Getting Clients from ChatGPT: Optimizing Your Site for AI Search
"Recommend someone to build my site", "where do I order CNC milling" — people increasingly ask ChatGPT instead of Google. And the AI answers with specific company names. Our clients' sites already get visitors who open with "ChatGPT recommended you" — not magic, just optimization. Here's how it works.
Where does AI get its recommendations?
Language models rely on two sources: training data and live search at query time (ChatGPT Search and Perplexity browse the web). In both cases the winners are sites that clearly explain who you are and what you do, carry structured markup, and stay accessible to AI crawlers. If your site is one big animated image, the model has nothing to quote.
What to do so AI understands your site
- Clear answers in text. Who you are, what you do, what it costs, where you work — in plain sentences, not "innovative synergies for your business".
- Schema.org markup. Organization, services, prices, FAQ — structured data the model reads directly.
- Don't block AI crawlers. GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot must be allowed in robots.txt — many sites block them "by default" and vanish from AI answers.
- llms.txt. A new standard: a file that briefly explains your site to models. We add it to every project.
- A page per service. Models recommend companies that have a concrete page about a concrete service with prices — not one "services" list.
Does it actually work?
On the FrezaLviv site, after a redesign with AI optimization, a share of clients now comes from ChatGPT — they say so to the manager directly. Same with Grain. This doesn't replace classic SEO — it extends it: the same clean content and markup work for Google and for the models.
How does classic SEO relate to AI search?
Like a foundation relates to the house. A fast site, clear structure and genuinely useful content are the base for both. Then come the nuances: quotability, mentions on other resources, freshness. We do AI optimization as part of SEO promotion from $100/mo, and you can check your site's current state with a free audit — we'll review both classic factors and AI-search readiness.