How to Rank on ChatGPT & Get Attention From AI Users

ChatGPT isn’t technically a search engine. It’s an LLM-based generative artificial intelligence chatbot (try saying that five times fast).

It’s the Internet’s version of leaning over to your co-workers and asking them a question. Or, it’s like calling a friend and asking them if they know anywhere to get good burritos for lunch.

But, if you are, say, a restaurant owner, you’ll want to know how to rank on ChatGPT when someone asks that last question.

That’s the kind of information we’ll be looking at in this article. Learn more below:

• Is ChatGPT the new Google? 
• 7 ChatGPT ranking factors 
• How to rank on ChatGPT

Is ChatGPT the new Google?

No. Currently, ChatGPT has only about 2% of the market share, which is nowhere near Google’s over 90% share. Even though ChatGPT isn’t replacing Google anytime soon, it is still attracting billions of users every month — 1.3 billion, to be exact.

While ChatGPT might be the new kid on the block for online marketing people, developers, and the technically savvy crowd, it is still filtering to the masses.

Businesses seem to be ahead of the curve, with a large number already using ChatGPT to automate functions, coding, and online marketing tactics, such as search engine optimization (SEO). Using ChatGPT as your home page on your browser hasn’t become a thing. Yet.

What are the ranking factors for ranking on ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is trained on the data and information from the Internet. It recognizes patterns within that information and uses those patterns to give results. To give users the best response, it runs data through a certain set of criteria.

The following are factors that influence its top choices for recommendations:

1. Content quality and depth: Content should be accurate, comprehensive, and well-researched for it to rank in ChatGPT. You should make sure to cover the entire user intent, not just the target keywords.
2. Topical authority: Sites that show expertise and authority in their niche are more likely to rank well for a given query.
3. Freshness and relevance: ChatGPT’s goal is to offer users a clear and direct answer. It looks for updated, current information, especially for fast-changing topics (like AI!)
4. Clarity and structure: Having clear headings, bullet points, and paragraphs makes it easier for LLMs to parse your content.
5. Natural language optimization (NLO): Using natural language and queries aligns your content closely with prompt-based search.
6. Credibility and trust signals: Adding sources, citations, and data to your content improves your trustworthiness.
7. Accuracy: While even the developers of ChatGPT recommend you check everything twice from ChatGPT, they strive to make the AI as accurate as possible.

How to rank on ChatGPT

Like Google, there isn’t a hard set of rules for optimization. But there are practices you can follow to earn more traffic from ChatGPT, including the following:

Enhance readability

If your content is too text-heavy, it will be harder for ChatGPT to process the information and decide if it’s relevant for a particular query.

To combat this, make your content easy to read with clear headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs. This step will make it easier for ChatGPT (and users!) to scan your content and pick out the most important information.

Address negative reviews

If your brand is mentioned more on the web, it’s more likely to be in ChatGPTs data set, and it’s more likely to pull your company’s information as a result. That’s why you should try to earn reviews when possible.

However, don’t just focus on the positive ones — replying to negative reviews can improve your brand credibility and influence ChatGPT’s perception of your business.

Leverage social proof

Building up your trust and credibility through social proof can help your rankings with ChatGPT. Some examples of social proof include:

• Testimonials
• Endorsements
• Case studies
• Certifications

Incorporate FAQs

Users ask ChatGPT questions, which means that question-type keywords might be the way to go in the future. Adding an FAQ section is an easy way to address these searches without writing pages of content surrounding each search.

Target niche, long-tail keywords

With the development of ChatGPT 4, information about the user has been collected. This development gives you more room to rank well for queries.

Say a user mentions they are vegetarian, and then they later ask for a restaurant recommendation. Based on that previous information, ChatGPT might only recommend places with vegetarian options: 

This is a game-changer in terms of offering personalized options for users, but it is also a game-changer for businesses — you won’t have control over this process.

You will have to start thinking outside the box about their customers’ personas to get included in those results. For example, instead of using broad keywords like ‘gift ideas for your dog,’ they might have to include ‘bulldog birthday gifts.’

Be consistent

Remember that ChatGPT is always a little behind, depending on its updates. For example, ChatGPT-3.5 only had information until 2021, while ChatGPT-4 has information up to April 2023.

Timeframes between each version historically vary from two years to four months. If you start optimizing to rank in ChatGPT now, it will only pay off on ChatGPT’s next update, which could be two years away. Or, it could be in December. That’s a big difference.

Basically, getting traffic from ChatGPT will mean starting your campaign today, but potentially not seeing the results for two years.

Stay on top of AI and technology with WebFX

If you are looking to use technology like ChatGPT in your own business, then say no more!

WebFX has a team of 500+ digital marketing experts up on all things AI and ChatGPT. We can help you leverage LLMs like ChatGPT to increase your traffic, authority, and revenue.

Call us at 888-601-5359 or request a free quote to see how you can start leveraging AI in your digital marketing strategies!