More hiring managers now start a supplier search by asking an AI assistant. They type something like "Which recruitment agencies in Leeds specialise in software engineers?" into ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot or Claude and get back a handful of names. If you want to know how to get recommended by ChatGPT as a recruitment agency, the honest starting point is that nobody can guarantee it. Not you, not us and not anyone selling a shortcut.
What you can do is make your agency easy to find, easy to understand and easy to trust, which is what assistants look for when they search the web for an answer. This guide gives you ten practical steps, in order, with a monthly routine to check whether they are working. If you want the wider background first, read our explainer on GEO for recruitment agencies.
How assistants decide who to name
When a question needs current, specific information, the major assistants search the web and cite the pages they used. Each runs its own search crawler. OpenAI says sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers. Perplexity recommends allowing PerplexityBot so a site can appear in its results. Anthropic describes Claude-SearchBot as the crawler that improves search results for Claude users. Microsoft reports Copilot citations to site owners through Bing Webmaster Tools, and Google says its AI Overviews and AI Mode use pages that are indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search.
So the job breaks into three parts. Be crawlable by those search systems. Publish pages that answer the exact question a client asks. Have enough independent evidence elsewhere that an assistant is comfortable naming you.
How to get recommended by ChatGPT as a recruitment agency: 10 steps
Work through these in order. The early steps remove barriers, the later ones build evidence.
- 01Check crawler access. open your robots.txt and look for rules blocking OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Claude-SearchBot, Bingbot or Googlebot. Blocking training crawlers such as GPTBot is a separate decision and does not need to block search crawlers too.
- 02Write one consistent description. agree a two-sentence description of who you recruit for, which roles and where. Use it word for word on your homepage, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn page and directory listings.
- 03Build a page for every specialism. each core specialism needs its own page that opens with a plain statement of what you do, then covers the roles you fill, the clients you serve, your locations and who leads the desk.
- 04Add location detail where it is real. name the cities and regions you genuinely cover, and create location pages only where you have an office or a clear track record.
- 05Answer client questions in FAQs. add four to six real questions to each specialism page, such as fee models, typical time to shortlist and how you assess candidates, with direct two- to four-sentence answers.
- 06Mark up your organisation. add Organization structured data with your name, logo, address and sameAs links to official profiles, plus FAQ markup that matches the visible questions on the page.
- 07Complete your Google Business Profile. follow the same approach as in our local SEO guide for multi-office agencies, using your real-world name, accurate categories, the same description, and keep it current. Google says complete and accurate information makes a business more likely to show in local results.
- 08Earn genuine reviews. ask placed candidates and clients to review you on Google and on directories such as Clutch, which checks each review with a human editor. Do not offer incentives or ask only happy customers, which Google's policies prohibit.
- 09Get mentioned by others. trade body membership pages, sector press comment, podcast appearances and event listings all give assistants independent evidence that you are active in your niche.
- 10Track a fixed prompt set monthly. run the same 15 to 25 client questions through each assistant, record whether you are named and which sources are cited, and adjust your plan around the gaps.
What each step looks like in practice
Steps 2 to 5 do most of the heavy lifting, and they are where agencies usually fall short. A typical agency homepage says something like "We connect great people with great companies." An assistant cannot match that to a question about actuarial recruiters in London. Compare it with "We recruit actuaries and pricing analysts for insurers and consultancies in London and the South East." One of these can be quoted in an answer. The other cannot.
Specialism pages work the same way. Our guide to sector landing pages covers the structure in detail. For AI assistants, the most important parts are the opening sentence, a short list of roles you fill, and an FAQ that answers the questions a buyer would otherwise ask on a call.
For step 6, keep structured data honest. Google's guidelines say markup must be a true representation of the page and must not describe content readers cannot see. Our article on structured data for recruitment websites explains which types are worth adding.
Where assistants find evidence about you
| Source | Why it matters | First action |
|---|---|---|
| Your specialism pages | The clearest statement of what you do | Rewrite the opening sentence and add an FAQ |
| Google Business Profile | Used for local answers in Google's AI features | Match name, categories and description to your site |
| Review platforms | Independent proof from clients and candidates | Ask recent placements for an honest review |
| Trade bodies and directories | Confirms you are an established firm | Check every listing is accurate and consistent |
| Sector press and podcasts | Shows expertise in a niche | Offer expert comment on hiring in your sector |
Running your monthly check
Assistants vary their answers, so one test proves little. A fixed prompt set, run the same way each month, shows the trend. Keep a simple spreadsheet with the prompt, the assistant, whether you were named, which competitors were named and which sources were cited.
- Use clean sessions. Log out or use a fresh chat so earlier conversations do not shape the answer.
- Mix question types. Include direct requests for names, comparison questions and "what should I look for" questions.
- Look at the citations. If the same directory or article is cited every time, get listed there or publish something better on your own site.
- Check your analytics. OpenAI says ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to referral links, so you can see visits it sends you.
- Use Bing Webmaster Tools. Microsoft's AI Performance report, in public preview since February, shows how often your pages are cited in Copilot and Bing's AI summaries.
Expect the early steps to change answers only after assistants recrawl your pages, and the later ones to take months. Treat it as ongoing work, much like SEO.
If you would like a team to handle the steps and the tracking for you, our AI search optimisation service covers benchmarking, page rewrites, markup and monthly prompt reporting.
Frequently asked questions
Can anyone guarantee my agency will be recommended by ChatGPT?
No. Assistants decide what to include based on what they find and trust, and their answers vary between sessions. Anyone promising guaranteed placement is overstating what they control.
Does blocking GPTBot stop ChatGPT recommending my agency?
Not by itself. OpenAI separates GPTBot, used for model training, from OAI-SearchBot, used for ChatGPT search. Blocking OAI-SearchBot is what stops your site appearing in ChatGPT search answers.
Do reviews really affect AI recommendations?
Assistants that search the web can draw on review platforms and your Google Business Profile as independent evidence. Genuine reviews also matter to Google's local results, which feed its AI features.
Should I write content specifically for AI assistants?
Write for clients, but make it easy to quote. Clear opening statements, specific FAQs and comparison tables help people and assistants alike. Google says there is no special optimisation needed for its AI features beyond good SEO.
How do I know if it is working?
Run a fixed set of client prompts across the main assistants each month and record whether you are named and which sources are cited. Pair that with referral data in your analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools' AI Performance report.