You Can Rank #1 on Google and Still Never Be Named by ChatGPT
By Jon Ng, Founder, Novatise · 5 min read · 30 October 2026
A lot of business owners I talk to feel safe. They rank on page one, they have good reviews, and enquiries come in. Then a customer says, "I asked ChatGPT and it suggested someone else."
More people now start with an AI assistant instead of a search box. They type something like "who's a good renovation contractor in Singapore?" and get three or four names back, not ten blue links. If you are not one of those names, you are not in the conversation at all.
Ranking on Google and being named by an AI assistant are related, but they are not the same thing.
Why the AI gives different names than Google
Google ranks pages. An AI assistant answers a question, and to do that it has to be confident about facts: who you are, what you do, where you are, and whether other people vouch for you.
In my experience running our own sites, a few things decide whether a business gets named:
- Clear facts the AI can read. If your website never plainly says your business name, what you do, your area and your opening hours, the assistant has to guess. Usually it picks someone easier to describe.
- Other sources agreeing with you. Assistants lean on things like directories, review sites, maps listings and articles that mention you. One strong website with nothing around it can still be skipped.
- Consistency. If your address or name is different on your site, your Google Business Profile and a directory, the AI has less reason to trust any of them.
- Different assistants, different sources. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Grok don't all look at the same places, so it's normal for each one to give a different answer to the same question.
None of this replaces SEO. It builds on the same foundations. But a page that ranks well is not automatically a business that AI assistants are confident recommending.
Test it yourself in ten minutes
You don't need any tools for a first check. Here's the test I use:
- Pick a real customer question. Write it the way a customer would ask, for example "Who is a good renovation contractor in Singapore?" or "Where should I sell my old iPhone in Singapore?" Use your own category and city.
- Ask four assistants the same question. I use ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Grok. Open a fresh chat each time so earlier conversations don't steer the answer.
- Write down every business named. Note who comes first, second and third, and whether you appear at all.
- Ask a follow-up. Try "Why did you pick these?" The reasons often tell you which sources the assistant trusted, such as reviews, a directory or a news article.
- Repeat with two or three variations. Change the wording, the area (for example a neighbourhood instead of "Singapore") or the language. Answers can shift a lot.
Run it for your own category and city, and see who each assistant names. Put the answers side by side:
- Who did ChatGPT name?
- Who did Gemini name?
- Who did Claude name?
- Who did Grok name?
Then compare that list with who ranks at the top on Google for the same search. If the businesses don't match, or you don't appear at all, that gap is what the fixes below are for.
What small businesses can do about it
You don't need a big budget. Most fixes are about being clear and consistent.
1. State your business facts plainly
Put your business name, what you do, the areas you serve, your address, phone number and opening hours in plain text on your website, not only inside an image. Add structured data (schema markup) so machines can read the same facts. An "About" page that answers "who are you and what do you do?" in two sentences helps more than you'd think.
2. Get real reviews, and reply to them
Reviews on Google and other well-known platforms are one of the signals people and assistants both look at. Ask happy customers for a review, and reply to them, including the bad ones. Never buy or fake reviews.
3. Earn mentions on other sites
Get listed in the directories and "best of" lists that matter in your industry and city. A mention in a local article, an industry association listing or a supplier's partner page all give an assistant a second source that agrees with your own site.
4. Make your listings match everywhere
Check your Google Business Profile, maps listings, social profiles and directories. Use the same business name, address and phone number on every one. Fix old addresses and closed branches.
5. Answer the questions customers actually ask
Write short, factual pages that answer real questions: prices or price ranges, how the service works, how long it takes, which areas you cover. Assistants pull from pages that answer a question directly.
6. Re-test every few months
AI answers change as models and sources update. Run the same four-assistant test again and keep a simple record so you can see whether you are moving up.
How Novatise can help
At Novatise we build and run around 60 of our own sites across Singapore and Japan, and we work on discoverability across Google, AI assistants and maps (what people now call AIO, LLMO and MEO). We offer AI-search audits: we run the test above across the main assistants for your real customer questions, check your site, structured data and listings, and give you a clear list of what to fix first.
If you'd like a deeper look at the technical side, read our guide on optimizing for AI search.
Want to know whether ChatGPT recommends your business? Book a free consultation for an AI-search audit at novatise.com.