with:

• Brand awareness
• Website traffic
• Lead generation
• Authority building
• Product discovery
• Local business visibility
• Service recommendations
• Content trust

Search is no longer only about keywords. It is also about answers, entities, trust and authority. This is why businesses now need a combined SEO, AEO and GEO strategy.

AN SEO Agency explains this modern search shift in its guide on AEO and SEO strategies, where SEO supports rankings and AEO helps content answer direct questions for search engines and AI platforms.

Is SEO Still Important for ChatGPT and Gemini?

Yes, SEO is still very important.

Google clearly says that optimizing for generative AI features in Google Search is still SEO from Google Search’s perspective. Google also says that foundational SEO best practices continue to matter for AI Overviews and AI Mode.

This means AI visibility does not replace SEO. It expands it.

Traditional SEO helps your website get crawled, indexed and ranked. AEO helps your content answer direct user questions. GEO, or generative engine optimization, helps your content become easier for AI systems to understand, summarize and cite.

You can think of it like this:

Strategy	Main Purpose
SEO	Helps pages rank in search engines
AEO	Helps content answer direct questions
GEO	Helps content appear in AI-generated answers
Technical SEO	Helps crawlers access and understand your site
Brand SEO	Helps AI tools connect your brand with trusted topics

If you want to understand the difference in more detail, read AN SEO Agency’s guide on the difference between SEO and AEO.

How AI Tools Choose Websites and Sources

AI tools use different systems to answer questions. Some rely on search indexes. Some use live web search. Some use citations from web pages. Some use a mix of trained knowledge and real-time retrieval.

For ChatGPT search visibility, OpenAI explains that OAI-SearchBot is used to help surface websites in search results and that site owners can manage crawler access through robots.txt. OpenAI also explains that OAI-SearchBot is separate from GPTBot.

For Gemini, Google AI for Developers explains that Grounding with Google Search can connect Gemini responses with real-time information from Google Search and provide citations.

For Bing and Copilot, Bing’s webmaster guidelines state that AI search experiences rely on the same core crawling, indexing and ranking foundation as traditional search.

In simple words, AI tools are more likely to use websites that are:

• Crawlable
• Indexed
• Helpful
• Updated
• Technically clean
• Easy to understand
• Written with clear answers
• Supported by trust signals
• Mentioned on reliable websites

Build a Strong SEO Foundation First

Before trying to rank in ChatGPT, Gemini or other AI tools, make sure your website is strong enough for normal search engines.

AI tools often depend on web indexes, search systems and crawlable content. If your website has technical errors, indexing problems or poor content structure, AI tools may struggle to understand it.

Start with these SEO basics:

• Make sure important pages are indexed
• Submit an XML sitemap
• Fix broken links
• Improve page speed
• Use clear URL structures
• Add internal links
• Make content available in text form
• Avoid hiding important information in images
• Use mobile-friendly design
• Fix duplicate content
• Use proper canonical tags

AN SEO Agency’s technical SEO services focus on crawling, indexing, site structure, performance and technical improvements that help search engines understand a website better.

Google’s AI features documentation also says that existing SEO best practices remain relevant for AI features in Google Search. Pages generally need to be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet to be eligible for AI features.

Create Helpful Answer-Based Content

AI tools are designed to answer questions. Therefore, your content should be written around real user questions, not only keywords.

Instead of writing only a basic service page like “SEO Services,” create content that answers questions such as:

• What are SEO services?
• How does SEO help business growth?
• How long does SEO take?
• What is technical SEO?
• How can I rank in ChatGPT?
• What is AEO?
• What is GEO?
• How does schema help search visibility?

This makes your content more useful for both users and AI tools.

A good AI-friendly article should include:

• Clear headings
• Short direct answers
• Helpful examples
• Tables
• FAQs
• Step-by-step sections
• Internal links
• External references
• Updated information
• Expert insight

Google recommends creating valuable, non-commodity content for users instead of publishing generic content that repeats what is already available online.

Improve Technical SEO and Crawlability

Technical SEO is one of the most important parts of AI visibility. If crawlers cannot access your content, AI tools may not be able to use it.

Check these areas:

• Robots.txt
• XML sitemap
• Page speed
• Mobile usability
• Indexing status
• Internal linking
• Core Web Vitals
• HTTPS security
• Canonical tags
• Redirect chains
• Broken links
• Crawl errors

AN SEO Agency’s blog on why technical SEO matters for website performance explains how crawlability, speed, HTTPS, structure and user experience support search performance.

Technical SEO also supports AI visibility because AI tools often depend on clean and accessible web content.

