When Google started showing local businesses on a map above the search results, most owners in the trades shrugged. A few claimed their listing, filled in their hours and added photos. Those owners got calls from that map for years.
Yesterday, OpenAI opened the same door in ChatGPT.
OpenAI says 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT every week, and plenty of them already ask it who to call about a leaking water heater or a dead AC. Now you can claim your business in ChatGPT, correct what it says about you, and see how often it sends people to your website.
Most of your competitors won't get to it for months, I'd claim yours this week.
What You Get
Once OpenAI verifies you, you can edit your profile: website, description, category, logo and cover photo. That's what people see when they click your business in a ChatGPT answer.
You also get a dashboard with the last 28 days of three numbers:
Mentions: how often ChatGPT brings up your business
Website clicks: how many people click through to your site
Discovery topics: the themes of conversations where ChatGPT cites your website
You won't see the questions people typed or which competitors showed up next to you. And a blank number can mean ChatGPT doesn't have enough data on you to report yet. It doesn't mean zero.
How to Claim It
Find your listing. Sign in to ChatGPT, go to chatgpt.com/business-hub, search for your business and pick the right listing. Then confirm which ChatGPT account will manage it.
Prove you own it. ChatGPT offers a few options, like a code sent to your business phone or email, or a TXT record added to your website's DNS settings.
Wait for review. Your screen will say "Claim received" and "Review in progress." OpenAI emails you a decision or asks for more information.
Verify your identity. After approval, OpenAI runs an ID check through a company called Persona, so have a government ID ready. You can't publish changes or see your numbers until it clears.
Once You're In
Fill every field. Write your description the way a customer would ask for you: the trades you cover, the towns you serve and what you're known for. ChatGPT can only work with what you give it.
Make sure ChatGPT can read your site. Ask whoever runs your website to check that your robots.txt file doesn't block OAI-SearchBot. If it does, your site won't show up in ChatGPT's search answers.
Use your discovery topics. They show what ChatGPT already gives you credit for. If "tankless water heater installs" shows up and your website has one line about it, build that page out.
What ChatGPT Reads
Your profile is one source. ChatGPT also pulls from your website and the other pages about your business across the web: your Google listing, directory and trade association pages, local news stories and your reviews.
So keep those current too. Your website should list every service you offer and every town you serve, and your hours, phone number and service area should match everywhere they appear. And every review is about a tech's work in a customer's home, so the way to earn good ones is good work on every job.
Good work on every job is also what ShareWillow helps you reward. Book a free call and we'll show you what a bonus plan could look like for your team so you can keep your customers happy and sharing positive reviews online.
Claim your profile this week. Then make sure everything else ChatGPT reads about you tells the same story.
Best,
Ryan