Hundreds of millions of users around the world now rely on AI-powered search to discover brands, products, and services. They are making decisions based on the information provided by chatbots, especially the most widely used AI search model: ChatGPT.

Now that ChatGPT is being used by 10% of the world's adult population, many business owners are wondering how to rank higher in ChatGPT Search and what the best strategies are to increase AI visibility and optimize reputation within AI models. 

There’s no perfect formula, and, in such a fast-moving industry, strategies continue to evolve. However, at Bear AI, we’ve gathered the most relevant insights and useful tactics to help you improve your brand’s ranking in ChatGPT.

How to Rank Higher in ChatGPT Search: The Basics

The first step is to understand the basic concepts: how ChatGPT structures its information and how it differs from other search engines, such as Google. Even if your brand ranks incredibly well on Google, that doesn’t guarantee strong visibility on ChatGPT. Then, start applying best practices and identifying the most effective strategies for your brand.

What Is ChatGPT Search?

If you’ve been following ChatGPT’s growth over the past few years or months, you probably know this: In October 2024, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT search, enabling the chatbot to browse the web and deliver real-time information to users.

By February 2025, not too long ago, this feature had rolled out globally for all users. Now, ChatGPT includes live, up-to-date data in its responses for most types of queries.

Quickly, ChatGPT became a search engine, and it has been growing exponentially. Even if Google remains 210 times bigger than ChatGPT in search, many experts predict that this gap may start to close sooner than expected.

Understand the Main Technical Aspects

ChatGPT has its own algorithm and ranking mechanisms for delivering answers and information to users. While the exact formula isn’t public, there are several well-known technical factors that influence how the model organizes and prioritizes content.

Anyone aiming to rank higher in ChatGPT Search should understand these key aspects:

• ChatGPT does not prioritize Google for web data: In fact, ChatGPT prefers Bing over Google. Just remember that Microsoft is one of OpenAI’s major investors and the owner of Bing. When responding to a query, ChatGPT combines Bing search results with other indexed documents and data sources to generate its answers.

• It has its own reranking system: A recent study revealed that ChatGPT doesn’t simply use the top-ranked pages from Bing. Instead, it creates a pool of relevant sources and chooses the most authoritative and relevant content. It also prioritizes newer over older content.

• It considers technical SEO elements: Just as you would optimize for Google, your website should include essential technical elements such as clear headings, well-placed keywords, structured metadata, and optimized site architecture.
  Another crucial factor is accessibility to ChatGPT’s web crawler, GPTBot. Make sure your site allows GPTBot to scrape and index your content by properly configuring or removing your robots.txt file.

• It focuses on users’ needs: ChatGPT focuses on providing helpful and relevant information for users. It even considers conversational information like opinions and reviews, as well as content context for each query.

Strategies To Gain Mentions And Rank Better In ChatGPT

Maybe ChatGPT already recognizes your brand, but how can you improve your ranking or earn more mentions and citations? Here are some core strategies to help you build visibility and credibility within AI search results:

1. Create Authoritative Content

Among ChatGPT’s many ranking factors, content quality remains essential. And it doesn’t rely just on keyword matching.

For ChatGPT to value your content and mention your brand, it needs to clearly understand what your business contributes, see evidence of your expertise and knowledge on the topic the user is asking about, and verify that your information meets basic quality standards. To achieve this, keep in mind that:

• Your content must be updated, accurate, and relevant.

• You must focus on useful content, and answer real questions and address common doubts your customers have in your industry or niche.

• Authors' bios and expert citations can help reinforce authority and trust.

• SEO best practices still matter, ChatGPT values a good structure, and traditional SEO elements.

• Include Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategies, such as monitoring and analyzing the prompts your audience might use in AI searches.

2. Get mentions and references from other websites

ChatGPT will consider your website’s content, but it also knows that you control that information. The AI model uses your data as a reference, but it will also include in its analysis what other websites, blogs, forums, and social media users say about your brand.

Platforms like Reddit have become valuable sources for AI models because they often include genuine discussions and real user experiences. Remember that AI systems prioritize authentic human perspectives. Getting mentions across multiple external sites is vital to ranking higher in ChatGPT.

3. Learn What ChatGPT Knows About Your Brand

Have you ever asked ChatGPT what it knows about your brand? This is a crucial step in learning how to rank higher in ChatGPT Search: Understanding your current position.

Just bear in mind that asking it from your personal ChatGPT account might give you the most objective results. A better approach is to use a new ChatGPT account or rely on specialized Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) tools to analyze how your brand is perceived.

4. Monitor and Track Your Brand Mentions on ChatGPT

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. AI-mention tracking is crucial, but it can be difficult using traditional SEO tools or doing it manually. Luckily, multiple GEO platforms now make it easier to monitor and analyze AI mentions, citations, and rankings.

Tools such as Bear AI can evaluate your brand’s AI visibility, analyze its performance, and detect gaps and opportunities to improve your website content and structure. It can also help you benchmark your brand against competitors to offer a clear picture of where you stand in AI search results.

5. Optimize your SEO and GEO

For now, ChatGPT does not allow brands to pay for ads to get featured on its platforms. Unlike Google, ranking among the top results in ChatGPT depends entirely on strong SEO and GEO strategies. 

Once you have a clear SEO plan (remember to prioritize Bing SEO over Google SEO) and defined GEO approach, you must start testing. The time it will take for your brand to appear among the first ChatGPT results will depend on the factors we just mentioned. Acting now and staying consistent will be the key to achieving long-term success in AI search.

Stay on Top of AI Search

​​Just as we’ve seen in recent years with SEO strategies, staying at the top of ChatGPT’s results requires keeping up with new trends and updates from the company and the AI ecosystem. Changes in this sector can be quite fast-paced and unpredictable.

However, the fact that you’ve already read this article on how to rank higher in ChatGPT puts you in a privileged position and likely well ahead of your competitors. Using platforms like Bear AI will help ensure that your brand remains at the top of AI-driven searches.

FAQ

How is ChatGPT search different from Google SEO?

ChatGPT’s algorithm operates differently from Google's. The AI model has its own ranking mechanism that may significantly differ from traditional Google SEO. In fact, when it comes to web search data, ChatGPT relies on Bing and then applies its own reranking process to provide answers for users.

How to get more traffic from ChatGPT?

One of the most effective ways is to increase your brand’s AI mentions and citations within ChatGPT’s responses. To achieve this, focus on strategies that will help your brand get featured in conversations with users and rank higher than competitors, such as optimizing your web content considering how ChatGPT operates.

How long does it take to see better ranking results from GEO efforts?

You could see results within just a few days, depending on your strategy. At Bear AI, we’ve helped our users significantly boost their AI visibility in less than 30 days. Early GEO adopters are already gaining an edge over their competitors.

Can I pay to get mentioned by ChatGPT like I would with Google Ads?

No. At least not yet. There are rumors about ChatGPT introducing ads in the future. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, said he didn’t rule it out in a recent interview, but the company hasn’t made any official statements yet. For now, it’s better to implement SEO and GEO strategies.