Last Updated on November 19, 2025 by Becky Halls
If you’ve ever asked ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity a question and noticed your competitors being quoted, but not you, then you’ve just seen the next big shift in digital visibility.
Welcome to the era of AI citations, where the real question isn’t just “How do I rank on Google?” but “How to get AI to mention my business?”
In 2025, the way people find brands has changed. Users are asking AI tools for recommendations, comparisons, and best-of lists – and the AI’s answers often decide who wins the click, the lead, and the sale.
According to Search Engine Journal, over 64% of users now rely on AI-powered summaries or chat interfaces before clicking any result, meaning getting cited by AI isn’t just nice to have but is critical.
What Does It Mean When AI Mentions a Business?
When an AI model like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude “mentions” a business, it’s citing or referencing that brand as part of an answer. It might reference your product, quote your data, or summarise your website’s content as part of an explanation.
Think of it as the new version of ranking #1 – except the AI picks who to trust based on authority, relevance, and clarity rather than pure backlinks.
That’s why learning how to get AI to mention my business is the next logical step for SEO professionals and marketers who already understand traditional authority signals.
We’ve seen that once a site starts being cited by AI tools, brand search volume and referral traffic from generative engines rise sharply, even before Google rankings catch up.
Why AI Mentions Matter More Than Rankings Now
Search is becoming conversational. Instead of typing “best link-building platform,” people ask “Which platform is best for building backlinks safely?”
AI answers directly – summarising from its index or live data sources. If your business isn’t part of that conversation, you’re invisible.
Some quick numbers to scare/impress you:
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38% of all online discovery now happens inside AI assistants or chat-based interfaces (according to Statista, 2025).
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Perplexity AI reports that brands mentioned in its summaries see an average 21% higher referral rate than those that only appear in web results.
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By 2026, it’s estimated that one in three purchase decisions will be influenced by AI-driven recommendations (source: HubSpot Future of Search Report, 2025).
How to Get AI to Mention My Business (Step-by-Step)
Let’s break down how to actually make AI tools recognise, trust, and mention your brand.
1. Build an AI-Friendly Content Foundation
AI systems read, summarise, and cite structured, context-rich content. To appear in those summaries, you need to feed the models what they love.
Here’s what works:
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Clear definitions and answers: Start pages with concise, factually accurate explanations of your core topics.
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Structured data markup: Add schema (FAQ, HowTo, Product, Author) to make it easy for AIs to read your site.
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Topic clusters: Build authority around themes – not isolated pages.
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Readable formatting: Short paragraphs, lists, and tables make content easier for LLMs to parse.
In our experience, reformatting older content into question-and-answer style instantly increased AI citations in Perplexity summaries.
2. Get Cited by Authoritative Websites
AI models weigh your credibility based on who else is talking about you. Being mentioned by trusted publications, directories, or niche leaders signals authority.
This means you should:
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Earn mentions on industry blogs or roundups.
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Contribute expert quotes to relevant media.
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List your business in trusted data sources (like Crunchbase, G2, or Product Hunt).
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Use PR platforms like HARO or Connectively to provide expert input.
Stat: According to Ahrefs (2025), businesses with citations on at least 10 trusted third-party domains are 3.4x more likely to appear in AI-generated responses.
We’ve noticed that when brands gain mentions from respected niche blogs – not just high-DR general sites – AI tools start quoting them within weeks.
3. Optimise for Entity Recognition
To an AI, your business isn’t just a name – it’s an entity. You need to help it understand who you are and how you fit into your topic area.
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Use consistent naming (brand name + descriptor) across your site and external profiles.
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Add a detailed About page with structured data and outbound links to relevant authorities.
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Interlink your site pages around your brand, team, and services to strengthen internal entity relationships.
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Create profiles on Wikidata, LinkedIn, and Google Business with consistent descriptions.
Quote:
“Search engines are moving from keywords to entities. The clearer your entity profile, the easier it is for AI to connect your brand to relevant answers.”
-Danny Sullivan, Google Search Liaison
4. Target Long-Tail and Conversational Queries
AI assistants respond better to natural language queries than short keywords. Create content that mirrors the questions people actually ask.
Examples:
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Instead of “AI SEO strategy,” write “How can small businesses use AI for SEO growth?”
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Instead of “link-building software,” write “What’s the safest link-building platform for agencies?”
Include variations like:
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“How to get AI to mention my business”
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“How do I make ChatGPT include my brand?”
