Insights
How does ChatGPT decide which Windsor business to recommend?
By Chris Gardner · Published · Updated
The short answer
AI tools recommend businesses they can find, read and see mentioned elsewhere. There is no special trick. Google says its AI features use the same index and ranking systems as Search, and that a page needs nothing extra to appear in them. So the work is the familiar kind: a clear website, accurate listings, real reviews, and people talking about you.
Being talked about matters more than links
Ahrefs studied 75,000 brands and compared what lined up with showing up in Google's AI Overviews. Mentions of the brand across the web had a correlation of 0.664. Backlinks had 0.218. That is a correlation, so it does not prove one causes the other. But it points the same way as common sense: AI repeats the names it has seen most often in places it trusts.
For a Windsor business, that means local press, community groups, partners, and reviews from real customers.
Ranking first is no longer the whole story
In a March 2026 update, Ahrefs found that about 38% of the pages cited in AI Overviews also ranked in the top 10 for the same search. The rest came from further down. A page that answers a question plainly can be cited even when it does not rank first.
Schema markup is not a shortcut
In May 2026, Ahrefs tracked 1,885 pages that added schema markup and found no major lift in AI citations on any platform it measured. Those pages were already well cited, so the test cannot say what schema does for a page AI has never noticed. Schema still helps search engines understand who you are. It will not get you recommended by itself.
Keep your pages current
Ahrefs looked at 17 million citations and found that the pages AI assistants cite are 25.7% fresher on average than the pages in regular search results. ChatGPT leaned toward newer pages the most. Google's AI Overviews did not show the same lean. A dated, accurate page is still the safer bet.
What to do this month
- Search for your own service the way a customer would, in ChatGPT and in Google. Note who gets named.
- Check that your name, address, phone and hours match on Google, Apple, Bing and Yelp.
- Make sure your website says plainly what you do, who it is for and where you work.
- Ask your last ten happy customers for a review.
- Find one local story worth telling, and tell it to someone who publishes.
AI answers change from one run to the next, so one search is a snapshot. It still shows you who the tools reach for today.