How do you get your eco brand cited by AI search?

Which assistants can cite an eco brand, and from where?

Searching the web with ChatGPT says ChatGPT can search the web and include citations you can open. It says ChatGPT search sometimes partners with other search providers, and that it typically rewrites your question into one or more targeted queries it sends those providers. The same article says placement is not guaranteed. To make a site eligible, allow OAI-SearchBot to crawl it, and confirm the host or CDN allows traffic from OpenAI's published searchbot IP addresses.

ChatGPT search for Enterprise and Edu names Bing. It says ChatGPT may share disassociated search queries with the Bing search engine to return web results. It also says ChatGPT for Healthcare workspaces do not use Bing for web search. Read that as a named provider on the Enterprise and Edu page. It is not a claim that every ChatGPT plan searches only Bing. The consumer search article talks about search providers, and it points readers to the Microsoft and Shopify privacy policies for how those providers may process queries.

Perplexity Crawlers says PerplexityBot is designed to surface and link websites in search results on Perplexity. It is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models. Perplexity recommends allowing PerplexityBot in your robots.txt file.

Use and manage Connected Apps in Gemini (Gemini Apps Help) says Gemini automatically uses public information from certain Google services, including Google Search and Google Maps. Connected Apps settings do not change that use of public information. Gemini can use public Google Search information even if Keep Activity is off or you are signed out. Public information from Google Maps, and from Flights, Hotels, and YouTube, needs Keep Activity on.

How web search works in Microsoft Copilot Chat and agents says Copilot generates a short query based on your prompt and sends it to Bing. The results are used in the response. The Sources button shows the exact query Copilot sent to Bing and the sources it used.

A vegan cafe can appear in a "vegan lunch near me" answer only when those surfaces can see the same facts: a crawlable page, a Maps listing, and a URL Bing can return. A vegan shoe brand with no shop still needs the product page indexed for Google, and reachable for Bing, because Copilot and the Enterprise and Edu ChatGPT page both name Bing.

What should robots.txt allow before you rewrite copy?

Overview of OpenAI Crawlers says OAI-SearchBot is used to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT's search features. Sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as navigational links. OpenAI recommends allowing OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt, and allowing requests from the published IP ranges. It can take about 24 hours after a robots.txt change for OpenAI's systems to adjust.

GPTBot is the separate crawler that may be used for training generative models. OpenAI says each setting is independent. You can allow OAI-SearchBot and disallow GPTBot. Blocking GPTBot does not, by itself, do the job of an OAI-SearchBot opt-out. The dedicated OAI-SearchBot guide and the training versus search bots guide go line by line. Where ChatGPT search gets its links covers the provider mix.

Perplexity documents a second agent, Perplexity-User, for a fetch a person triggered. The crawler docs say that fetcher generally ignores robots.txt, because a user requested the page. Allowing PerplexityBot covers the search crawler they tell you to allow. It does not control every user-triggered fetch. If a firewall blocks the user agent, robots.txt never gets a vote. Check that with the CDN and firewall guide, then confirm the proof page is plain HTML with the view-source test.

What does Google say you do not need to add?

AI features and your website (Google Search Central) says the best practices for SEO remain relevant for AI Overviews and AI Mode. There are no additional requirements to appear in those features, and no other special optimizations are necessary. A page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet. There are no additional technical requirements. Meeting the requirements still does not guarantee that Google will crawl, index, or serve the page.

The same page says you do not need to create new machine readable files, AI text files, or markup to appear in these features. There is also no special schema.org structured data you need to add. The fundamentals it still lists include allowing crawling in robots.txt and on your CDN, making important content available as text, making sure structured data matches the visible text, and keeping Merchant Center and Business Profile information up to date.

This guide does not promise FAQ rich results. A visible question and a direct answer help a person, and they give an assistant a sentence to quote. Google's AI features page does not say that FAQ markup earns a rich result or a citation. If you do add structured data, it has to match the words on the page. See structured data and visible text and FAQ pages for AI citations. llms.txt is a proposal, not a requirement on that Google page. Google AI Mode eligibility is the index you already have, not a side door.

How do you write a page an assistant can quote?

Write the fact as one sentence a stranger can repeat, on a URL that loads as HTML. Label examples as examples. Do not publish them unless they are true for your brand.

• Restaurant example: "The kitchen at North Spoon is fully vegan. Oat milk is the default in coffee. Dairy is not on the menu." If the kitchen is mixed, say mixed, and link a kitchen policy page.
• Product example: "The Daypack upper is polyurethane. The lining is recycled polyester. We do not describe it as leather." Link a materials proof page instead of calling the material eco.
• Grocery example: "Plain oat drink. Ingredients: water, oats, rapeseed oil, salt. No added vitamin line on this SKU." The carton, the product page, and the retailer feed should say the same list.

