How to get recommended by ChatGPT as a B2B company

Why does this matter now?

Because buyers ask the assistant before they ask you.

ChatGPT reached 900 million weekly users in February 2026, up from 800 million in October 2025 (TechCrunch, ChatGPT reaches 900M weekly users, February 2026).

G2, B2B buyer research, April 2026 surveyed 1,076 B2B decision makers in March 2026. 51% now start software research in an AI chatbot rather than a search engine. 69% chose a different vendor than they planned because of what the chatbot said. One in three bought from a vendor they had never heard of before.

That last number is the opportunity. A small company can win a place on the shortlist without being famous.

What makes an assistant name one company over another?

Being talked about, in many places, in the same way.

Ahrefs, AI Overview brand visibility study (75,000 brands) studied 75,000 brands. Mentions of a brand across the web had a correlation of 0.664 with showing up in Google's AI Overviews. Plain backlinks scored 0.218.

The gap between the top and the rest is big. Brands in the top quarter for web mentions averaged 169 AI Overview mentions. The next quarter averaged 14.

Each assistant also has its own habits. Omnibound, AEO statistics 2026 found only 11% of domains are cited by both ChatGPT and Perplexity. So check them one by one.

What are the seven steps?

1. Ask first. Type the questions your buyers ask into ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. "Best outbound agency for SaaS in Singapore." "Who helps with WhatsApp outreach in Dubai?" Write down who gets named and which pages they cite. That is your starting line.
2. Say what you do in one plain sentence. Use the same sentence on your website, LinkedIn page, founder profile and every directory. Assistants cross-check. Mixed messages make you easy to skip.
3. Get on review sites and directories. G2, B2B buyer research, April 2026 found 45% of buyers say citations from review sites are the most trusted part of an AI answer. Pick the two or three your buyers use and ask happy clients for honest reviews.
4. Earn mentions on other sites. Guest posts, podcast episodes, partner pages, local press, industry lists. Each one is a place where your name sits next to what you do.
5. Publish pages that answer real questions. Pricing, comparisons, "how does X work", "X for companies in Malaysia". Use the words buyers use. Put the short answer at the top.
6. Show real proof. Case studies with numbers. Named authors. A clear date. Assistants prefer pages that look like a person stands behind them.
7. Check every month. Same questions, same assistants. Note what changed.

What about Southeast Asia, the GCC and Europe?

Here small companies have an edge.

When someone asks for the best provider in Kuala Lumpur, Riyadh or Munich, the assistant has fewer good sources to pick from. Local directories, chambers of commerce, trade association lists and local business press carry more weight.

Get listed in the places that cover your city and industry. Write at least one page per market you serve, with real local proof.

What does not work?

• Pages stuffed with "best" and your company name.
• Paid lists that nobody reads.
• Fake reviews. Assistants read the same review sites buyers do, and buyers notice.
• Hiding pricing. Buyers ask the assistant, and it names the vendor that answered.

How long does it take?

Weeks for new pages to be picked up. Months for mentions to build.

A data observability startup entering APAC, the USA and the UK needed buyers in three regions to trust a new name. Outbound opened the doors. Search and AI visibility is what makes the name hold up when the buyer checks.

For the basics of how this fits with Google, read SEO vs AEO vs GEO, explained simply.

Questions people ask