How to show up in ChatGPT search results

When ChatGPT searches the web, it shows an answer with links, and often a list of sources. Those links are the closest thing ChatGPT has to search results. This guide covers how to make your pages eligible to appear there, and what helps them get picked.

A caveat: OpenAI's help center says ChatGPT ranks search results "using multiple factors" and that placement is not guaranteed. It doesn't publish the details, so treat anything beyond its documentation as good practice, not a formula.

What "ChatGPT search results" means

ChatGPT may search the web on its own when a question needs current information, or a person can turn search on. According to OpenAI's help center:

• Answers that use web search may include citations, and a Sources view lists the cited pages and other relevant links.
• ChatGPT rewrites the question into one or more search queries and sends them to search partners. It may send follow-up queries after reading the first results.
• For local questions, it can use a rough location from the person's IP address.

So showing up means two things: being in the pool of pages ChatGPT can find, and being a page it chooses to cite.

Step 1: Make your site eligible

OpenAI says this directly: to be eligible, allow OAI-SearchBot to crawl your site and make sure your host or CDN allows traffic from OpenAI's published search bot IP addresses. Its crawler documentation explains the three bots:

• OAI-SearchBot decides whether you can appear in search answers. Allow it.
• GPTBot collects content that may be used for training. Blocking it doesn't remove you from search answers.
• ChatGPT-User fetches a page when a person's request needs it. OpenAI says it isn't used to decide what appears in search.

Check robots.txt, then check your firewall or bot protection, which can block crawlers that robots.txt allows.

Step 2: Be in the index ChatGPT's partners use

Because ChatGPT sends queries to search partners, pages that are hard to find in normal search are hard to find here too.

• Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools and Google Search Console.
• Submit a clean sitemap and fix pages that can't be indexed.
• Make sure important text is in the page's HTML, not loaded later by scripts.

Step 3: Match the questions people ask

ChatGPT turns a long question into short, specific searches. A page that clearly matches one of those searches is easier to find.

• Write pages for the specific questions your customers ask: "best [type] for [audience]", "[you] vs [competitor]", "[you] pricing", "alternatives to [competitor]".
• Use a clear title and first paragraph that say what the page answers.
• Keep facts like prices, plans and features in visible text, and keep them up to date. Old facts get repeated.

Step 4: Be worth citing

When several pages say the same thing, the one with the clearest, most specific answer is the obvious one to cite.

• Put the direct answer near the top, then the detail.
• Use plain headings and short lists for steps and comparisons.
• Show who wrote the page and when it was last updated.
• Be fair. A comparison that admits where a competitor is the better choice is more useful, and more believable, than one that never does.

Step 5: Show up on other people's pages too

Many answers cite review articles, roundups and directories rather than company sites. Being listed on those pages is often the bigger win. Ask your buyer questions with search on, open what's cited, and work on getting honestly included in the pages that keep coming up. Our study of which sources ChatGPT cites shows how spread out those sources can be.

Step 6: Measure it

Answers change between chats and model versions, so measure the same questions over several weeks. Our guide on how to check if ChatGPT recommends your product has a simple method, or start with a free check.

The short version

Allow OAI-SearchBot, be indexed in Bing and Google, write pages that answer specific buyer questions with current facts, and get onto the third-party pages ChatGPT cites. For the full picture on recommendations, see how to get ChatGPT to recommend your product.