As a business owner, understanding how to reach your customers is a problem you continually face. Now, there’s another marketing channel to consider, and it’s ChatGPT. Which then begs the question of ‘How to rank on ChatGPT’.
Luckily, ranking on ChatGPT isn’t worlds different from ranking on Google and Bing (especially). So, if you’re not ranking online already, that’s the first place to start. Google essentially invented search, and ChatGPT is redefining it as we know it.
While ChatGPT hasn’t made enough dent to say search has changed completely or that ‘SEO is dead,’ it’s safe to say the way people search on the internet has been changed for the most significant part since Sergey and Larry Page founded Google in 1998.
In this article, we’re going to explain why it’s important to rank on ChatGPT and, more importantly, how to rank on ChatGPT.
Importance of Ranking on ChatGPT
As AI continues to become a central part of how we search and find answers, ranking on platforms like ChatGPT presents a unique and powerful opportunity for businesses. Here’s why it’s crucial for your business to optimize for ChatGPT visibility:
- Increased Visibility and Traffic: ChatGPT delivers concise answers directly within the interface, unlike traditional search engines, where users must click through multiple links to gather information.
This means that if your content is featured, users are more likely to engage with it immediately without needing to click away. This direct exposure can lead to higher visibility for your brand, especially if you appear as a top source for common queries.
As a Digital Marketing Agency in Nigeria, we work with a number of clients, and while they’ve found us on Google for the longest, we’ve noticed that more and more clients are finding us on ChatGPT.
This is a real-life example of why it’s important for your business to be on ChatGPT. If you’d like to optimise your business to be visible on ChatGPT, reach out to us below.
- Establishing Credibility: Being included in ChatGPT’s responses can elevate your brand’s reputation, as AI tools are trusted by users for their quick and accurate answers. Being cited as a source also boosts your credibility. ChatGPT typically references reputable, high-quality sources that provide reliable, accurate, and helpful information.
- Strengthening SEO Efforts: While ranking in traditional search engines is important, optimizing for AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT can complement your existing SEO strategy. AI search results are becoming more integrated with mainstream search engines like Google and Bing, which means that ranking in ChatGPT can also have positive side effects on your traditional SEO efforts.
- Increase direct sales: Currently, ChatGPT works as an assistant, helping you source deals and decide the best options on products to purchase. Recent news indicates that Shopify may soon be integrated into ChatGPT, allowing users to shop directly within the chat.
If you’re an e-commerce business, it’s now even more important to rank on ChatGPT, as this could mean an additional sales channel that you don’t have to constantly tweak and fuss over.
How to Rank on ChatGPT
Here are some actionable ways to optimize your content and get it featured in AI-driven responses:
Create Comprehensive, Authoritative Content and Rank
The most important step to ranking on ChatGPT is to rank first on conventional search engines. While it is not explicitly known that ChatGPT draws data from Google, there is enough information to suggest that it obtains its data from Bing.
So, if you’re optimising your website to rank, ensure you do not neglect Bing as this has a chance of proving more fruitful.
Additionally, ChatGPT seeks content that not only answers the question but also offers depth, context, and reliable sources. Therefore, focus on writing detailed, well-researched articles that showcase your expertise and authority in your niche.
For instance, if you’re writing about SEO strategies, ensure that your article covers a variety of strategies, includes case studies, links to studies or reports, and addresses potential challenges and solutions. Include answers to follow-up questions that users might naturally have, and structure the content in a way that’s easy for both AI and readers to navigate.
Optimize for Conversational Queries
One of the defining features of ChatGPT is its conversational nature. Unlike traditional search engines that rank pages based on keywords and backlinks, ChatGPT’s responses are shaped by how well the content answers conversational queries.
As AI evolves, it becomes increasingly adept at understanding and responding to the natural language used by people when they ask questions.
To optimize your content for ChatGPT, consider how people naturally ask questions. For example, instead of focusing solely on keyword variations like “SEO best practices” or “SEO strategies,” consider long-tail conversational queries such as “What are the most important SEO trends?” or “How can I optimize my website for SEO?”
When writing your content, aim to answer these types of questions directly and in a conversational tone. Use headings and subheadings that reflect the way people naturally phrase their queries. By anticipating the kinds of questions your audience will ask and structuring your content accordingly, you make it easier for ChatGPT to find your answers.
