How to get an Irish business named by ChatGPT

Some people now ask ChatGPT before they Google: “is there a dentist in Athlone open on Saturdays?”, “who'd fit a stove in Galway before Christmas?”. The reply names two or three businesses and people tend to ring one of them. Getting your business named there mostly comes down to things you already have: your website, your Google profile and what other sites say about you.

Here's what ChatGPT reads before it names a business, the steps you can take yourself, what isn't worth paying for, and how to see whether it names you.

What ChatGPT looks at before it names a business

ChatGPT answers from what it learned in training, which can't be changed, and from what it looks up on the web there and then, which can. When a question needs current or local details (“open today”, “near me”, “how much”), it searches and shows its sources. That's your way in.

It searches with its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot, and OpenAI says sites that block it won't show up in ChatGPT search answers (its crawler documentation). Perplexity does likewise with PerplexityBot (its documentation), and Copilot draws on Bing.

Seven things an Irish business can do itself

1. Put your customers' questions to it

Open ChatGPT and ask five or six things a new customer would: your service and your town, the “best” in your line of work in the county, what it costs. Note who's named, which sites are linked and what's said about you. Ask the same questions again every month.

2. Don't lock out the search crawlers

Get whoever minds your website to look at the robots.txt file. OpenAI splits GPTBot, which reads to train its models, from OAI-SearchBot, which reads to answer searches. You can block the first if you don't want your text used for training; block the second and you can't be named in its search answers.

3. Be on Bing Places and Golden Pages too

Most businesses here only think of Google. Copilot draws on Bing, so add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools and your business to Bing Places, and keep Golden Pages and Apple Maps current. Since February 2026 Bing reports how often Copilot cites your site, in its AI Performance report.

4. A page per service that gets to the point

If your site says “we offer a complete range of services”, an AI has nothing to quote. Each service needs a page that opens with the answer: what it is, who it's for, which towns you cover, the price or what it depends on (and whether VAT is included), and how long it takes. Then the questions people always ask, in your own words.

5. Same details everywhere, Eircode included

Name, address, Eircode, phone, hours and services should match on your site, your Google profile, Bing, Golden Pages and the directories in your trade. Where your town has an Irish name as well, make sure both point to you. Your Google profile carries most weight for local questions; how to rank higher on Google Maps goes through it.

6. Get mentioned elsewhere

Recent reviews you've replied to, your professional body, the local paper and radio, your chamber of commerce, lists and comparison sites. That's what these tools read before they trust a name. No shortcuts: Google's spam policies go after bought links and content churned out at scale.

7. Keep an eye on it

Repeat the questions from step 1 monthly, check your analytics for visits from chatgpt.com or perplexity.ai, and look at the Bing report. Google counts visits from AI Overviews and AI Mode inside the Search Console Performance report, together with your other search traffic.

What you'll be offered that won't help

• “We'll get you into ChatGPT, guaranteed.” Nobody decides who it names in each answer.
• An llms.txt file as the fix. Google says AI text files and special mark-up aren't needed for its AI features.
• Hundreds of pages written by AI: the scaled content Google treats as spam.
• Bought reviews. They're against Google's rules, and customers spot them.

And in Google's AI Overviews in Ireland

AI Overviews came to Ireland in March 2025 and draw on the same index as ordinary Google search. Google says in AI features and your website there are no extra requirements: an indexed page that can show with a snippet is eligible. The same seven steps hold.

Want to see what AI tools say about your business now? The free audit includes the screenshots and what we'd sort first.