Updated November 6, 2026. This morning we asked ChatGPT, with web search on, a question our own customers ask: What are the best AI and web development agencies in Edmonton? It named ten agencies. Quantro Digital, an Edmonton agency that builds exactly that, was not one of them. Google AI Mode and Gemini gave the same result for similar questions. So we looked at what every recommended company had in common, and wrote down how any business can get recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
Quick answer. AI assistants recommend the businesses that independent sources talk about. Get reviews with a visible count on Google and on your industry’s main directory, complete your Google Business Profile, get onto the best of lists for your city, and publish your services, prices and location in plain text. Then check your AI visibility for free every month.
The test we ran
On November 6, 2026 we asked three AI engines the questions a buyer would ask, from a browser with web search enabled:
| Engine | Question | Was Quantro named? |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (web search) | What are the best AI and web development agencies in Edmonton? | No, 10 other agencies named |
| Google AI Mode | Best AI agency in Edmonton | No, research institutes and local AI firms named |
| Google AI Mode | Top AI companies in Canada for small business automation | No, 4 automation agencies named |
ChatGPT’s answer split its picks into AI development agencies and web development agencies, gave a one line summary of each, and quoted Clutch scores and review counts for most of them. It also showed a map of six Edmonton businesses, each with a Google rating between 4.3 and 5.0.
What every recommended business had in common
None of the picks were explained by website design. Every one of them had these four signals:
| Signal | What we saw in the answers | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews with a count and a score | AI answers quoted ratings such as 5.0 from 8 reviews and 4.9 from 10 reviews | Ask every happy client for a Google review and a review on your industry directory |
| A complete Google Business Profile | ChatGPT showed a map of six local businesses, every one with a 4.3 to 5.0 rating | Fill in categories, services, hours, photos and posts, and answer every review |
| Mentions on lists of the best providers | Answers cited Clutch rankings and best of lists for the city | Get listed on the directories and comparison articles for your city and industry |
| Plain facts on the website | Recommendations described each company’s services in one line | Put services, prices, location and who you help in plain HTML text |
Our own gaps were obvious once we looked. Quantro has a 5.0 Google rating, but only 7 Google reviews, and our Clutch profile had no reviews at all. We were on very few of the best of lists the engines cited. Our website was fine. Our footprint outside it was thin.
How to get ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity to recommend your business
1. Check where you stand today
Ask the three engines the exact question your customer asks, with web search on, and write down who they name. Our free AI visibility checker does this for you and also shows what the engines say about you.
2. Get reviews where AI looks
Google reviews matter for every business. Then pick the directory for your industry: Clutch or GoodFirms for agencies and software, Houzz and HomeStars for trades, RateMDs for clinics, Tripadvisor for restaurants and hotels. Ten fresh reviews beat a hundred old ones.
3. Finish your Google Business Profile
Use the right primary category, list every service, add real photos, keep hours current and post an update every week. Gemini and Google AI Mode lean heavily on Google Maps data.
4. Get onto the lists
AI answers to questions like best accountant in Calgary are built from articles that compare local providers. Find the top five lists for your city and category and ask to be considered, with your reviews and prices ready.
5. Write your facts in plain text
On your homepage and service pages, state what you do, where, for whom and what it costs, in text a crawler can read without running JavaScript. A clear pricing page helps a lot.
6. Keep your name, address and phone identical everywhere
Small differences across Google, directories, social profiles and your site make it harder for an AI model to be sure they are the same business.
7. Let AI crawlers in
Check that robots.txt does not block OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended or Bingbot. Some hosts block AI bots by default. Add an llms.txt file that lists your key pages.
8. Add structured data
Organization or LocalBusiness schema with your address, phone, opening hours and sameAs links to your Google, Clutch, LinkedIn and other profiles helps engines connect the dots.
9. Earn mentions outside your own site
Local news, podcasts, partner pages, industry associations and genuine answers on Reddit and forums all count as independent sources.
10. Recheck every month
AI answers change. Run the same questions on the first of each month and track whether you are named, where, and next to whom.
How each AI engine decides who to recommend
- ChatGPT search runs a live web search through partner search providers, reads the top results, and summarizes them. Directory pages, review sites and best of articles show up often in its sources.
- Gemini and Google AI Mode draw on Google Search and Google Maps. Your Google Business Profile, your reviews and pages that already rank on Google carry the most weight.
- Perplexity searches the web for every question and lists its sources. Fresh, specific pages that answer the question directly tend to be cited.
All three work from what is public. That is good news: everything on this list is something you can change.
How long it takes
When an engine searches the web live, a new review or listing can change the answer within days of being indexed. Mentions that come from what a model learned in training change slowly. For most local businesses, 4 to 12 weeks of steady reviews, listings and mentions is a realistic window before you are named consistently.
What we are doing about it
We are running this playbook on ourselves and will update this post with what changes. This month that means asking past clients for Google and Clutch reviews, finishing our directory profiles on Clutch, GoodFirms, Sortlist and Crunchbase, and getting onto Edmonton and Calgary comparison lists. We will rerun the same three questions on December 6 and publish the result here.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business?
Earn reviews on Google and on the directory that matters in your industry, keep your Google Business Profile complete, get your business onto third party lists of the best providers in your city, and state your services, prices and location in plain text on your website. ChatGPT search builds its answers from those public sources, so the more of them that mention you consistently, the more likely you are to be named.
Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity?
No. As of November 2026 none of the three sells placement inside its recommendations. You can only influence the sources they read: reviews, directories, lists, news and your own website.
Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor and not me?
In our test, every company ChatGPT recommended had visible review counts on Clutch or Google and appeared on comparison lists. The usual reason a competitor is named is that more independent sources describe them, not that their website is better.
How long does it take to show up in AI answers?
AI answers that use live web search can change within days of a new review or listing being indexed. Answers that lean on what a model learned in training change much more slowly. Plan on 4 to 12 weeks of steady review and listing work before you see consistent mentions.
Does SEO still matter if people use ChatGPT?
Yes. ChatGPT search, Gemini and Perplexity all pull from search indexes and the pages that rank in them. Pages that rank on Google and Bing are the pages AI tools read and cite most often.
How can I check if ChatGPT recommends my business?
Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the question your customer would ask, such as best dentist in Edmonton, with web search on, and see who is named. Or run our free AI visibility checker, which asks the three engines for you and shows who they name instead.
See what AI says about your business
Run the free AI visibility checker to see whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity recommend you, who they name instead and what they get wrong. Want help fixing it? Our SEO and AI search service starts at C$689 a month with no long term contract. Related reading: local SEO for small businesses, digital marketing with AI in Canada and best SEO companies in Edmonton.
