How to get cited on AI and large language models like Chatgpt

It's becoming more and more clear that the sources ChatGPT uses are primarily responsible for citing your business for local searches.

While we don’t know much about the exact ChatGPT algorithm, it often reveals the sources it uses for local business data. That shows us exactly what to improve to gain more visibility in LLMs (large language models) like ChatGPT.

ChatGPT cites public web pages. If you want it to mention your business in local searches, you need to show up on the pages it reads and trusts.

What “sources” means​

Your site and a handful of page types across the web: local landing pages, homepages, best-of posts, business listings, store hubs, local Contact Us pages, public social posts, PDFs, forum threads, and government or city directories.

How it likely decides what to use as a source

• Consistent, crawlable info (name, address, phone, hours, website).
• Clear local signals (NAP + geographic words) and structured data (local schema).
• Repeated business mentions across trusted sites and directories.
• Relevant, (maybe helpful) specific content about your services, stores and location.

If you want to figure out why ChatGPT is listing or mentioning your business - or your competitors’ - run a search and check the sources it cites. Local searches are especially tied to the open web. ChatGPT pulls from all kinds of local sources to find relevant information about your industry, your area, and, ultimately, your business.

Local ChatGPT results​

Right now, results can shift based on how you search and what account you have:

• When you’re logged in
• When you’re logged out
• When you’re on a paid plan
• Paid plan with thinking mode (extensive)
• Paid plan with fast mode

ChatGPT also makes a lot of mistakes with sources. It can cite the wrong site or even hallucinate a source. Always double check the citations, since the “source” might not actually match what you see.

The funniest thing I’ve seen is when it shows one business first, then lists the biggest competitor as the source right underneath. That’s rough. Picture this: you’re ready to buy, you trust ChatGPT’s pick, and you click through to a completely different company because the source points there. Even if you trust the AI, that “source” could be made up, and all your research goes nowhere if you don’t watch the brand name and details.

For this study, I ran a bunch of local searches to see the range of sources ChatGPT might pull from:

• “(service) near me”
• “(service) type in (area)”
• “best (service) in (area)”
• “best (niche) store in (area)”
• “What is the best (niche) store in (area)”
• “What is the best (service) in (area)”

The phrasing matters. Change the wording a little and the sources shift.

Remember, an LLM is not a judge. It is a prediction engine. It does not know which business is “best.” It predicts text based on the data it was fed.

ChatGPT citation sources

17 Citation Sources ChatGPT Seems to Trust​

I ran a few hundred searches for these locally relevant terms and want to share the list of sources ChatGPT commonly uses. It’s essentially all the different types of web content where you can be mentioned or listed. Some are easy to get on; some are quite difficult.

1. Your official brand website (or regional subdomains)​

This is where you should publish clear content about pricing, comparisons, reviews, and options. ChatGPT doesn’t just look at your homepage - it also considers the deeper content you create.

2. Neighborhood sites (like 34thstreet-org)​

There are neighborhood sites or Business Improvement District (BID) sites often supported by local government. If your business is in such an area, get listed so AI tools like ChatGPT can use them as sources.

3. General business directories/review sites (i.e., Yelp, bbb-org, TripAdvisor)​

General directories like Yelp or BBB still carry authority - not only for Google’s prominence signals but also for AI SEO. Best practice is to make sure your name, address, and phone (NAP) are accurate and to collect genuine positive reviews on as many high-authority sites as possible. These sites can also drive traffic, so optimize your profiles for visibility and conversions.

4. Niche directories (like opentable)​

Similar to general directories, but focused on specific niches. Run a few Google searches for your key terms and see which niche directories appear on the first pages.

5. Local directories (like nybusinessdirectory-com)​

Local directories focus on a specific city or region. Explore your area, see where neighboring businesses are listed, and get your business added there too.

6. Local listing aggregators (like Foursquare)​

Some aggregators push your data across their networks automatically. BrightLocal, for example, offers distribution to networks like Foursquare or Neustar Localeze. They distribute data to many directories, apps, and mapping services.

7. General news/media sites (i.e., NYT)​

Getting featured on national or local news sites spreads the word about your business. You can earn coverage by sponsoring charities, hosting local events, or publishing press releases.

8. Social media​

Many platforms let you publish information publicly. LinkedIn articles can rank on Google and may be surfaced by ChatGPT.

9. Map directions/GPS app sites (like MapQuest, Waze, Apple Maps)​

Cars and phones use different GPS systems. Getting your data into these ecosystems helps ensure consistency, and ChatGPT may reference them. Google also provides instructions on listing your business on Waze.

10. City guides (like nymag-com)​

City guides like NYMag’s Urbanist offer curated local recommendations from experts and creatives - covering food, shopping, culture, and hidden gems. These guides go beyond standard tourist info and can be strong sources.

11. Local blogs​

Local blogs focus on area-specific topics, whether created by businesses to attract customers or by individuals covering local news, events, and issues.

Search for “local” + keywords:
Use specific terms like [your city] food blog, [your neighborhood] news, or best blogs in [your county].

