It’s the question we get asked more than any other right now: “How do I get my business to show up on AI?” People mean ChatGPT recommending them, or that AI summary at the top of Google answering a question with their name in it. It’s a fair question, and the honest answer is more reassuring — and less mysterious — than most of what’s being sold around it.
So here’s the straight version, without the jargon or the scare tactics.
First, “ranking on AI” isn’t one thing
The phrase gets used loosely, but it covers two quite different situations:
Google’s AI answers. When you search Google now, you often get an AI-written summary above the usual blue links. Being mentioned or cited in that summary is one kind of “AI visibility.”
AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini. When someone asks an AI assistant “who’s a good [your kind of business] in Pretoria,” you want your name to come up in the answer. That’s the other kind.
They work differently under the hood, but — and this is the important part — the things you do to show up in both overlap almost entirely. You don’t need two separate strategies. You need one good foundation.
The uncomfortable truth: there’s no “position one” on AI
With traditional Google, you can aim to be the number one result. AI doesn’t work like that. There’s no fixed ranking. Instead, it’s about how often your business gets mentioned across the many different ways people might ask about what you do.
Think of it less like a leaderboard and more like a reputation. The more consistently AI systems “see” your business described clearly and trustworthily across the web, the more often they’ll bring you up. You’re not chasing a position — you’re building a presence the AI keeps returning to.
That distinction matters, because it changes what you should spend effort on. Chasing a single “AI ranking” is a fool’s errand. Building a clear, credible, consistent presence is not.
What actually gets you mentioned by AI
Here’s the part that cuts through the hype. Almost everything that helps you show up in AI is the same thing that makes for good, honest SEO — done properly. There’s very little that’s genuinely new. What matters:
- Content that answers real questions clearly. AI systems favour pages that answer a specific question directly, in plain declarative sentences, near the top of the page. A page that reads like a clear, factual explanation beats one that meanders. If a customer might ask it, answer it — properly, on your site.
- A website AI can actually read. Clean, fast, well-structured pages with proper headings and behind-the-scenes markup (called structured data) that spells out what your business is, where it is, and what it offers. This is invisible to your customers but hugely important to machines.
- A clear, consistent identity across the web. Your business name, address and phone number identical everywhere they appear — your site, your Google Business Profile, directories, social pages. AI systems cross-reference these to decide whether you’re a real, established business. Inconsistency makes them uncertain, and uncertain businesses don’t get recommended.
- Genuine authority and mentions. Being referenced on other credible sites, having real reviews, being a recognised name in your field. AI leans heavily on what trustworthy sources already say about you.
- Ranking well in ordinary search already. This is the big one people miss: Google’s AI answers mostly pull from pages that already rank well in normal search results. AI doesn’t invent new winners — it elevates pages that have already earned their place. So good traditional SEO isn’t obsolete. It’s the entry ticket.
The Google Business Profile point, especially for local businesses
If you’re a South African business serving a local area, there’s one thing worth singling out. Google’s own AI (Gemini) leans heavily on your Google Business Profile when answering location questions. So the same complete, accurate, actively-managed profile that helps you show up on Google Maps also helps you show up in AI answers.
That’s a genuinely good deal: the work isn’t separate. A well-run Google Business Profile — correct category, consistent details, a steady flow of recent reviews — pays off in ordinary search, in the map results, and in AI. One effort, three payoffs.
What to ignore
Since you’ll be pitched on this, here’s what to be sceptical of:
Anyone promising you a guaranteed “AI ranking.” There’s no such thing to guarantee — no fixed position exists, and no one controls what an AI says.
Anyone selling “AI SEO” as something completely separate and mysterious that costs three times as much. The foundations are the foundations. A well-built, fast, clearly-structured website with a strong online presence is what gets you seen by AI — the same things that were good practice already, done properly rather than bolted on.
Tricks and shortcuts. Stuffing your page with keywords, or trying to “trick” the AI, tends to backfire. These systems are built to reward clarity and trust, not manipulation.
The honest bottom line
Showing up on AI isn’t a dark art, and it isn’t a separate expensive project. It’s mostly the result of having a genuinely good website — fast, clearly structured, honestly written, with your information consistent across the web and real authority behind your name.
If your website is thin, slow, or confusing to a machine, no amount of “AI optimisation” will fix that. If it’s well-built and clear, you’re already most of the way there — for Google, for the map pack, and for AI.
That’s the part we can help with. We build fast, cleanly-structured websites with the markup and foundations that both Google and AI systems can read properly. If you’re wondering whether your current site is helping or hurting you here, get in touch — we’re happy to take a look and tell you honestly where you stand.
Accurate as of September 2026