How to get your brand cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews

AI assistants cite pages that their search systems can crawl, find for the question and trust. The platforms' own documentation points the same way: let their search crawler in; Google and Bing say special markup or files do not decide it; OpenAI and Bing say nothing guarantees a citation. What decides the outcome is whether the pages they already cite for your buyers' questions mention you, and whether your own pages answer those questions better than anything else.

In the answers we track, assistants cite guides and blog posts most (34% of 12,785 citations), then platform documentation (15%), "best" lists (14%) and community and video pages (12%). Most of the work is getting onto those pages and publishing better versions of them.

What the platforms say decides citations

Google AI Overviews and AI Mode

Google uses its normal search index and ranking for AI answers. Its guide says AI features are "rooted in our core Search ranking and quality systems" and retrieve pages "from our Search index" (Google).

• Eligibility: "a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet" (Google). Since 31 August 2026 every site can also switch AI features off in Search Console; sites that opt out "will not receive traffic or impressions from our generative AI features" (Google blog). Check that the toggle is on.
• No special optimization: "There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary," and "no special schema.org structured data that you need to add" (Google).
• Query fan-out: both features may issue "multiple related searches across subtopics and data sources" to build one answer (Google). A page that answers a sub-question well can be cited for a broader question.
• Mentions: Google warns that "seeking inauthentic 'mentions' across the web isn't as helpful as it might seem" (Google).

More: how to get into Google AI Overviews and AI Mode.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT search rewrites the question and sends it to search providers: it "typically rewrites your query into one or more targeted queries" (OpenAI).

• Eligibility: "Any public website can appear in ChatGPT search" (OpenAI). Allow OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt and make sure your host or CDN does not block OpenAI's published IP addresses (OpenAI).
• Blocking the crawler removes you: "Sites that are opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though can still appear as navigational links" (OpenAI). Blocking GPTBot (training) is separate and does not affect search.
• Ranking: "ChatGPT ranks search results using multiple factors intended to help users find relevant, reliable information. Placement is not guaranteed." (OpenAI).

More: how to get cited by ChatGPT.

Perplexity

• Crawler: PerplexityBot "is designed to surface and link websites in search results on Perplexity. It is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models" (Perplexity). Allow it and its published IP ranges.
• Sources: Perplexity says it gathers information "from authoritative sources like articles, websites, and journals" and rates "the whole website a source comes from, not each individual page" (how Perplexity works, source labels). Its "partnerships, payments, and other business arrangements do not affect a site's label".

More: how to get cited by Perplexity.

Microsoft Copilot and Bing

Bing's guidelines are the most specific. Copilot relies on "the same core crawling, indexing, and ranking foundation as traditional search"; pages are "more likely to be selected for grounding queries and citations when content stands on its own", and pages "focused on a primary topic are more likely to be selected" (Bing Webmaster Guidelines). The same page says "GEO does not guarantee grounding or citations in AI experiences" and that content designed to manipulate language models "may result in reduced visibility or removal". Bing also notes that IndexNow notifications help it refresh URLs used in Copilot answers.

What the platforms agree on

Sources: the platform pages linked above, checked 13 Nov 2026.

Which pages AI assistants actually cite

We track 16 buyer questions about getting cited (for example "Who can help my brand get cited by ChatGPT?" and "How do B2B SaaS companies get recommended by ChatGPT and Perplexity?") in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. In October 2026 their answers carried 12,785 citations:

The mix depends on the question. "Who can help" questions cite "best" lists most (30%); "how to measure" questions cite guides (61%); "which sources does AI cite" questions cite original studies (23%). Method: methodology. Which sources AI cites in your category is a question an audit answers.

A plan in six steps

1. Make sure you can be cited. Allow Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Bingbot in robots.txt; check that your firewall or CDN does not block their IP ranges; keep the Search Console AI features toggle on; make key pages readable without JavaScript. See AI crawlers and robots.txt.
2. Write down the questions. 30–50 prompts your buyers ask: "best X for Y", "X vs Y", "alternatives to X", price questions, problem questions.
3. Record who gets cited today. Run the prompts in each assistant on several days and list the cited URLs. A tracking tool does this at scale; the audit guide shows how to do it by hand.
4. Get onto the pages that are already cited. Lists, reviews, comparisons and community threads that appear again and again for your prompts are where a mention changes answers fastest. Ask editors with facts they can check; avoid paid placements that are not disclosed. See citation services.
5. Publish the pages that are missing. For each prompt type, one page on your site that answers it directly: a pricing page with numbers, comparison pages, use-case pages, original data. Bing's guidance on self-contained, single-topic pages applies to all four platforms.
6. Measure monthly on the same prompts. Share of answers that name you, share that cite your domain, and AI referral traffic (ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to its links). See how to measure AI visibility.

What does not work

• Files and markup alone. Google says AI text files and special schema are not needed and llms.txt is ignored by Google Search; Bing says structured data does not guarantee grounding.
• Blocking search crawlers while expecting citations. Blocking OAI-SearchBot removes you from ChatGPT search answers.
• Fake mentions and manipulation. Google calls inauthentic mentions less helpful than they seem; Bing may reduce visibility for content designed to manipulate language models.
• Anyone who guarantees citations. None of the platforms guarantees placement, so no vendor can.

When to get help

• To see where you stand, a tracking tool or a one-off audit (prices).
• To get onto cited pages at scale, a citation service.
• For a full program run by an agency, GEO agencies are compared on geoagencyreviews.com.

FAQ