ChatGPT SEO in Australia: How to Get Your Business Recommended

Quick answer: ChatGPT SEO means making your business easy for ChatGPT search to find and recommend. ChatGPT search finds businesses by rewriting a question into searches, reading live web pages and ranking them on relevance and reliability. To get recommended, let OpenAI's search crawler (OAI-SearchBot) into your site, be well indexed in the search engines it draws on, publish pages that answer buyers' questions plainly, keep your business details consistent everywhere, and earn genuine reviews and mentions. You cannot pay for a recommendation: OpenAI says ads in ChatGPT do not influence its answers.

Millions of Australians now use ChatGPT. Roy Morgan found 10.5 million Australians aged 14 and over (45%) used ChatGPT in an average four weeks in the March quarter of 2026 (Roy Morgan). Worldwide, OpenAI reported "more than 900M weekly active users" in February 2026 (OpenAI).

This guide covers ChatGPT specifically. For AI search in general, see our guide to AI SEO for business, and for the jargon, AEO vs GEO vs AI SEO.

How ChatGPT search finds and chooses businesses

When a question needs current information, ChatGPT searches the web. OpenAI describes the process in its ChatGPT search help article:

1. It uses search providers. "ChatGPT search sometimes partners with other search providers." OpenAI links Microsoft's privacy statement for this, without naming Bing outright.
2. It rewrites the question. "ChatGPT search typically rewrites your query into one or more targeted queries that it sends those providers."
3. It reads pages with its own crawler. "To make a website eligible for inclusion, allow OAI-Searchbot to crawl the site."
4. It ranks what it finds. "ChatGPT ranks search results using multiple factors intended to help users find relevant, reliable information." It adds: "Placement is not guaranteed."
5. It answers with sources. The response cites and links the pages it used.

For local questions, OpenAI says ChatGPT "may use an approximate location based on your IP address to provide relevant local results", and on phones the results "may also include a map".

Six steps to get recommended by ChatGPT

1. Let OAI-SearchBot in

This is the one step that is specific to ChatGPT, and the one most often missed. OpenAI states that "sites that are opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers". Check two places:

• robots.txt. Make sure OAI-SearchBot is not disallowed. OpenAI says changes take about 24 hours to apply. If you want to state it explicitly, these two lines allow it:

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

• Your firewall or CDN. Security settings sometimes block unfamiliar bots. OpenAI publishes the crawler's IP ranges so they can be allowed.

OpenAI runs separate bots for separate jobs:

Bot	What it does	If you block it
OAI-SearchBot	Crawls pages for ChatGPT search	Your site is not shown in ChatGPT search answers
GPTBot	Collects data for training OpenAI's models	Your content should not be used in training
ChatGPT-User	Fetches a page when a user asks ChatGPT to	ChatGPT may not be able to open your page when a user asks; search inclusion is not affected, and OpenAI notes robots.txt rules may not apply to these user-initiated fetches

You can block training and still appear in search, as long as OAI-SearchBot is allowed.

2. Be indexed by the search engines ChatGPT draws on

Because ChatGPT sends rewritten queries to search providers, a page those providers cannot find is unlikely to be cited. OpenAI does not list its providers, but it links Microsoft's privacy statement for them, and ChatGPT's browsing was integrated with Bing in 2023, according to OpenAI's release notes. Check your site in Bing Webmaster Tools first, and in Google Search Console as well, since most Australian customers also search there.

Bing supports IndexNow, which "lets you submit URLs immediately when content is added, updated, or deleted". It is worth turning on so new and changed pages are picked up quickly.

3. Write pages that answer the question directly

A page that states its answer plainly is easier for ChatGPT to quote. For a business, that means a page for each main service and location that says what you do, who it is for, where you work and roughly what it costs, followed by the questions customers ask before they buy. Microsoft's guidance for being cited in its AI answers says "clear headings, tables, and FAQ sections help surface key information". OpenAI has not published equivalent guidance, but the same structure makes a page easier for any AI search tool to read.

A page that hides its prices, lists services without describing them, or loads its text only after scripts run gives ChatGPT less to work with, and may be harder for crawlers to read.

4. Keep your business details consistent everywhere

OpenAI says ChatGPT may use "trusted third-party providers that help provide more local information", without naming them. Since you cannot know which listing it consults, make every one agree: your website, Google Business Profile, Apple Business Connect, Bing Places, industry directories and booking platforms should show the same name, address, phone number, hours and services.

For restaurants, ChatGPT may show booking availability from OpenTable, which OpenAI lists as available globally.

5. Earn reviews and mentions honestly

OpenAI says it ranks results for relevance and reliability. What others say about you is evidence of reliability you do not write yourself: reviews, local news, industry associations and community discussion. Ask real customers for reviews and make it easy for them. Do not buy them. In Australia "it's illegal to create or arrange for a fake or misleading review", and any incentive has to be disclosed.

6. If you sell products, make your catalogue available

ChatGPT shows product results. OpenAI says "for merchants on Shopify, product data is already integrated into ChatGPT through Shopify Catalog", and other merchants can apply to provide a direct product feed. It also says product results "are not ads, nor influenced by any OpenAI partnerships". OpenAI's pages do not list which countries shopping features cover, so treat availability in Australia as something to confirm for your store. Our Shopify store development page covers setting a store up properly.

Can you pay ChatGPT to recommend your business?

No. You can buy an ad, but not a recommendation.

Ads in ChatGPT began rolling out to Free and Go users in Australia, New Zealand and Canada on 16 April 2026, according to OpenAI's release notes, and self-serve ad buying is listed as available in Australia. OpenAI is explicit about the separation: "Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you", ads are "always clearly labeled as sponsored and visually separated from the organic answer", and seeing an ad "doesn't mean OpenAI endorses or recommends the advertiser" (OpenAI Help). Paid plans such as Plus and Business do not show ads at all.

Any agency offering to buy you a place in ChatGPT's answers is describing something OpenAI says does not exist.

How to measure ChatGPT visibility

• Referral traffic. OpenAI's publisher FAQ (since retired) stated that ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to the links it refers. In Google Analytics, filter for that source. Some visits arrive without it, for example from the ChatGPT apps, and show as direct, so treat the number as a minimum.
• Direct checks. Ask ChatGPT the questions your customers ask, in a logged-out browser, and note who is named and which pages are cited. Repeat monthly; answers change.
• Enquiries. Add "ChatGPT or another AI tool" as an option when you ask new customers how they found you.

Google Search Console does not report ChatGPT, and Bing Webmaster Tools' AI report covers Microsoft Copilot and Bing, not ChatGPT.

What a ChatGPT SEO agency should do for you

A ChatGPT SEO service should start by checking the crawler and firewall settings, which takes minutes, then run your customers' questions through ChatGPT to see who is named today. After that, the work is largely good SEO: clear service and location pages, consistent listings, and earned reviews and mentions, measured through referrals and enquiries.

Be wary of anyone who guarantees a recommendation or sells paid placement in answers. Our guide to choosing an AI SEO agency lists the questions to ask, and what AI SEO costs in Australia shows what agencies charge.

The short version

• Allow OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt and in your firewall. Blocked sites are not shown in ChatGPT search answers.
• Be indexed in Google and Bing, and turn on IndexNow.
• Publish clear service, location and pricing pages that answer buyers' questions.
• Keep business details identical across every listing, and earn real reviews.
• You can buy a labelled ad in ChatGPT in Australia, but not a recommendation.

We check all of this as part of our AI SEO services. If you would like to know what ChatGPT currently says about your business, get in touch.