Keep the question and the answer
Save the exact question, answer, date, location and cited pages. Note whether web search was used. An answer without browsing and an answer that searched the web are different observations.
Use a question a customer might actually ask, with a service and place you really cover. For example: someone looking for help following up quotes in Johannesburg has a different need from someone looking for a new quoting application. Your page should make that distinction clear.
Check whether search can reach you
OpenAI recommends allowing OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt and allowing traffic from its published search IP addresses through your host or security service. Ask the person who manages the website to check both. A page that opens in your browser does not establish that the crawler can fetch it.
OpenAI separates its search crawler from GPTBot, which concerns possible model training. Their controls are independent. Access makes a site available for consideration; OpenAI does not guarantee a position.
Check the facts a customer can read
Read the pages the answer cites. Then read your own service page, contact information and any genuine business listings. Can a customer tell what you do, whom you help, where you work and how to enquire? Correct an actual mismatch rather than adding claims because another business appears in an answer.
Google's guidance for its own AI search features is useful here: keep important content in readable text, make pages reachable through links, and ensure structured data agrees with the visible page. Google says those features need no special AI text file or special schema. That is Google guidance, not a promise about ChatGPT.
A real finding is more useful than a visibility score
In our own free look on 28 October 2026, Blue Lab's website showed paid offers while its machine-readable service offer listed only the free look. Its structured description gave no paid prices. We had a concrete consistency check to make.
A separate fresh Claude answer without browsing reported uncertain or no recall of Blue Lab. That did not explain the cause or measure ChatGPT search. We kept the public-source finding and the recall answer separate.
Change one supported thing, then look again
Choose a gap you can demonstrate: a blocked page, an unclear service or conflicting public details. Save what changed. Repeat a comparable question with the same stated place and search setting, retaining the new answer and sources.
If the answer changes, record what changed without assuming your edit caused it. If a customer requests a free look, record where that request came from. Being mentioned and winning useful work are separate results.
A few useful answers.
How can my business appear in ChatGPT search?
Follow OpenAI's search-access guidance, make your actual service clear and investigate the sources shown for relevant customer questions. OpenAI uses several factors to choose results; no checklist guarantees inclusion.
Do I have to allow model training to allow ChatGPT search?
OpenAI documents separate controls for OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot. You can allow its search crawler while disallowing the crawler used for possible training.
Does one missing answer prove customers cannot find us?
No. It shows what one answer contained under those conditions. Keep it alongside search data, actual enquiries and comparable later checks before drawing a wider conclusion.