ChatGPT SEO is the work of getting your brand mentioned and cited in the answers ChatGPT gives. It starts with ordinary search basics, then adds a habit: asking the questions your buyers ask, checking who gets cited, improving your pages and earning mentions. Answers change, so it's weekly work, and a team of agents can keep it going.
What Google and OpenAI actually say
There's a lot of advice on this topic, so start with the sources.
Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. You don't need special AI files or special schema markup, and "the best practices for SEO remain relevant". Pages need to be indexed and eligible to appear with a snippet.
OpenAI runs a crawler for search called OAI-SearchBot. It recommends allowing it in your robots.txt file, because sites that block it won't appear in ChatGPT search answers. It's separate from GPTBot, which relates to model training, so you can allow search and block training.
So check your robots.txt first. It's a five-minute job.
Nobody can promise a citation. Anyone selling a guarantee is guessing. What you can do is make your pages easy to find, easy to quote and worth citing, and then keep checking.
Why this is a weekly job
Most guides give you a one-time checklist. AI answers shift as new pages appear and models change. A rival can publish a better comparison and take your place in a week.
So treat it as a loop:
- Ask the questions your buyers ask.
- Record who gets cited and what's said about you.
- Fix the gaps on your pages.
- Earn mentions on the sites that get cited.
- Ask again next week.
The team
| Who | What they do | What they pass on |
|---|---|---|
| A visibility agent (custom hire) | Asks your buyer questions in ChatGPT each week and records the cited sources | A weekly report of where you appear |
| SEO Auditor | Crawls your site, including what blocks crawlers | A prioritized fix list |
| SEO Content Writer | Writes articles for the searches competitors win | Drafts that answer the question directly |
| Link Builder | Finds sites linking to competitors and writes outreach | Pitches, and a log of links won |
| Brand Mention Monitor | Scans the web daily for your brand | Mentions that need a response |
| PR Pitcher | Finds reporters covering your space | Pitches for you to approve |
| Your marketer | Picks the questions and approves the changes | The brand |
There's no ready-made visibility agent in the marketplace yet. Ask your Chief of Staff to hire one, and give them your list of questions.
What's already built in
Dock agents reach more than 2,000 platforms with nothing to set up. That includes SEO data from Ahrefs and a way to get ChatGPT's answer to a prompt with its cited sources, so the check doesn't need someone copying answers by hand. Each run is paid from your plan's business credits.
Your site and analytics connect in minutes. Connect Search Console and your CMS. If you already track AI visibility in another product, add it as a connector through MCP, or keep its key in the Vault.
One week of checks
Here's an example for an accounting software company. The company is made up.
Monday. The visibility agent runs 20 buyer questions, such as "best accounting software for agencies". The report lands in #seo: you're named in six answers, and a rival appears in 14. Three of the rival's citations come from one comparison site.
Tuesday. The SEO Auditor confirms OAI-SearchBot can reach your pages, and finds that your pricing page hides its plans behind a script. A developer takes the fix.
Wednesday. The SEO Content Writer drafts a clear comparison page that answers the question in its first lines. Your marketer adds real customer detail and approves it.
Thursday. The Link Builder drafts a personal note to the comparison site, and your marketer sends it.
Next Monday. The agent asks the same 20 questions, and the team sees what moved.
What tends to help
There's no official formula, so treat these as sensible practice:
- Answer directly. Put a clear answer in the first lines of a page.
- Use plain text. Google asks that important content be available in text.
- Be specific. Real numbers, names and dates are easier to cite.
- Keep pages current. Show when a page was last updated.
- Earn mentions elsewhere. Reviews, comparisons and press help AI systems learn about you.
Why this works
This job fails for one reason: nobody keeps doing it. Each Dock agent has their own always-on computer, memory and schedule, so Monday's check runs with every laptop closed, and the agent can compare this week with last week.
The team works in channels, so a finding turns straight into a task. Our guide to AI agents for SEO covers the search side.
Measure with care
AI answers vary from one run to the next, so don't read too much into a single result. Ask each question more than once, and track the trend:
- How many of your questions mention you.
- How often you're cited as a source.
- Which sites get cited most.
- What's said about you, and whether it's right.
- Referral visits from ChatGPT in your analytics.
What stays with your people
Your people choose the questions, decide how the brand should be described and approve what's published. Agents do the checking, drafting and outreach.
How to start
- Check that your robots.txt allows OAI-SearchBot.
- List 20 questions your buyers ask.
- Ask your Chief of Staff to hire a visibility agent and run them weekly.
- Add the SEO Auditor and SEO Content Writer to act on the findings.
$40 a person a month buys up to five cloud agents, each on a persistent VM, their own always-on computer, with AI usage and 10,000 business credits included.
FAQ
What is ChatGPT SEO? The work of getting your brand mentioned and cited in ChatGPT's answers. It builds on normal SEO, with regular checks of what ChatGPT says.
How do I get cited by ChatGPT? Allow OAI-SearchBot, publish clear pages that answer real questions, and earn mentions on sites that get cited. Nobody can guarantee a citation.
Can I track brand mentions in ChatGPT? Yes. Ask a fixed set of questions each week and record the answers. A Dock agent can do this on a schedule.
Do I need special files or markup for AI search? Google says no special files or schema are needed for its AI features. Focus on crawlable, useful pages.
Is ChatGPT SEO different from normal SEO? The basics overlap. The difference is the habit of checking answers and earning mentions, as well as chasing rankings.
Sources
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website.
- OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers.
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