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SEO for AI: how to get cited by ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews

AI SEO by Alessandro Mari · · 7 min read

"SEO for AI" is talked about a great deal, almost always in revolutionary tones. Read the official documentation, though, and the picture is calmer and more useful: there is no hidden trick to being cited by Google or ChatGPT, only a sequence of conditions to meet. This is the plain version, with the sources we opened to write it.

What Google actually says

Google Search Central's page on AI features (AI Overviews and AI Mode) is clear: there are no additional requirements to appear, and no other special optimisations are necessary. To be eligible, a page must be indexed and able to be shown in Google with a snippet. Google adds that you do not need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup.

In other words, anyone selling a "secret package for Google's AI" is selling something Google itself says is unnecessary. The real work is the usual work, done well: crawlable pages, helpful and reliable content, good page experience, correct structured data.

What OpenAI says about ChatGPT

OpenAI's documentation separates three bots, and confusion between them causes many mistakes:

  • OAI-SearchBot is used to surface websites in ChatGPT's search features. OpenAI states that sites which opt out of it in robots.txt will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers;
  • GPTBot collects content for training generative AI models. Blocking it says your content should not be used for training, but it is not tied to search results;
  • ChatGPT-User is triggered when a user asks ChatGPT to visit a page. OpenAI notes that robots.txt rules may not apply to it, and that it does not determine whether content appears in search.

The practical upshot is simple: if you want to be citable in ChatGPT, do not block OAI-SearchBot. If you do not want your text used to train models, you can block GPTBot without leaving search. These are two separate decisions, and each should be made deliberately. OpenAI also notes that a robots.txt change can take roughly 24 hours to be picked up by its systems.

First check: are you invisible by mistake?

The most common case we meet is not a poorly optimised site but one that has blocked crawlers without knowing it. It happens through security plugins, CDN settings or rules copied from a robots.txt found online. Open yoursite.com/robots.txt and look for Disallow: / applied to generic bots or to those named above. Then confirm in Search Console that your important pages are indexed. For a quick automated first pass, you can use our SEO analysis tool.

What makes a page citable

Here the official documentation gives no recipe, and it is worth saying so: what follows is our working experience, not a rule confirmed by Google or OpenAI. Pages that tend to do better in generated answers share these traits:

  • a direct answer at the top, in two or three sentences, followed by the detail;
  • verifiable facts: prices, timings, terms, names and dates written plainly rather than hidden behind a form;
  • an identifiable author or company, with a real "about" page;
  • a readable structure: headings that match customers' real questions, lists where they help, no walls of text;
  • consistency: the same business details (name, address, services) wherever they appear.

These are, unsurprisingly, the same things that make a page useful to a person. Our approach is described on the AI SEO page.

What makes no difference (or is unproven)

  • Files for AI. Google says they are not needed. An llms.txt file does no harm, but do not expect it to change your citations;
  • Guarantees of appearing. Nobody can promise you a citation: answers vary from one search to the next and from one user to another;
  • Mass-produced text. Content written in bulk and published without review adds nothing to what the AI already has.

How to measure it, without magic tools

Google states that traffic from AI features is included in the Performance report in Search Console alongside everything else; at the time of writing there is no dedicated filter that separates those visits. The honest data is therefore this: impressions and clicks for the pages you have improved, enquiries that mention "I found you on ChatGPT" (always ask new customers how they heard of you) and, now and then, a manual test. Put your customers' questions to ChatGPT and Google and see whether you appear, bearing in mind that the result is a snapshot, not a stable ranking.

A minimal plan in four moves

  1. check robots.txt and indexing: no accidental blocks, and OAI-SearchBot allowed if you want to appear in ChatGPT;
  2. decide your position on GPTBot (training): it is your choice, not a technical one;
  3. rewrite the three pages that bring the most enquiries, putting the answer at the top and the facts in plain sight;
  4. make it clear who you are: author, company, contact page, concrete cases.

In short

Google's AI features need no special optimisation: they need an indexed, useful page. ChatGPT needs you not to block OAI-SearchBot. Everything else is editorial work: clear answers, verifiable facts, a recognisable identity.

If you want to know whether your site is readable by search engines and AI crawlers today, start with the free SEO analysis; if you would rather talk through your case, get in touch.

Sources: Google Search Central (documentation on AI features and your website), OpenAI (crawler documentation), consulted on 8 October 2026.