Keep that sentence in the HTML source, not only inside a hero image or a PDF menu. Google's AI features page says important content should be available in textual form. Use one description on the about page, the product or menu page, and the Business Profile. The consistent brand description guide is the worksheet. Restaurant near-me work stays in vegan restaurant AI citations. Hotel city queries stay in vegan hotel AI citations.

What should a vegan Google Business Profile match?

Understand how Google sources and uses info in Business Profiles and local search results (Google Business Profile Help) says Google displays profiles, including business profiles, on Google Search and Google Maps. Information in profiles is compiled from crawled web pages, licensed data, contributions from people (including owners who claim a profile), and Google's interactions with the place. Google uses business information to surface local results. The help page's example is a salon that can appear for "salons near me" or "salons open now" because the profile includes an address and hours.

For a vegan restaurant, shop, or studio with a real location, the profile name, address, hours, website, and category should match the website. If the site says fully vegan and the profile says plant-based options, a Maps or Search summary can repeat the mismatch. Gemini Apps Help says Gemini uses public Maps information, which is why the listing matters for place questions. It does not say Gemini has a private feed of your Business Profile edits.

A product brand with no premises should not invent a storefront. Use the product page. Claiming a profile you do not operate is outside this guide. Owners who do have a location can follow the vegan restaurant Google listing guide and local SEO for green businesses.

How is this different from the citation guides you already have?

What does a 90-day citation plan look like?

Use the AEO readiness calculator as a checklist, not as a score you can quote. Re-run questions after a real edit using the AI search visibility audit. Date changes without new facts are covered in whether fake publish dates help citations.

Which official pages did we check?

Claims in this guide come from these pages, checked when the guide was written. If a help article moves, trust the live page over this summary.

• Searching the web with ChatGPT (OpenAI Help Center): search providers, citations, OAI-SearchBot eligibility, placement not guaranteed.
• Overview of OpenAI Crawlers: OAI-SearchBot, robots.txt, and GPTBot as a separate control.
• ChatGPT search for Enterprise and Edu: Bing named for those workspaces. Healthcare workspaces do not use Bing.
• Perplexity Crawlers: PerplexityBot for search results. Perplexity-User generally ignores robots.txt.
• Use and manage Connected Apps in Gemini (Gemini Apps Help): public information from Google Search and Google Maps.
• AI features and your website (Google Search Central): SEO basics apply. No special file or special schema required.
• How web search works in Microsoft Copilot Chat and agents: queries Bing, and the Sources button shows the query and the sources.
• How Google sources and uses Business Profile information (Google Business Profile Help): profiles on Search and Maps, and local results that use address and hours.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get your eco brand cited by AI search?

Publish a true sentence in crawlable HTML, allow OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot, and match the public facts on your site and, if you have a location, on your Google Business Profile. ChatGPT search uses search providers. Enterprise and Edu help names Bing. Gemini Apps use public Google Search and Maps information. Copilot web search queries Bing and shows sources. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode follow ordinary SEO, with no special file or special schema required. Placement and indexing are not guaranteed.

Do I need a special file or schema for Google AI Overviews?

No. Google Search Central says there are no additional requirements for AI Overviews or AI Mode, and that you do not need new machine readable files, AI text files, markup, or special schema.org structured data. The page still has to be indexed and eligible for a snippet. That is not a promise it will be shown.

Will FAQ markup get FAQ rich results?

Do not plan on that. This guide does not promise FAQ rich results. Google's AI features page says no special schema is required for those features. If you add FAQ structured data, it must match the visible questions and answers. Markup is not a citation shortcut.

Does blocking GPTBot remove my brand from ChatGPT search?

Not by itself. OpenAI documents GPTBot for training and OAI-SearchBot for search, and says the settings are independent. Opting out of OAI-SearchBot is what keeps a site out of ChatGPT search answers. Those URLs can still appear as navigational links.

Does Copilot search Google?

Microsoft's Copilot web search article says Copilot generates a short query from your prompt and sends it to Bing, then shows sources. It does not say Copilot web search queries Google. Enterprise and Edu ChatGPT search also names Bing. The consumer ChatGPT search article says ChatGPT sometimes partners with other search providers, so do not treat every ChatGPT plan as Bing-only.

Does Gemini read my Google Business Profile?

Gemini Apps Help says Gemini uses public information from Google Search and Google Maps. Business Profile Help says Google shows profiles on Search and Maps and uses business information for local results. Keep the profile aligned with the website. That is not the same as a documented private feed from your Business Profile edits into Gemini.