Use Natural Language and Answer Specific Questions
ChatGPT thrives on natural language processing, so using clear, straightforward language is essential for ranking on the platform. Avoid overly complex sentence structures, and write in a way that feels like a natural conversation.
In addition, focus on answering specific questions. While general overviews have their place, accurately answering user intent is crucial when trying to rank on ChatGPT.
If you can provide direct, concise, and clear answers to a user’s query, there’s a higher chance that ChatGPT will select your content as part of its response. Think about what people truly want to know when they search for a particular query, and make sure you provide the most relevant, well-explained answer possible. By aligning your content with user intent, you will enhance the relevance of your content and increase its likelihood of being cited by ChatGPT.
Build Topical Authority with Consistency
Consistency is an essential aspect of ranking on ChatGPT. Building topical authority involves producing a steady stream of content related to a specific niche or subject matter. This will help ChatGPT understand that your site is a trusted source of information on a given topic, increasing the likelihood that it will refer to your content in its answers.
For example, if you specialize in content marketing, publish articles regularly about various aspects of content marketing; SEO, social media, email marketing, and analytics. Over time, ChatGPT will recognize your website as an authoritative source on the subject and be more likely to incorporate your content into its responses.
Spread Your Message Across Trusted Sites
ChatGPT learns from a variety of sources, including news articles, press releases, blogs, documentation, and trusted third-party websites. To “train” it to recommend your brand or content, make sure your unique value, expertise, or product, is seeded across indexable, reputable platforms.
These include Wikipedia, high-authority blogs, industry directories, academic sites, and media publications. The more places your narrative appears in credible formats, the more signals you send to LLMs that your brand is trustworthy and relevant.
Build Authority Through Strategic Mentions
Authority matters in AI ranking. If your brand is mentioned, cited, or linked by highly trusted domains, especially those with government (.gov), educational (.edu), or established media presence, it increases your weight in the training data and ranking algorithms of LLMs (Large Language Models).
Guest posting, digital PR, strategic partnerships, and thought leadership contributions to reputable platforms can help you earn this authority. LLMs prioritize accuracy and source credibility, so they are more likely to recommend content backed by strong, verifiable entities.
Stay Consistent
Building a presence in AI models is an ongoing process. Think of it like modern PR: consistent messaging, proactive engagement, strategic placement, and reputation management across all media touchpoints. Keep feeding the ecosystem with accurate, value-driven content and thought leadership.
Repurpose your insights across blog posts, interviews, podcasts, LinkedIn articles, and FAQ pages. LLMs remember the brands and experts that show up repeatedly in reliable contexts, so make sure you’re always part of the conversation.
How to Measure Your ChatGPT Visibility
Tracking your visibility in ChatGPT is not as straightforward as using traditional SEO metrics like traffic or keyword rankings. However, several indirect methods can help you gauge how well your content is performing in ChatGPT responses.
- Monitor AI-Generated Responses: While ChatGPT doesn’t provide analytics like Google Search Console, you can still track whether your content is being cited by searching for questions and seeing if your website or content is mentioned in the AI’s answers. By repeating this process over time, you can gain a sense of how frequently your content is being utilized.
- Track Changes in Domain Authority and Backlinks: Although backlinks and domain authority don’t directly affect how ChatGPT ranks content, a high level of domain authority can increase the likelihood of your content being featured in AI responses. To measure this, use tools like Moz, Ahrefs, or SEMrush to monitor your domain authority and backlink profile. As you earn backlinks from authoritative sources and increase your domain authority, you should see improvements in visibility, which may also reflect in ChatGPT’s selection of your content.
- Monitor Search Engine Rankings: The overlap between Google and AI search responses is undeniable even though ChatGPT doesn’t use traditional search engines for ranking. Often, content that ranks well in Google’s search engine results is more likely to be featured in ChatGPT’s answers.
Therefore, you can use Google Search Console to monitor which queries are driving traffic to your website and look for correlations between these queries and ChatGPT’s responses.
Conclusion
Rather than viewing AI as a competitor, it’s essential to view it as a partner in your content strategy. ChatGPT and other AI platforms are becoming an integral part of the digital ecosystem, and knowing how to optimize your content for AI search can drive significant traffic and engagement. By aligning your content with AI preferences, you create a seamless user experience that bridges the gap between traditional SEO and AI-driven search.
Remember that ChatGPT thrives on content that is high-quality, authoritative, and conversational. By focusing on these areas, you can create content that appeals to both human users and AI, ensuring that your visibility is maximized across multiple platforms.
