When you ask an AI assistant for a recommendation, it's drawing on what it has read about your area: business listings, review sites, local 'best of' roundups, news, directories, and increasingly live web results. It blends that into a short answer. A few patterns show up again and again.
Recent, specific reviews
Assistants lean heavily on reviews — and not just the star average. Fresh reviews that mention concrete things ('gentle with my kids,' 'came out same day,' 'walked me through the quote') give the model language to describe you with. Thin or stale review pages give it nothing to say.
Being mentioned where AI looks
If local roundups, directories, and reputable sites mention you alongside your category and city, you're more likely to be pulled into the answer. If you exist only on your own website, you're easy to miss.
Clarity about what you do
Models reward businesses that state plainly who they serve and what they offer — services, hours, neighborhoods, specialties. Vague or incomplete profiles get skipped in favor of the business that clearly answers the buyer's exact question.
The honest caveat
Because the answer is generated fresh each time, it varies. Anyone promising to 'get you ranked #1 in ChatGPT' is selling certainty that doesn't exist. What you can do is stack the ingredients in your favor and measure the result over time.
See where you stand
TownCheck asks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity the questions your customers ask — every week — and shows you your score, who's being recommended instead, and what to fix. A one-time checkup is $14.99.