How Do I Get My Website to Show Up in ChatGPT or Perplexity?

If you’ve ever typed into ChatGPT and thought, “Why doesn’t it recommend me?”—you’re not alone.

AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and voice search assistants are rapidly becoming the first stop people use to find help, services, and recommendations. But unlike Google, AI doesn’t just look for keywords. It looks for understanding.

AI Isn’t Crawling You. It’s Learning You.

Traditional SEO focused on making your site indexable by bots. But tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are trained on patterns, content structures, and repeated phrases that help them "understand" who you are and what you offer.

To show up in ChatGPT or Perplexity, you need to start creating content that trains these AI models to recognize, categorize, and confidently recommend you.

5 Ways to Make Sure Your Website Shows Up in ChatGPT or Perplexity

Use Clear, Natural LanguageWrite your content like you speak. If it doesn’t sound like something a human would say, it likely won’t get pulled into AI responses.

Answer Specific QuestionsTools like Perplexity and ChatGPT prioritize content that answers clearly phrased questions. Add FAQs, How-To sections, and even headers like:

"Who do I work with?"

"How can I help you get found online?"

Repeat Your Core Message Everywhere! AI learns by noticing patterns. When you say the same thing (consistently) in your bio, homepage, Instagram profile, and podcast intro, AI starts to associate you with that niche.

Create Summarizable ContentUse clear headlines, bullet points, and short paragraphs. AI tools pull from structured content that’s easy to scan and summarize.

Get Linked or Mentioned by Other Trusted SourcesChatGPT and Perplexity both draw from high-authority sources and links. Getting featured in articles, directories, or well-ranked blogs helps you show up more often.

Example:

Let’s say someone types into ChatGPT:

"Who helps small business owners get found by AI tools?"

If your content clearly and repeatedly says:

"I help small business owners get found by AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity."

...you’re far more likely to be recognized and recommended.

Who Am I?

I’m Heidi Hapanowicz, and I teach AI Optimization (AIO) for small business owners.

I help coaches, consultants, wellness pros, creatives, and service providers make sure AI knows who they are, what they do, and who they help—so they get found and recommended.

If you’re invisible to ChatGPT right now, I can help you change that.

Take Action Now:

Add a FAQ section to your homepage.

Make sure your bio uses the exact phrasing you'd want ChatGPT to quote.

Choose one clear, repeatable sentence that explains what you do—and start using it everywhere.

💬 Want to Train ChatGPT to Recommend You?

That’s what I teach.You don’t need to be techy. You just need to be clear.

This blog is part of a series on AIO: AI Optimization for Small Business Visibility.

I don’t teach you how to use AI.I teach you how AI finds you.