Use Structured Data Properly

Structured data helps search engines understand your content more clearly. It does not guarantee rankings in AI tools, but it supports better website understanding.

Useful schema types include:

• Organization schema
• LocalBusiness schema
• Article schema
• FAQ schema
• Service schema
• Product schema
• Review schema
• Breadcrumb schema
• Person schema

AN SEO Agency provides structured data optimisation to help businesses organize website information in a way search engines can understand more easily.

Google says there is no special schema required only for generative AI search features. However, structured data still remains useful when it matches visible page content and follows Google’s guidelines.

So, use schema carefully. Do not add fake FAQ schema, fake review markup or schema that does not match the visible page content.

Build Brand Authority and Trust

AI tools do not only look at one page. They look for trust signals across the web.

To build authority, your website should clearly show:

• Brand name
• Services
• Location
• Contact details
• Team information
• Author bios
• Case studies
• Reviews
• Testimonials
• Industry experience
• Portfolio
• Social profiles
• Business listings

Your brand should also be consistent everywhere. Use the same business name, website URL, phone number and service descriptions across your website, Google Business Profile, social media and directories.

For example, if your brand is AN SEO Agency, keep the name consistent. Avoid using different spellings across platforms.

Google’s AI optimization guide also recommends building clear, valuable information for users and maintaining a strong technical and content foundation.

Allow Important AI Crawlers

If you want your website to appear in AI search results, make sure you are not accidentally blocking important crawlers.

For ChatGPT search visibility, review your robots.txt file and allow OAI-SearchBot where appropriate. OpenAI explains that OAI-SearchBot helps surface websites in search results and is separate from GPTBot, which is associated with training-related crawling.

Example robots.txt rule:

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot

Allow: /

Also check that your website does not block:

• Googlebot
• Bingbot
• Important search crawlers
• Public service pages
• Blog posts
• Sitemap files
• CSS and JavaScript needed for rendering

If your pages are blocked, hidden behind logins or marked noindex, AI tools may not be able to use them.

Optimize for Google AI Overviews and Gemini

Gemini and Google AI search experiences are closely connected with Google Search. That means Google indexing, search quality and helpful content matter.

Google’s AI features documentation says the best practices for SEO remain relevant for AI features like AI Overviews and AI Mode.

To improve visibility in Google AI features and Gemini-related search experiences:

• Keep pages indexable
• Write helpful content
• Answer related questions
• Add strong internal links
• Use structured data properly
• Improve page experience
• Use clear headings
• Include original insights
• Keep information updated
• Build brand authority

Gemini can also use Google Search grounding in developer applications to provide more accurate responses and citations from Google Search.

This means your Google Search visibility can support your Gemini visibility too.

Earn Mentions on Trusted Websites

AI tools often look beyond your own website. They may also consider trusted mentions, citations, reviews and third-party references.

Try to earn mentions from:

• Industry blogs
• News websites
• Business directories
• Review platforms
• Partner websites
• Podcasts
• YouTube descriptions
• LinkedIn articles
• Local directories
• Guest posts
• Case studies
• Software directories

However, avoid fake mentions, spammy backlinks or low-quality directory submissions. AI tools and search engines are becoming better at identifying low-quality signals.

A strong digital PR and content marketing strategy can support both SEO and AI visibility.

Track Your AI Visibility

AI visibility should be tracked regularly. You cannot improve what you do not measure.

Create a simple tracking sheet and test prompts across tools like:

• ChatGPT
• Gemini
• Perplexity
• Copilot
• Google AI Overviews
• Bing
• You.com

Track these details:

Prompt	Tool	Your Brand Mentioned	Competitors Mentioned	Source Cited	Action Needed
Best SEO agency for small businesses	ChatGPT	No	Yes	Competitor blog	Create comparison content
How to improve AI visibility	Gemini	Yes	Yes	Service page	Improve internal links
Technical SEO checklist	Copilot	No	Yes	Third-party guide	Build stronger guide

Run the same checks every month. AI answers can change based on new content, search results, user intent and source freshness.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Many businesses misunderstand AI visibility. Avoid these mistakes:

• Publishing generic AI-written content
• Ignoring technical SEO
• Blocking important crawlers
• Not using internal links
• Adding fake schema
• Creating thin pages
• Not updating old content
• Ignoring brand mentions
• Forgetting Google Business Profile
• Not tracking AI results
• Expecting instant results

AI search visibility takes time. It depends on website authority, content quality, technical health, indexing, trust and how often AI tools refresh or retrieve information.