How to Get More Clients Through ChatGPT

More and more people, when they need something, open ChatGPT first instead of Google. They ask it to recommend a tradesperson, an agency or a service in their city, and its answer increasingly decides who they call first. For small and medium businesses this is a new channel to clients, just as real as Google search, and very few use it yet. In this article I explain how ChatGPT chooses whom to recommend, what you can do to be among the recommendations and what paid advertising inside ChatGPT looks like.

Why clients ask ChatGPT before Google

The reason is simple. Instead of ten links to read and compare, the user gets one concrete answer that already sounds like a recommendation. Someone looking for a plumber in Rijeka or a physiotherapist in Zagreb would rather ask ChatGPT for two or three suggestions than scroll through a page of results.

The questions are also much more detailed than on Google. On Google someone types “hairdresser Zagreb”. In ChatGPT they write “I need a good hairdresser in Trešnjevka for curly hair who works on Saturdays”. The answer is a short list, and a business that is not on it does not exist for that customer.

How ChatGPT chooses whom to recommend

ChatGPT builds answers from what it finds about your business online. The most important sources are:

• Your website. Clearly described services, city, opening hours and answers to common questions.
• Your Google Business Profile. Category, description, services, photos and up-to-date details.
• Reviews. Number, rating and content of reviews, especially those mentioning a specific service.
• Mentions on other sites. Local portals, directories, articles and forums.

The clearer and more consistent your footprint, the easier it is for AI to recognise you as a good answer. This approach is called GEO optimisation, and I explain it in detail in What is GEO optimisation.

How to look good in ChatGPT’s answer

These are the steps I take for clients, in order of impact.

1. Complete your Google profile. The right category, every service with a description, opening hours, photos and regular posts. Local SEO is built on the same foundation, so one piece of work helps in two channels.

2. Write a page for each main service. Each service needs its own page with a clear description, the city, the process and common questions. AI cites a page more easily when it answers the question directly.

3. Add answers to customer questions. What do customers ask most often on the phone? How long does it take, do you work weekends, do you come to the address? Put those answers on the page as questions and answers.

4. Collect reviews that mention the service. A review saying “They fixed the bathroom leak quickly” tells AI more than “All five stars”. I write about collecting them safely in How to get more Google reviews.

5. Be consistent everywhere. The same name, city and phone number on your website, Google profile, Facebook and directories.

6. Make sure AI tools can read your site. Some websites accidentally block AI tools in their settings. Check your site settings or ask me to look at them.

Sponsored suggestions inside ChatGPT

Alongside organic mentions, ChatGPT is gradually introducing paid advertising: suggestions that appear inside the answer while the user is still discussing their problem. They are clearly labelled as sponsored.

A Google ad appears next to search results, while this suggestion arrives at the moment the user has already explained exactly what they need. The intent behind it is much clearer, and a customer who clicks usually knows what they want.

What a first campaign looks like

A campaign starts from the questions people actually ask when looking for your service. From those I build the suggestion topics and copy that clearly says what you offer and where. Budget and city targeting are set before the campaign starts.

Before launching I check whether advertising is available for your industry and market. If ads are not available yet, I prepare organic visibility in parallel, so everything is ready the moment access opens.

How to measure whether the campaign brought clients

Every click on a suggestion and every completed contact form is recorded and attributed to the campaign that brought it, just like with Google Ads. For organic visibility I regularly ask the questions your customers ask and record whether the answer mentions your business.

Part of the visits from ChatGPT also shows up in your website analytics, because ChatGPT adds a source tag to its links. That way you see how many people come from AI conversations and what they do on the site.

Is it worth it for your business

If clients already ask ChatGPT for recommendations in your industry, it pays to be there before your competitors, while the channel is new and less crowded. The good news is that most of the work that helps in ChatGPT also helps on Google, so the investment does not go into a single channel.

I set up and run campaigns inside ChatGPT for businesses that want to be first in this channel, and you can read more on the ChatGPT Ads page. If you want to know whether ChatGPT mentions you today, get in touch for a free call and we will check together.