12. Niche forums/knowledge databases​

Forums (discussion boards) revolve around specific topics and let users ask questions and share answers. You can usually find them by searching [your topic] forum or [your city] community/forum.

13. Press releases & white papers (scannable PDFs)​

Google can read and rank PDF content, and ChatGPT can use it too. If you publish press releases, add a PDF version alongside HTML to create another source ChatGPT can pull from. The same applies to white papers that feature your business.

14. Network sites (like repairpal)​

These are networks where you appear - sometimes via a paid listing - and the network itself ranks on Google. Your business then ranks within that network. RepairPal is an example for auto repair shops.

15. “Best of” sites (like threebestrated-com)​

These sites vet local businesses and publish “best of” lists that can rank for best [service] in [city] keywords. They can drive discovery, which is why ChatGPT consults them.

16. Google Sites (sites.google.com/[brand name])​

Surprisingly, ChatGPT can gather information from Google Sites pages. Even when not linked in your Google Business Profile (GBP), these pages may still be considered - suggesting strong trust in the google.com domain.

17. Government sites (gov directories like ny-gov)​

Many government sites host business entity databases where you can add information. Some entries are auto-created when you incorporate. ChatGPT checks these sources as well when returning results about local businesses.

What page types does ChatGPT use as a source​

Now that we know which source types we can get on, let’s look at the exact page types it tends to cite on those domains.

ChatGPT doesn’t use many page types when citing sources. On official brand sites, most citations point to local landing pages, best-of blog articles, and homepages. The rest are business listing pages and pages where your business gets mentioned.

Here is a list of pages I found during my research:

• Local landing pages
  Location or service area pages with unique local content, clear NAP, hours, and a map.
• Homepages
  Strong brand signals, services, and a clear link to locations or booking.
• Best-of pages (even on owned domains)
  Curated lists that include your business and competitors. These often rank for discovery queries.
• Business listing pages
  Directory or marketplace profiles with accurate NAP, categories, and reviews.
• Store hub pages
  A locations index that links to each store page and reinforces entity data.
• Locally relevant Contact Us pages
  Address, phone, hours, directions, and parking or access details.
• Instagram posts or LinkedIn articles
  Public posts that surface brand, product, or event info and can be picked up.
• PDFs that ChatGPT references
  Press releases, guides, or white papers. It may use them as sources even if it does not link directly.
• Forum posts
  Niche threads or Q&A pages where your brand is discussed.

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What to do next​

Here is what you can do right away if you want to improve your AI SEO on ChatGPT.

1. Fix the basics everywhere​

• Clean up NAP and hours on major directories.
• Claim Google Business Profile, Yelp, Apple Business Connect, Bing Places, Waze, MapQuest and co.
• Upload updated photos, optimize your profiles and complete them.

2. Build the right pages on your site​

• Unique local landing pages per location (city or neighborhood).
• Show clear services, pricing, FAQs, reviews, and about us.
• Add LocalBusiness schema and link out to your major social profiles so Google understands your data.

3. Expand trusted citations​

• Get listed on top general, niche, and local directories.
• Pitch city guides and “best of” lists.
• Publish press releases or guides as HTML and PDF.

4. Earn social and community signals​

• Publish LinkedIn articles, Instagram posts, or other social content that gets indexed with location tags and business content. YOu can also build a brand through helping people in communities. forum replies.

5. Maintain and measure​

• Recheck your major citations regularly.
• Recheck how ChatGPT cites your business and your competitors' businesses.
• Keep your owned pages fresh and consistent.

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Summary​

If you want to get cited by ChatGPT, use this list to increase the chances that it picks up your business information. Some items - like directories - are easy to sign up for and get listed on. Others - like third party content - are harder. Sometimes it’s not possible to get mentioned on certain sources, and that’s fine. Don’t worry about it - keep building your brand so more websites mention you over time.


If you have any questions about this list, please leave a comment below. Thanks for reading!


Tim

 

[Owen Rechkemmer SEO]

Damn dude, solid breakdown. Probably the most extensive take on LLM-side citations I’ve seen so far.

I’m curious where you draw the line between “AI SEO link building” and just… regular link building. Both move the needle, but certain links clearly influence LLMs way more than others — especially anything with strong brand context, local relevance, or human discussion around the business. Meanwhile, stuff like generic guest posts or low-context directory drops barely registers for models.

Feels like AI SEO link building is more about entity reinforcement + sentiment + contextual mentions, while traditional link building is more about PageRank and domain strength.

Interested to hear how you’re thinking about that boundary.

 

[Tim Kahlert]

Thank you, Owen! I think everything can change any second because of rag (retrieval augmented generation) - the AI devs have direct access to this system and they basically determine how their systems work. I think there is currently too much testing going on for anyone to say something reliably. I would say traditional SEO is still the main driver of AI visibility. Drawing the line, especially with local SEO is quite hard as all those practices that are now mainstream have helped with local SEO anyways. (like brand mentions) - I think everything just becomes more sophisticated. My thoughts are a little chaotic, I hope this all makes sense.