Blog
How do you write website copy that ChatGPT and Google AI will recommend?
In short: Write so that every part of your page gives one clear answer: who you are, what you do, where and for whom. Put the answer at the top, phrase headings as customer questions, and swap vague lines like “innovative solutions” for prices, service areas and real project examples. AI quotes pages it can lift a ready sentence from, not pages that just sound good.
The question I hear most from clients is “how do I get my business into ChatGPT?”. There's no sign-up form. What you do have is the text on your website, and AI either understands it and quotes it, or skips it and recommends someone else.
What does it mean when AI cites your website?
AI cites your website when it answers someone's question using information from your page and names your business or links to you as the source. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews scan several pages at once, pull the relevant bits and stitch them into one answer.
Sometimes they quote you almost word for word, sometimes they only take the meaning. The same person can get different sources for the same question twice in a row, so nobody can guarantee a citation. What you can do is raise your odds a lot.
If GEO is a new term for you, start with what GEO is and how it differs from SEO.
Why does AI skip copy like “advanced solutions for industry”?
AI skips that kind of copy because there's nothing in it: you can't tell who does what, where, or what problem they solve. If a sentence would fit a plumber, a dentist and a law firm equally well, it's empty to an AI model.
I see this in almost every audit. I had two clients in completely different lines of work, one did surface cleaning, the other 3D printing. Their homepages read nearly the same, something like “modern systems for specialist industries”. A customer couldn't tell them apart, and neither could Google or AI.
Here's what one client's copy looked like before and after (translated from Polish):
| Where | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage headline | Advanced industrial services for businesses and industry. We deliver modern solutions for industry, manufacturing and the technical sector. | We strip old paint and rust where sandblasting isn't allowed. Laser cleaning of brick, wood, stone and metal, no abrasives, no chemicals. |
| Why us | Tailored approach. Precise delivery. Modern technology. End-to-end cooperation. | We don't quote off the top of our heads. We clean a test patch, time it, and only then price the job. If another method is cheaper, we'll say so. |
| How we work | Technology selection. We select the right production and technology solutions for the project. | Send a photo. A close-up and a wide shot are enough for a first assessment. We reply the same or the next day. |
The old version contains zero information. The new one has the service, materials, method, how pricing works and response time.
How should you structure copy so AI can pull an answer from it?
Copy that AI can easily pull an answer from has the answer at the top, headings phrased as questions and short paragraphs with one idea each. In practice:
- Lead with the answer. Two to four sentences at the top that answer the main question. Details, exceptions and reasoning go below.
- Write headings as customer questions. “How much does installation cost?” instead of “Our offer”. The first sentence under a heading should answer it on its own.
- One paragraph, one idea. AI cuts text into fragments. Mix price, company history and travel area in one paragraph and it may grab the wrong piece.
- Use lists for steps and comparisons. How working with you goes, how two methods differ, what to prepare before a visit.
- Make every fragment stand on its own. Instead of “this solution” or “as mentioned above”, name the service. A fragment taken out of context should still make sense.
Don't force every heading into a question. If it sounds unnatural, keep a normal heading and move the question to an FAQ at the bottom.
What can you give AI that your competitors can't?
The most useful thing is what AI can't make up: your prices or price ranges, service area, how a job runs, real project examples and the cases where you'd talk a customer out of buying. Competitors can't copy that, and neither can a five-minute ChatGPT draft.
Research backs this up. A team from Princeton and other universities (GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, KDD 2024) tested 10,000 queries to see what makes content more visible in AI answers:
- adding quotes from credible sources raised visibility by about 40%
- adding numbers and statistics by about 30%
- citing sources by about 27%
- keyword stuffing did worse than leaving the text unchanged
The best part for small businesses: lower-ranked pages gained the most. A page in 5th position more than doubled its visibility after adding sources. The study used 2023-2024 models, so treat the numbers as direction, not a promise.
I did exactly this on my own site. I rewrote the copy and published one blog post.
What else besides copy helps AI find your business?
Beyond the copy, AI checks whether your business looks trustworthy: consistent details, a named author, up-to-date content and what others say about you. Make sure you have:
- structured data (schema) - code that tells search engines plainly: this is a business, here's the address, these are questions and answers
- publish and update dates on posts and key pages
- a named author with a line about what they do
- the same business details everywhere - name, address and phone identical on your site, Google Business Profile and directories
- reviews and mentions elsewhere - Google reviews, industry sites, local press
- working tech - your site must be open to crawlers and robots.txt must not block them
If the tech side is broken, even great copy won't help, because the bot simply can't read it.
When should you hand this to someone who does it for a living?
It's worth it if your website copy would fit any company in another industry, or if you don't know whether AI can see your site at all. I rewrite copy, fix the tech side and set up your business details as part of SEO and GEO services, because one without the other doesn't do much.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get my business listed in ChatGPT?
There's no form and no paid listing. When asked about businesses and services, ChatGPT searches the web and picks pages it can easily pull a specific answer from. Your job is to have that kind of page and to be mentioned in other places online.
Is SEO dead?
No. AI tools largely find their sources through search engines, so a site that doesn't show up in Google has a slim chance in AI answers. GEO builds on top of SEO, it doesn't replace it.
How can I use AI to promote my business?
Start with a test: ask ChatGPT the question your customer would ask, like “who builds websites for small businesses in my city?”, and see who it recommends and why. Then add the specifics your site is missing compared to those businesses.
Can I write my website copy with ChatGPT?
You can start there, but AI doesn't know your prices, service area or past projects, so on its own it writes generic filler. Give it the facts, then read the draft and cut every sentence that would fit any company.
How long until I see results?
Google first has to recrawl your page, which takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, and AI citations show up irregularly. Check impressions in Google Search Console 4-8 weeks after the change.