§ Key takeaway
Allow access to public pages
OpenAI's publisher guidance says sites that want content included in ChatGPT Search summaries and snippets should make sure they are not blocking OAI-SearchBot. Review robots.txt and CDN or firewall rules that could deny it.
Access does not guarantee indexing or citation. Keep private customer areas and sensitive data protected; only intended public pages should be available to crawlers.
Make business facts explicit
State the business name, services, service area, contact options, and real limitations in ordinary language. Link key pages from the site's navigation and keep those facts aligned with public profiles.
Use specific service pages instead of hiding facts in images or vague taglines. Support claims with genuine credentials, policies, and project examples published with permission.
Measure discovery without overclaiming
Review referrals from ChatGPT where analytics can identify them. For manual checks, save the exact prompt, date, product, and citations. A few spot checks are observations, not a stable ranking.
Avoid saying ChatGPT ranks a business first unless the query, date, and context support it. Answers vary and may cite sources beyond the business's website.