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“How does AI choose which companies to recommend?”
These conversational headings make your content LLM-optimised, helping AI tools pull your text for answer generation.
5. Strengthen Brand Signals and E-E-A-T
AI citation models mirror Google’s Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) framework.
To reinforce those signals:
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Add expert bios with verifiable credentials.
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Get featured in niche podcasts, webinars, or interviews.
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Include testimonials and case studies on key pages.
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Encourage satisfied clients to mention your business on their blogs or LinkedIn.
We’ve seen that when clients start positioning key team members as named experts online, AI engines begin associating those individuals – and their companies – with specific topics.
6. Keep Your Data Fresh
LLMs crave recent, reliable data. If your content hasn’t been updated in months, it’s unlikely to appear in AI responses trained on or fetching newer data.
Keep publishing:
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Monthly or quarterly updates to evergreen content.
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Fresh statistics and insights tied to your industry.
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Pages with “Updated [Month, Year]” tags to signal recency.
Stat: A study from CognitiveSEO (2025) found that updating key pages quarterly improved AI visibility mentions by 28% across ChatGPT and Gemini.
7. Get Listed in AI Training Sources
Many generative AI systems pull from open-web datasets and verified directories. Ensure your brand appears in:
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Wikipedia or niche knowledge bases.
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Industry datasets or public research reports.
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Trusted media outlets (via digital PR).
The goal is simple: be in the sources AIs trust. If your business exists in those ecosystems, you increase your odds of being cited repeatedly.
How Long Does It Take to Get AI to Mention My Business?
That depends on your existing authority footprint.
If you already have strong SEO signals, visible citations, and structured content, mentions can happen within 2–3 months.
For newer brands, it might take 6–9 months of consistent effort – publishing, link building, and authority outreach.
In our experience, the tipping point usually comes after a brand secures around five high-quality mentions and a handful of contextually strong backlinks from trusted sites.
What Tools Help Track or Improve AI Mentions?
There’s no universal tracker yet, but a few options can help:
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Perplexity’s Discover Mentions – shows which domains its AI is referencing.
- LLM Audit – gives you a complete instant audit of your site, prioritizing what to focus on to improve your LLM visibility
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Ahrefs / Semrush – monitor brand mentions and new referring domains.
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Google Alerts – basic but effective for identifying new citations.
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ChatGPT Atlas – will include brand visibility analytics for AI discovery.
We expect AI visibility tracking to become a standard marketing metric by 2026.
The Future: AI Mentions as the New Backlinks
Just as backlinks were the trust signal of Web 2.0, AI mentions will define authority in the AI-driven web.
Every time an LLM cites your business, it’s effectively endorsing your credibility. Over time, these mentions will feed back into SEO, entity recognition, and brand recall.
According to Forrester Research (2025), brands optimising for AI citations could see up to a 40% increase in referral conversions by late 2026 – even if overall search traffic declines.
We’ve noticed that AI mentions not only increase visibility but also dramatically improve trust. When people see your brand referenced inside AI tools, they assume you’re the default choice.
FAQ: How to Get AI to Mention My Business
Q1. Does AI mention only big brands?
No. Smaller businesses with strong topical authority and clear, well-structured content can (and often do) get cited. The key is relevance, not size.
Q2. Do paid ads influence AI mentions?
Not directly. AI engines don’t consider ad data, but increased visibility and brand recognition from ads can lead to more organic citations over time.
Q3. How can I see if AI has mentioned my brand?
Search your business name in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, or set up brand alerts. You can also check AI summary tools that list source domains.
Q4. Should I focus on SEO or AEO for AI mentions?
Both. SEO builds your authority foundation, while AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) ensures your brand appears in AI-generated responses. Together, they create a complete visibility strategy.
Q5. Is AI mention optimisation expensive?
Not necessarily. Most tactics – like content restructuring, PR outreach, and citation building – are cost-effective if done consistently.
Final Thoughts
Getting AI to mention your business isn’t about gaming algorithms – it’s about earning digital trust.
As we move into 2026, visibility won’t depend solely on rankings or backlinks. It’ll depend on how clearly AI understands who you are, what you do, and why you’re credible.
Start by publishing structured, expert-driven content, earning contextual mentions, and building your brand’s footprint across the web.
Because the question isn’t if AI will talk about your industry – it’s who it’ll choose to talk about.
Make sure it’s you.
