The short answer
- None of them publish a ranking formula, but every one can only cite pages its bots are allowed to read.
- ChatGPT search reads the web with OAI-SearchBot, Perplexity with PerplexityBot and Claude with Claude-SearchBot. Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode use Google's normal search index.
- To answer, they run one or more searches, read a few promising pages and summarize them, so pages that state facts clearly and match the question are easier to cite.
- What other sites say about you matters too: assistants often cite reviews, listings and articles instead of your own site.
Do AI assistants have a ranking formula?
Not a public one. OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Google and Microsoft don't publish how they pick which businesses to name. What they do document is how their bots find pages and how you can let them in or keep them out. That's the part you control, so it's where this guide starts.
How does each assistant find pages?
| Assistant | Reads the web with | If you block it |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT search | OAI-SearchBot (and ChatGPT-User when a person asks it to open a page) | OpenAI says opted-out sites aren't shown in ChatGPT search answers |
| Perplexity | PerplexityBot (and Perplexity-User for live requests) | You won't appear in Perplexity's search results |
| Claude | Claude-SearchBot (and Claude-User for live requests) | Anthropic says it may reduce your visibility in Claude's search results |
| Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | Googlebot, through Google's search index | Blocking Googlebot removes you from Google Search entirely |
| Microsoft Copilot | Bing's web results (Bingbot) | You drop out of Bing, which Copilot's web answers draw on |
| DuckDuckGo DuckAssist | DuckAssistBot | DuckDuckGo stops fetching your pages for its answers |
Google adds one rule worth knowing: to be a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page must be indexed and eligible to show in Google Search with a snippet. No special markup or file is required.
What happens when someone asks a question?
The broad pattern is the same everywhere. The assistant turns the question into one or more searches, fetches a few promising pages, writes an answer from what it read, and links some of those pages as sources. This is called grounding.
Google describes a version of this for AI Overviews and AI Mode called “query fan-out”: issuing several related searches across subtopics and sources to build one response. A question like “kid-friendly brunch with parking in Austin” can become separate searches for brunch spots, kids' menus and parking, so a page that answers one of those clearly can be pulled in.
What makes a page easier to cite?
- It answers the question near the top. Assistants quote clear sentences. “We're open until 11 pm on Fridays” beats a paragraph about your story.
- The facts are in text. Hours, prices, address and services written on the page, not only inside images, PDFs or a booking widget.
- It's specific. Neighbourhood, specialities, who it's for. “Gluten-free birthday cakes in Clapham” matches more questions than “Welcome to our bakery”.
- It has [structured data](/glossary/structured-data). Machine-readable facts remove the guesswork about hours, location and price range.
- It works without JavaScript. A 2024 vendor study by Vercel found that none of the major AI crawlers it measured rendered JavaScript, so text that only appears after scripts run may be invisible to them.
- It's current. Old hours or a closed location are worse than nothing, because an assistant may repeat them.
Why do assistants often cite other sites instead of mine?
For “best” and “near me” questions, assistants lean on sources that compare several businesses: review sites, map listings, booking platforms, local news and list articles. Your own site tells them what you offer. Other sites tell them whether people like it.
So AEO doesn't stop at your website. Keep your Google Business Profile complete, make sure your main listings match your site (NAP consistency), and ask happy customers for reviews on the platforms your customers use.
Do the answers change from one ask to the next?
Yes. The same question can return different businesses for different people, places and days, and as the assistants update their models and indexes. Judge your visibility across many questions over a few weeks, never from a single screenshot.
What can a business owner do this week?
- Check that your robots.txt allows OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Googlebot and Bingbot. The free AI visibility checker does it in seconds.
- Make sure your home page says what you do, where, and when you're open, in plain text.
- Add LocalBusiness structured data with your name, address, phone and hours.
- Bring your Google Business Profile and main listings in line with your website.
- Ask five customers to leave a review where your customers look.
Questions people also ask
Type to search these questions, or ask anything about getting found on Google and AI.
Does ChatGPT use Google to find businesses?
OpenAI documents its own search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, for ChatGPT search. Allow it in robots.txt, and keep your site indexable in the major search engines as well.
If I block GPTBot, will ChatGPT stop recommending me?
No. GPTBot collects pages that may be used to train OpenAI's models. ChatGPT search uses OAI-SearchBot. You can block one and allow the other.
Do reviews matter for AI answers?
They can. For recommendation questions, assistants often cite review sites and listings. Real reviews on the platforms your customers use help both people and assistants trust you.
Can structured data guarantee a citation?
No. It makes your facts easy to read, which removes a reason to skip you. Whether you're cited still depends on the question and the other sources available.
Sources
- Overview of OpenAI crawlers(opens in a new tab) · OpenAI
- Perplexity crawlers(opens in a new tab) · Perplexity
- Does Anthropic crawl data from the web, and how can site owners block the crawler?(opens in a new tab) · Anthropic
- AI features and your website(opens in a new tab) · Google Search Central
- Transparency note for Microsoft Copilot(opens in a new tab) · Microsoft
- DuckAssistBot(opens in a new tab) · DuckDuckGo
- The rise of the AI crawler (vendor study)(opens in a new tab) · Vercel
Checked on . AI products change quickly; the operators' own pages are the final word.