How to Get Your Brand Recommended by AI
For years, businesses have been asking one big question:
How do I get to the top of Google?
Now there’s another question we need to be asking:
How do I get ChatGPT and other AI platforms to recommend me?
Because more and more people aren’t starting their search on Google. They’re asking AI.
Who’s the best stylist in Melbourne?
What’s the best accounting software for a small business?
Who runs copywriting courses in Australia?
What’s the best restaurant near the MCG?
And if AI mentions your business in its answer, that could be enormously valuable.
So, how do you increase your chances of appearing?
Some fascinating new research gives us a few clues.
Where does AI get its information?
Peec AI analysed 30 million sources cited across five major AI search platforms: ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.
The researchers weren’t simply looking at websites that appeared somewhere in a search. They counted sources directly cited by the AI platforms.
These were the ten most-cited domains overall:
- YouTube
- Wikipedia
- Forbes
- G2
- Yelp
- Medium
- TechRadar
Think about that list for a moment.
Reddit. YouTube. LinkedIn.
Three of the top four aren't traditional company websites. If you’ve spent years putting all your effort into your website and hoping Google will send people your way, you may need to start thinking more broadly about where your expertise appears online.
1. Reddit is number one
Across the research, Reddit was the most-cited domain overall and appeared either first or second across all five AI platforms studied.
Why?
Peec AI's explanation is that Reddit contains something AI search finds particularly useful: real people talking about real experiences, asking questions, making recommendations and sharing opinions.
That doesn't mean you should rush onto Reddit tonight and start posting glowing reviews of your own business. But it does mean you should know whether people are discussing:
- your business
- your products
- your industry
- the problems you solve
- the topics you know something about
And if you do participate, be useful.
Answer the question, share what you know, and add something to the conversation.
2. YouTube is much more than a video platform
YouTube came in at number two overall and appeared in the top five for every AI platform in the study.
Even more interestingly, Peec AI found that AI can draw information from both video descriptions and transcripts.
That makes video content potentially much more valuable than simply getting views.
A useful video answering a specific question about your area of expertise creates another piece of searchable material explaining who you are and what you know.
If you're creating videos, pay attention to:
- your title
- your description
- what you actually say in the video
- the accuracy of the automatic transcript
In other words, don't just upload the video and forget about everything underneath it.
3. Don't underestimate LinkedIn
LinkedIn ranked third overall.
The research found that AI search can draw information from:
- standard LinkedIn posts
- LinkedIn articles
- company page updates
This dispenses with the idea that nobody reads LinkedIn posts, or that whatever you publish simply disappears into the ether 48 hours later. What you write today can continue to work for you long after it has disappeared from someone’s feed, particularly if AI platforms are using that content to understand who you are, what you know and what your business does.
So, make your posts useful.
Instead of posting, ‘Great meeting today with a wonderful client. Exciting things ahead!’, tell us what actually happened:
What problem was the client facing?
What did you recommend?
What surprised you?
What did you learn?
Is there an idea, observation or lesson you could share that would help someone dealing with the same problem?
The same applies when you launch something, attend an event, finish a project or reach a milestone. Don’t just announce it, add some substance, share what happened behind the scenes, what worked, what didn’t, what you’d do differently next time or what others can learn from the experience.
That way, you’re not simply ‘posting on LinkedIn’. You’re building a body of useful content that demonstrates what you know — to potential clients who find you today and, increasingly, to the AI platforms that may find and recommend you tomorrow.
4. Reviews matter
Another interesting finding was the prominence of review and recommendation sites.
Yelp made the overall top ten, while platforms including Tripadvisor, Trustpilot, G2 and Clutch appeared among the broader group of frequently cited domains. It’s easy to understand why. If somebody asks an AI platform:
‘What's the best hotel in Melbourne?’
or:
‘Which software should I use for my business?’
AI needs evidence to help it make that recommendation, and reviews provide some of that evidence.
If review platforms matter in your industry, make sure your presence there is:
- accurate
- current
- complete
- supported by genuine customer reviews
5. Your industry matters
This is probably the most important qualification in the whole study.
Don't blindly follow the top ten list.
Peec AI points out that citation patterns vary by industry.
In hotels, for example, sites such as Booking.com and Airbnb may have much greater influence than Reddit. So, ask yourself:
Where do people go for trusted information about my industry?
It could be:
- an industry association
- a specialist publication
- a review site
- a directory
- a podcast
- YouTube
- a professional forum
Your website is no longer the whole story
Let's not make the assumption that websites or Google don’t matter anymore.
They absolutely do. The lesson is that your online footprint is much bigger than your website.
If you're trying to build your profile, think about all the places where your expertise could legitimately appear. Your website is one, but so are:
LinkedIn. YouTube. Podcasts. Reviews. Industry publications. Interviews. Articles. Forums. Directories.
The more useful, credible information there is about you and your business in the places your customers — and AI systems — actually use, the easier you are to discover.
Try this yourself
Here's an interesting exercise.
Open the AI platforms you use and ask the kinds of questions your customers might ask.
For example:
‘Who are the best [YOUR SERVICE] in [YOUR LOCATION]?’
‘Which companies specialise in [YOUR SPECIALITY]?’
‘Who can help me with [PROBLEM YOU SOLVE]?’
Then look at the answer.
Are you there? If not, who is, and, most importantly: What sources is the AI using to find them?
That's where I'd start.
AI search could be good news for smaller businesses
In the early days of Google, getting found was relatively easy.
Then everyone got better at SEO, competition increased and, increasingly, businesses had to pay to get noticed. That made it much harder for smaller businesses without big marketing budgets to compete.
AI search gives us a new opportunity. I wouldn’t call it a completely level playing field, but it’s certainly more open than it might have been. You don’t necessarily need the biggest advertising budget to get noticed. What matters is the quality of the content you publish, the expertise you demonstrate, the trust you build, the reviews people leave and the value of the services you offer.
For smaller businesses, freelancers and experts, that’s an exciting opportunity.
Happy writing!
