How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews

More and more buyers skip the list of blue links and simply ask an AI assistant: “Which digital marketing agency in Nairobi should I use?” or “Who installs solar for homes in Kiambu?” If your business is not part of the answer, you are invisible to that buyer.

This guide explains how AI search tools choose what to mention, and the practical steps Kenyan businesses can take to be included.

How AI assistants decide what to recommend

Tools such as ChatGPT search, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and Google’s AI Overviews combine a language model with live web search. When someone asks a question, the assistant searches the web, reads a handful of relevant pages and writes an answer, often citing its sources.

That means three things decide whether you appear:

• Findability: your pages are indexed by the search engines these tools rely on and crawlers are allowed to read them.
• Clarity: your pages state plainly what you do, where, for whom and how, so the assistant can extract a confident answer.
• Trust: other reputable sources confirm what you say, through reviews, directory listings, press coverage and partner mentions.

Step 1: Get your SEO foundations right

Google is direct about this. Its guidance on AI features says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special files or schema needed. Pages simply need to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet in normal search. So the first job is classic SEO: a fast, crawlable site with a page for each service. Our SEO guide for Kenyan businesses covers the basics.

Do not forget Bing. Several AI assistants draw on Bing’s index, so verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools and submit your sitemap there as well as in Google Search Console.

Step 2: Let AI crawlers in

Some websites block AI crawlers in their robots.txt file without realising it, often through a security plugin or hosting setting. Check that your robots.txt does not block the crawlers used for search and answers, such as OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User (OpenAI), PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot and Claude-SearchBot (Anthropic), Googlebot and Bingbot. Whether you allow crawlers that collect training data, such as GPTBot or Google-Extended, is a separate business choice.

Step 3: Write pages AI tools can quote

Language models favour content that gives a clear, direct answer. Practical ways to write for this:

• Open each service page with one or two sentences that say exactly what you offer and where. For example: “We install home and commercial solar systems across Nairobi, Kiambu and Machakos.”
• Use headings phrased as the questions customers ask.
• Answer the question in the first sentence under the heading, then add detail.
• Include specifics: locations served, industries, service inclusions, typical timelines, and prices or price ranges where you can share them.
• Add FAQ sections and keep them honest and current.
• Publish original insight: data from your own projects, local examples and lessons learned. Unique information is more likely to be cited than generic advice.

Step 4: Make your business facts consistent everywhere

AI tools cross-check facts. If your website, Google Business Profile, Facebook page, LinkedIn and directory listings show different names, addresses or phone numbers, the assistant has less confidence in any of them. Use the same business name, address, phone number, website and description everywhere.

Structured data helps search engines read these facts reliably. Organization or LocalBusiness schema on your homepage, Service schema on service pages, and Article and FAQ schema on blog posts all make your content easier to interpret. It is not required, but it removes guesswork.

Step 5: Earn mentions on trusted sites

When an assistant answers “best agency in Nairobi”, it often leans on list articles, reviews and news coverage. Being mentioned in those sources matters as much as your own website. Useful activities include:

• Collecting genuine Google reviews that mention the service and location.
• Getting listed in reputable Kenyan business directories and industry associations.
• Sharing expert commentary with journalists and publications in your sector.
• Publishing case studies with clients who are happy to be named and linked.
• Being active and helpful in the online communities where your buyers ask questions.

Step 6: Consider an llms.txt file

llms.txt is a proposed standard: a short text file at the root of your site that summarises who you are and links to your key pages, written for AI tools to read. Google has said it does not need it, and support across other tools varies, so treat it as a small extra rather than a strategy. We publish one at sedidigital.co.ke/llms.txt as an example.

Step 7: Monitor your AI visibility

Once a month, ask the main assistants the questions your customers ask and record whether you are mentioned, how you are described and which sources are cited. Answers vary between sessions, so look for trends rather than single results. If a competitor appears and you do not, look at which pages the assistant cites. That tells you where you need to be.

What this means for your business

AI search does not replace SEO; it raises the bar for it. Businesses with clear, specific, well-structured websites and a strong reputation across the web are the ones AI tools recommend. If you would like a review of how visible your business is in both Google and AI answers, our SEO and AI search visibility service starts with exactly that audit.