Get onto the "best of" lists and sites ChatGPT cites

Why it matters

When an AI assistant searches the web before it answers, it often shows the pages it used. Gemini puts them behind a Sources button. Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode show links next to the answer, and Google says these features may run several related searches across subtopics to find supporting pages. ChatGPT answers that use web search may include citations: select one to open its source, or select Sources, when available, to see the cited sources and other relevant links (OpenAI Help Center). OpenAI also says its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, is what surfaces websites in ChatGPT search.

Many of those links are not the businesses' own websites. They are "best of" articles, member lists of associations, partner pages, local news and sector rankings. If you are named on the pages an assistant keeps citing for your market, it has one more place where it can read about you. If you are missing, it can only read about your competitors there.

This guide is about pages other people publish and that you earn a place on. Listings you claim and fill in yourself, such as Google Business Profile or editus.lu, are in Guide 07.

Illustration with fictional businesses.

Reference

Claimed or earned: which guide to use

Before you start

Have these ready

• Your questions from Guide 01: the ones without your name, in the languages your customers use. Five to ten questions are enough.
• Your fact sheet from Guide 04, so every site you contact gets the same name, services, address and website.
• A spreadsheet (Excel or Google Sheets) for the source tally below.
• A short list of the associations you belong to and the partners and suppliers you really work with.

Steps

Find the cited pages and earn a place on them

1. Ask your customer questions and write down every source

   Use the same fair set-up as in Guide 01: a private window, a new chat for every question, all on the same day. Ask each question in ChatGPT, in Gemini and on Google (look for an AI Overview, or use AI Mode). Then open the links each answer shows:

   • ChatGPT: answers that use web search may include citations. Select a citation to open its source, or select Sources, when available, to see the cited sources and other relevant links. OpenAI warns that search results and citations can be incomplete, outdated or incorrect, so open each source and check what it really says before you count it.
   • Gemini: select Sources, under the answer or inside the text. A side panel opens on the right with the links. If there is no Sources button, Gemini gave no links for that answer.
   • Google AI Overviews and AI Mode: the links appear with the answer. Google says the two features may use different models, so their links can differ for the same question. Note both.

   Write one row per link in the source tally: the question, the assistant, the address of the page, and whether you are named on it. Copy the full address of the page, not just the site name, because a site can have one page that lists you and another that does not.

2. Sort the sources by type and by how often they appear

   Give each page a type from the table above. Then count how many answers cited it. A page that came back in four answers, across two assistants, matters more than one that appeared once.

   Move two kinds of rows out of this guide straight away: listings you can claim go to your Guide 07 list, and competitors' own websites go to your Guide 09 worksheet. What remains are the pages you have to earn.

3. Pick the five you could realistically appear on

   Go down the list from the most cited and ask, for each page: do we genuinely fit? A member list only names members. A partner page only names partners. A "best of" list about restaurants in Esch will not add a fiduciary in Kirchberg.

   Keep the five pages where the honest answer is yes, or "yes, if we do something we would do anyway", such as joining the association of your trade. Write the route next to each one in the tally.

4. Take the honest route for each page

   Page type	What to do
   Association or chamber member list	If you qualify and the membership is worth it for your business anyway, join. If you are already a member, check your entry: name, services, languages and website should match your fact sheet.
   Partner or supplier page	Ask the companies you really work with (your software vendor, a brand you sell, a certifier) whether they list partners or resellers, and send them your details. Only real relationships: Google's spam policies list partner pages made only to swap links as link spam.
   "Best of" article or ranking	Write to the author or editor once, with short, accurate facts they can check: what you do, for whom, where, in which languages, and a link to your page. Ask whether they would consider you at the next update. Do not offer anything in return.
   Local media and trade publications	These cover news, not businesses. Wait until you have something new to say, then contact the right desk through the publication's own contact page.
   A cited page that is out of date about you	Send the site owner the correct facts and the page address, as in Guide 04. An old address or a closed service on a page assistants cite can be repeated in their answers.

   Message to an author or editor (EN / FR)Copy

   Subject: [Article title]: facts about [Your business]
   
   Hello [Name],
   I read your article "[Article title]" ([link]). We are [Your business], a [what you do] in [town], working in [languages].
   In case it is useful for a future update, here are our facts: [two or three lines from your fact sheet], [link to your page].
   No obligation, and thank you for the article.
   [Your name], [phone]
   
   Bonjour [Nom],
   J'ai lu votre article « [Titre] » ([lien]). Nous sommes [Votre entreprise], [ce que vous faites] à [ville], en [langues].
   Si cela peut servir pour une prochaine mise à jour, voici nos informations : [deux ou trois lignes], [lien vers votre page].
   Sans engagement, et merci pour l'article.
   [Votre nom], [téléphone]

5. Record what happened and check again every month

   In the tally, write the date you contacted each site and the reply. When a page adds or corrects you, write that date too. At your monthly Guide 01 check, ask the same questions again and update the "Named on it?" column for every cited page.

   Some sites update once a year, some never. If a page has not moved after two attempts, stop writing to it and go to the next one on your list.

Template

The source tally

Copy this into Excel or Google Sheets, then split the text into columns by comma. Use one row per cited page and add to the "Cited in" count each time it comes back.

Page address,Site type,Cited in (number of answers),Assistants,Named on it? (Yes/No),Do we fit? (Yes/No),Route,Contacted (date),Result
https://best-fiduciaries.example/luxembourg,Best of article,4,ChatGPT; Google,No,Yes,Write to the author,,
https://trade-association.example/members,Member list,3,Gemini; Google,No,Yes,Join the association,,

Here is the same tally filled in for a fictional fiduciary after one round of questions:

Illustration with a fictional business and fictional sites.

What not to do

Stay within the rules

Check it worked

Confirm the work is complete

Common mistakes

What usually goes wrong

• Chasing famous sites instead of cited ones. A national newspaper may never appear in your answers, while a small sector list appears in every one. Start with what the tally shows.
• Writing to everyone at once. Ten rushed emails get fewer replies than five careful ones. Finish five, then pick the next five.
• Sending different facts to different sites. Use your fact sheet every time, or you create the contradictions Guide 04 fixes.
• Offering something in return. A free service or a gift in exchange for a mention with a link is link spam under Google's policies.
• Counting on one answer. The same question can cite different pages on different days. Judge by the totals in your tally.