How to Get Recommended in ChatGPT Without Junk Links

To get recommended in ChatGPT, your business must appear on the pages that ChatGPT reads. Take a question like "who is the best family lawyer in Brisbane?" The pages behind the answer are often "best of" lists, directories and review sites, as well as your own website. You can find those pages. You can then earn a place on the ones that real people read. You do not need to buy links from sites that nobody visits.

This post is for professional services firms in Australia: lawyers, accountants, engineers, allied health and consultants. It explains the popular "listicle" tactic and where it stops being reliable. It also lists the fixes on your own site that are still worth doing.

What people ask ChatGPT

People ask ChatGPT for recommendations in plain sentences. They often add a place, a type of client or a problem. For example:

• "Best accountant in Brisbane for tradies"

• "Family lawyer on the Gold Coast who does mediation"

• "Structural engineer in Toowoomba for a deck certificate"

• "Physio near Chermside that does dry needling"

When ChatGPT searches the web for an answer like this, it shows the sources it used. Those sources tell you where your firm must appear. Since November 2026, OpenAI also lets some businesses claim a profile in ChatGPT. Our post on how to claim your business on ChatGPT explains what works in Australia now.

How this post is different from our LLM-search guide

Our guide to preparing your business for LLM-based search covers the basics: clear content, FAQs, schema and authority. Our post on what an llms.txt file is covers that file. This post adds one layer: the other websites that ChatGPT cites, and how to get your firm onto them.

The listicle tactic

On 20 October 2026, Ilias Ism posted this method on X for software companies:

1. Ask AI: "best [your category] tools".

2. Copy the competitors it recommends.

3. Paste them into Ahrefs, then open Backlinks.

4. Filter for "Best links" and sort by "Page Traffic".

5. Find the "Best X" listicles that link to them.

He ends with: "Email them, you'll show up in ChatGPT!"

The idea is sound. If ChatGPT names your competitors, it probably read pages that name your competitors. If you appear on the same pages, ChatGPT has a reason to name you too.

The last line is a promise that nobody can make. ChatGPT writes each answer from many sources, and the answer changes from one question to the next. A place on a list can help. It does not guarantee a recommendation.

Adapt the method for a professional services firm

The method was written for software. For an Australian business, do these steps:

1. Ask ChatGPT five to ten questions that your clients ask. Include the suburb or city.

2. Turn on search if the answer does not show sources.

3. Write down every firm that ChatGPT names.

4. Write down every page that ChatGPT cites as a source.

5. Repeat the same questions a week later. Note which firms and pages appear both times.

6. Put the competitors' websites into a backlink tool such as Ahrefs or Semrush.

7. Find the "best of" pages, directories and associations that link to two or more of those competitors.

8. Sort that list by the traffic each page gets.

The pages that appear in ChatGPT's sources and also get traffic are your short list.

Earn a place on the list

For each page on the short list, find out how firms get on it. The usual ways are:

• An editor chooses firms and accepts suggestions. Send a short, useful email with facts the editor can check.

• The page is a directory with a free listing. Complete the listing in full.

• The page belongs to an industry body. Join if membership is useful for other reasons.

• The page ranks firms by reviews. Ask happy clients for reviews in the normal course of work.

Give the editor a reason to include you. Name the clients you serve, the suburbs you cover, your prices or price ranges, and one result you can prove.

Where the tactic stops being reliable

What is wasted outreach

Some outreach costs time and gives nothing back. Do not spend time on these:

• Lists that charge for a place and do not say so. Readers trust them less, and Google's spam policies require paid links to be marked.

• Pages with no search traffic. A link from a page that nobody reads does little.

• Sites built only to sell links. Ahrefs' new DR4 model gives less weight to sites without search traffic.

• Mass emails to hundreds of sites. Editors ignore them, and they can harm your business's reputation.

• Lists outside Australia, if you only serve Australian clients.

Lists are not the only source

ChatGPT also reads your own website, review sites, news stories and directories. A firm with a strong website and good reviews can appear without any listicle. A firm with a weak website can appear on lists and still not be recommended. Do the work on your own site first.

Fixes on your own site that are still worth doing

These fixes are small. Most take less than a day.

1. Give each service its own page. Put a plain answer to "what is this service and who is it for" in the first paragraph.

2. Say where you work. Name the city, the suburbs and the regions you serve.

3. Show prices or price ranges where you can. Clients often ask about cost.

4. Name your people. Add their qualifications and their registration numbers where your profession has them.

5. Add case studies with facts that a reader can check. Ask the client before you name them.

6. Add an FAQ section to each service page. Use the words your clients use.

7. Add structured data for your organisation, your location and your FAQs.

8. Keep your name, address, phone number and hours the same on every directory.

9. Check that your robots.txt file does not block OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI uses that crawler for ChatGPT search.

10. Add utm_source=chatgpt.com as a filter in Google Analytics. ChatGPT adds this tag to the links it gives, so you can see the visits it sends.

When llms.txt helps

An llms.txt file is a short guide to your site for AI tools. The large AI companies do not officially support it yet. It is quick to add and does no harm. Do it after the ten fixes above, not before.

A checklist for an Australian professional services firm

Use this list once a quarter:

• Ask ChatGPT ten client questions. Record the firms and sources it names.

• Compare the result with last quarter.

• Update your short list of cited pages that get traffic.

• Contact one or two of those pages with a useful update.

• Check your service pages against the ten fixes above.

• Check your directory listings for the same name, address and phone number.

• Check visits from utm_source=chatgpt.com or the new "AI Assistants" channel in Google Analytics.

• Claim your ChatGPT business profile when your type of business becomes eligible.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get my business recommended in ChatGPT?

Make sure ChatGPT can find clear facts about your firm. Fix your own service pages first. Then find the pages that ChatGPT cites for your type of question, and earn a place on the ones that get real traffic.

Will a listicle link make ChatGPT recommend my firm?

Not always. A place on a list that ChatGPT already cites can help. ChatGPT writes each answer from many sources, so no single link guarantees a recommendation.

How do I find which websites ChatGPT cites?

Ask ChatGPT the questions your clients ask, with search turned on. Record the source links it shows. Repeat the questions a week later, and keep the pages that appear both times.

Should I pay to be on a "best of" list?

Usually not. Paid lists that do not say they are paid lose trust with readers. If you do pay, check that the page gets real traffic and that the payment is shown on the page.

Does an llms.txt file help with ChatGPT?

It may help a little. The large AI companies do not officially support llms.txt yet. Clear service pages, structured data and consistent directory listings help more.

How do I know if ChatGPT sends me visitors?

ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to the links it gives. Filter for that source in Google Analytics. Then check whether those visitors enquire, not only whether they arrive.

Talk to us

If you want to know what ChatGPT says about your firm today, and which pages it relies on, book a 15-minute call. Our AI consultants page explains the rest of our work.