Have you ever asked an AI tool, like ChatGPT or Claude, about your own business? If you’re reading this, you probably have, and the results weren’t what you hoped for. Maybe a competitor got the recommendation. Maybe AI named companies you’ve never even heard of.
The good news is that you can fix it. It’s also early enough in the “AI game” that businesses paying attention now have a head start over most competitors.
What Happens When Someone Asks AI a Question
When someone types a question into an AI tool, that question is called a prompt. Many AI tools don’t run just one search to answer it. They break the prompt into several smaller searches, run them all at once, and then organize what they find into a single answer. Think of it as ten sets of hands doing ten searches at the same time. This is often called query fan-out.
Each version of an AI tool comes with a massive library of built-in knowledge. It also searches the web to add newer information to what it already knows. AI pulls from websites, reviews, news articles, business directories, Google Business Profile listings, forums like Reddit, and videos.
That’s the big difference from traditional search. A person searching Google might click one or two links and decide for themselves. AI reads across many sources at once and pulls them together into one answer, often with a short list of recommendations. That’s a real opportunity. People who ask AI for a recommendation are trusting it to point them in the right direction, so when AI names your business, it’s a lot like a recommendation from a trusted colleague.
Two Ways AI Shows Your Business
Your business can appear in an AI answer in two ways.
A brand mention is when AI names your business in its answer.
A citation is when AI links to a page as a source for its answer. That page could be on your website, or it could be a review site, news article, or directory listing about you.
The two are connected, but they aren’t the same. AI can mention you without citing your site, and it can cite your site without recommending you. Improving each one takes a slightly different approach.
How to Earn More Brand Mentions
AI likes to learn about your business from what other people say about you, and not only from what you say about yourself. That’s why reviews, press coverage, industry lists, directories, and community conversations all matter.
Keep Your Details Consistent
Your business name, description, and contact details should match everywhere they appear online. When AI sees the same information across many sources, it can connect them to your business with more confidence.
Build Up Your Reviews
Reviews are one way AI learns what customers think of you. Encourage happy customers to leave reviews on the platforms your industry uses, and take the time to respond to them. General reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook are often cited, but industry-specific reviews from places like Angi or Tripadvisor also carry a lot of weight. Reddit doesn’t have reviews in the same way, but Reddit is often quoted by AI platforms for opinions on brands, products, and companies.
Get Featured by Others
Mentions in industry publications, local news, and “best of” lists signal to AI that others consider your business worth talking about. Look for chances to share your expertise and earn a spot in those conversations. Things like local partnerships, event sponsorships, and listings with your local chamber of commerce help AI tools legitimize your business.
Bring Your Marketing Teams Together
This work often reaches beyond your SEO team. PR, social media, and customer experience all shape how AI sees your brand, so the more those teams work together, the stronger your presence in AI answers becomes.
How to Earn More Citations
Citations are where you have the most control, because they start with your own website.
Answer Questions Directly
AI favors content that answers a clear question directly. FAQ sections written the way your customers actually ask questions are one of the simplest ways to become a source AI trusts. If it’s a yes-or-no question, start your answer with “Yes” or “No.” Keep the answer honest and helpful, and include data and numbers where you can. Leading with the answer and avoiding the sales pitch makes your content easier for AI to trust and quote.
Keep Your Google Business Profile Up to Date
For local questions, your Google Business Profile is one of the sources AI relies on most. Make sure your hours, services, photos, and contact details are complete, accurate, and consistent with your website. If you’ve moved, changed your phone number, or updated your hours, update your profile right away so AI doesn’t share old information or treat your old and new details as two different businesses.
Give AI a Little Push Behind the Scenes
Schema markup is code added to a page that tells AI and search engines what the page is about, in a format machines can read easily. FAQ schema, for example, pairs naturally with FAQ content. Schema won’t guarantee a citation on its own, but it takes the guesswork out for AI.
What This Looks Like in Practice
For one of our clients, a California private high school, we built FAQ pages around the questions families ask most, covering topics like tuition, athletics, and student life, and kept its Google Business Profile complete and current. The school more than doubled how often it appears in the AI answers we track.
For another client, a packaging and logistics company, we added schema markup to its location pages and updated its Google Business Profile listings. It now appears in about 1 in 4 tracked AI answers, up from about 1 in 6, and it’s typically named first or second when it does.
How to Know Where You Stand
Checking AI on your own is a good start, but one search is only a snapshot. AI answers change from day to day and from one AI tool to the next.
When you check, use the words your customers use. Businesses often describe themselves in industry terms their customers never say. A dental office might search for “periodontal therapy,” while a patient asks, “Why do my gums bleed when I brush?” Those two prompts can bring up very different answers. A mechanic might write about “brake rotor resurfacing” while customers ask “Why do my brakes squeak?” If the content doesn’t connect the two, they can miss each other.
Prompt tracking gives you the full picture. It means running the prompts your customers are likely to ask across multiple AI tools regularly, then recording which brands show up, how often, and which sources AI relies on. That tracking is the foundation of a strong GEO (generative engine optimization) strategy.
Ready to Show Up in AI Search?
You don’t have to fix everything at once. The first step is simply learning where you stand today.
At Mad Fish Digital, we build GEO strategies that cover prompt tracking, brand mentions, and citations, and we connect that work to the rest of your marketing. If you’ve asked AI about your business and didn’t love the answer, let’s talk.