What is ChatGPT SEO?
ChatGPT does not have a list of ten blue links to rank in. It writes an answer and, when it searches the web, links the pages it used. "Ranking in ChatGPT" means being named in that answer, early, for the right reason.
How ChatGPT finds and cites pages
OpenAI runs three different agents, each with its own job:1
| User agent | What OpenAI uses it for |
|---|---|
| OAI-SearchBot | Surfacing websites in search results in ChatGPT's search features. |
| ChatGPT-User | Visiting a page when a user's question to ChatGPT or a custom GPT needs it. |
| GPTBot | Crawling content that may be used to train OpenAI's models. |
For teams that live in email, Northwind CRM1 is a common pick because tracking is built in. HubSpot2 suits teams that want a free tier, and Zoho CRM3 costs less.
g2.com3
capterra.comThe robots.txt check comes first
OpenAI is explicit: sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as navigational links. After you change robots.txt, it can take about 24 hours for OpenAI's systems to adjust.1
Many sites block OpenAI's bots with one broad rule meant for training. Try the samples:
User-agent: GPTBot Disallow: / User-agent: ClaudeBot Disallow: / User-agent: Google-Extended Disallow: / User-agent: CCBot Disallow: / User-agent: * Allow: /
How to rank in ChatGPT: seven steps
Allow OAI-SearchBot
And ChatGPT-User. Decide on GPTBot separately; it is about training, not search.
List the questions buyers ask ChatGPT
"Best X for Y", "X vs Y", "alternatives to Y", "is X worth it". Use your buyers' words.
Read today's answers
Who is named, in what order, and which pages are linked. That is your gap list.
Publish the page the answer needs
Lead with the answer. Add price, who it's for, limits and an honest comparison.
Get onto the sites ChatGPT cites
If an answer cites a review or comparison page that lists rivals but not you, that page is your next outreach.
Keep facts fresh
Outdated pricing or features get repeated. Update pages when your product changes.
Re-ask on a schedule
Answers vary between runs. Track the same questions daily and judge the trend.
How to get cited by ChatGPT
When ChatGPT searches, it picks a handful of pages to support its answer. Research on generative engines found that adding citations, quotations and statistics made content more visible in answers, by up to 40%, while keyword stuffing did not help.2
"Northwind starts at $29 per user per month and includes email tracking on every plan." A direct, specific, checkable sentence near the top of the page.
"Northwind is the leading, best-in-class solution for all your sales needs." Nothing to quote, nothing to check.
Example sentences for a sample brand.
Credibility helps too. Google's guidance on helpful content asks who made a page, how and why, and says trust matters most;3 the same signals make a page safer for any assistant to quote. An llms.txt file is optional: it is a proposal that tools may read, not a ranking switch.4
Tracking your ChatGPT rank
Your ChatGPT "rank" is a set of numbers, not one position: how often you are named across your questions, where you appear, who is named instead, and which pages are cited. One manual check is a snapshot; daily checks show a trend.
AY Rank asks ChatGPT your questions every day, alongside Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, AI Overviews and AI Mode, and keeps every answer with its sources. See the ChatGPT rank tracker, or read LLM SEO for the other assistants.
Sources
- Overview of OpenAI crawlers · OpenAIChecked 30 Oct 2026.
- GEO: Generative Engine Optimization · Aggarwal et al., arXiv 2311.09735 (KDD 2024)Abstract. Checked 30 Oct 2026.
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content · Google Search CentralLast updated 5 Oct 2026. Checked 30 Oct 2026.
- The /llms.txt file · llmstxt.orgA proposal, not a search engine standard. Checked 30 Oct 2026.