Optimizing for ChatGPT
What you'll learn:
- How ChatGPT generates answers and decides what to mention
- The role of training data vs. Bing browsing in ChatGPT responses
- Why brand entity strength matters most for ChatGPT
- 10 specific optimization tactics for ChatGPT visibility
- How to monitor what ChatGPT says about your brand
How ChatGPT Works
ChatGPT operates primarily on parametric knowledge — information encoded into its neural network during training. When a user asks about your brand, ChatGPT generates an answer based on patterns it learned from its training corpus, which includes web pages, articles, forums, documentation, and other public text.
This is fundamentally different from Perplexity or Google AI, which search the web in real time. ChatGPT's knowledge has a cutoff date, and it doesn't verify claims against live sources in its default mode.
When browsing mode is enabled (which is default for ChatGPT Plus and Team users), ChatGPT can search the web via Bing and incorporate real-time results. This creates a dual optimization challenge: you need both strong training data presence and good Bing visibility.
What Influences ChatGPT's Answers
Training Data Representation
The more your brand appears in ChatGPT's training data — across authoritative sources, not just your own site — the more confidently ChatGPT will mention you. Training data includes web crawls, news articles, Wikipedia, industry publications, forums, documentation, and more. Your goal is to be consistently and accurately represented across many authoritative sources.
Brand Entity Recognition
ChatGPT needs to recognize your brand as a distinct entity. If your brand name is a common word or phrase, ChatGPT may confuse it with other meanings. Strong entity signals — Wikipedia presence, Knowledge Graph, consistent descriptions across sources — help ChatGPT correctly identify and describe your brand.
Bing Search Results (Browsing Mode)
When browsing is active, ChatGPT uses Bing to find current information. This means Bing SEO matters for ChatGPT visibility. Ensure your site is indexed by Bing, your key pages rank well, and your content is optimized for Bing's ranking factors.
10 Optimization Tactics
1. Strengthen Your Brand Entity
Ensure consistent brand information across your website, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, industry directories, and any other platforms. Use Organization schema on your homepage.
2. Create a Wikipedia-Style Brand Page
Even if you don't have a Wikipedia article, create an About page on your site that reads like one — founding date, key milestones, product description, team size, and notable achievements in a factual, encyclopedic tone.
3. Optimize for Bing
Submit your sitemap to Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing weights social signals more than Google does — active LinkedIn and Twitter/X profiles help. Ensure your site loads fast and is mobile-optimized.
4. Build Authoritative Backlinks
Links from news sites, industry publications, and established blogs strengthen your training data presence. Guest articles on authoritative sites are particularly valuable because they create branded content on high-authority domains.
5. Own Your Category Definition
Create definitive "What is [your category]?" content on your site. If you sell project management software, own the "What is project management software?" answer. ChatGPT often pulls definitional content from authoritative sources.
6. Publish Comparison Content
Users frequently ask ChatGPT "What's the best [category]?" or "[Brand A] vs [Brand B]." Own these comparisons on your site with structured, fair, detailed comparison pages.
7. Maintain Freshness
While ChatGPT's parametric knowledge has a cutoff, browsing mode pulls current content. Keep your key pages updated monthly and include visible "last updated" dates.
8. Use FAQ Format Extensively
ChatGPT's question-answer format maps directly to FAQ content. Add FAQ sections to your product, pricing, and feature pages. Pair with FAQ schema for maximum effect.
9. Get Press Coverage
News articles about your brand feed into training data. Product launches, funding announcements, industry partnerships, and original research all generate press opportunities that strengthen your ChatGPT presence.
10. Monitor Regularly
Ask ChatGPT about your brand weekly. Note what it says, what it gets wrong, and how the answers change over time. 99Visibility automates this monitoring across all platforms.
Handling ChatGPT Hallucinations
ChatGPT is particularly prone to hallucinating pricing, feature details, and founding dates. If ChatGPT is saying something wrong about your brand:
- Fix the source data: Update your website with clear, structured information. Add Product schema for pricing. Add Organization schema for company details.
- Strengthen consistency: Ensure the correct information appears across multiple authoritative sources, not just your site.
- Be patient: Parametric knowledge updates with new training runs. Browsing mode picks up changes faster.
For more on accuracy issues, check our blog post on AI hallucinations and how to fix them.
Key Takeaways
- ChatGPT uses parametric knowledge (training data) plus Bing search in browsing mode.
- Brand entity strength is the most important factor for ChatGPT visibility.
- Optimize for Bing — it's ChatGPT's web search backend.
- Consistent brand information across authoritative sources is critical.
- FAQ format and schema markup help ChatGPT extract and present your information accurately.
What does ChatGPT say about your brand? Run a free audit with 99Visibility to find out — and get specific recommendations to improve.
Keep Learning
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How AI Platforms Decide What to Cite
AI platforms don't cite randomly. There are 7 specific factors that determine whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI mentions your brand. Learn what they are and how to influence them.