How to Get Your Australian Business Recommended by ChatGPT and Perplexity

Australian consumers are increasingly using AI chatbots to get business recommendations. 'What's the best mortgage broker in Sydney?' 'Which AI automation agency works with small businesses in Brisbane?' 'Who does the best workflow automation in Melbourne?'

These queries are now happening millions of times per day across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI. And unlike Google's ten-blue-links results, AI engines give one answer — one recommendation. Here's how to make sure that recommendation is your business.

How AI Engines Decide Who to Recommend

AI engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity generate recommendations based on the content they've indexed from the web. They look for businesses that are well-documented, frequently mentioned, have clear authority signals, and whose content directly answers the questions users are asking.

Research from Princeton University and IIT Delhi (2024) identified the specific content signals that most reliably increase an AI engine's likelihood of citing a source. These findings form the basis of GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) practice.

Step 1: Identify the Queries You Want to Win

Start by listing the 10 questions your potential customers are most likely to ask an AI engine about your industry. These should be specific to your city and service — for example: 'best AI automation agency Brisbane', 'how much does an AI voice agent cost in Australia', 'who does workflow automation for real estate agencies in Queensland'.

Then search each of these questions in ChatGPT and Perplexity today. See who appears. Those are your GEO competitors — and they're the gap you're trying to close.

Step 2: Create Content That Directly Answers These Questions

AI engines cite content that directly, clearly, and authoritatively answers the question being asked. For each query on your list, create a piece of content — a blog post, a dedicated service page, or an FAQ section — that answers it in the first paragraph.

• Start the answer in sentence one — don't bury it after a long introduction
• Include the city and service in the answer text, not just the heading
• Write at an appropriate depth — AI engines prefer comprehensive answers
• Use Australian English and local context (price in AUD, Australian examples)

Step 3: Add Statistics With Named Sources

Princeton research found that adding statistics with named sources increases AI citation visibility by 33.9% — the single biggest improvement factor identified. Every piece of content should include relevant data points with their source cited explicitly.

For Australian businesses, cite Australian sources: ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics), ACCC, auDA, IBISWorld Australia, Deloitte Access Economics, and industry peak bodies. These carry significant weight with AI engines operating in the Australian market context.

Step 4: Build Your Entity Footprint

AI engines build knowledge about businesses from multiple web sources — not just your website. The more consistently your business appears across the web, the higher your entity authority and the more likely you are to be cited.

1. 1Create and fully complete a Google Business Profile
2. 2List your business on Clutch, GoodFirms, and Yellow Pages AU
3. 3Get reviews on Google, Facebook, and industry-specific directories
4. 4Earn mentions in Australian media, industry publications, and podcast appearances
5. 5Maintain consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) across every directory

Step 5: Implement Schema Markup

Schema markup is structured data you add to your website that helps AI engines understand your content. For Australian businesses targeting AI citations, the most important schema types are: LocalBusiness, FAQPage, Service, and Article.

Step 6: Allow AI Crawlers in Your Robots.txt

Many websites accidentally block AI crawlers with their robots.txt settings. Make sure your robots.txt explicitly allows: GPTBot (OpenAI/ChatGPT), ClaudeBot (Anthropic/Claude), PerplexityBot, and Googlebot.

How Long Does It Take?

Most Australian businesses see measurable improvements in AI citation visibility within 45–90 days of implementing a proper GEO strategy. The businesses that see the fastest results are those that already have domain authority and are adding GEO-optimised content, rather than starting from scratch.