TL;DR: Set up 4 free Ai helpers in ChatGPT or Claude, each with one job. They track whether Ai answers name you, find pages Google and Bing can't see, rewrite your top service page and list real places to get mentioned. You approve everything. Setup takes about 3 hours.
When a homeowner asks ChatGPT "who's the best water heater company near me," the answer names a few businesses and links to its sources.
Today you'll build a small team of Ai helpers to get you onto that list. The idea comes from Jake Bauman, a growth marketing engineer: each helper gets one job, and you approve everything.
What you need: a free ChatGPT or Claude account, your website login, your Google Business Profile login and 1 spreadsheet.
Step 1: Write 20 Buyer Questions
Your helpers need a fixed list to test.
Quick definition: A buyer question is the full sentence a customer types into ChatGPT when they're ready to hire.
Open chatgpt.com or claude.ai and paste:
I own a [type of business] in [city]. Write 30 questions a customer might type into ChatGPT when deciding who to hire. Mix 4 kinds:
Category: "best [service] in [city]"
Problem: "my AC is blowing warm air, who should I call"
Comparison: "is [option A] or [option B] better"
Questions using my business name, [Company]
Use plain words, the way customers talk.
Put your best 20 in a spreadsheet.
Note: Ai writes in marketing language. Read each question out loud and swap in the words your callers use.
My default: at least 5 questions that name your city or neighborhood.
Step 2: Run a Baseline Check Before You Change Anything
A "before" snapshot shows later whether a fix worked.
Quick definition: A baseline is your starting score: who each Ai answer names today, and which sites it links to.
Click path (ChatGPT)
Open chatgpt.com and start a new chat.
Select Temporary, then Unpersonalized, before you type.
Select View all tools → Search.
Paste a question and send. Repeat in a fresh temporary chat.
Then search it on google.com and note whether an AI Overview appears and who it names. A blank is normal, since they show on some searches only.
Note: ChatGPT can shape answers with your memories and rough location. Unpersonalized chats keep your history out. Check from the same place each time.
My default: Monday morning, from the same spot.
Step 3: Build Your First Helper, the Search Desk
This helper turns your weekly results into a short fix list.
Quick definition: A Project is a saved workspace in ChatGPT or Claude with its own instructions and files. Each helper here is 1 Project with 1 job.
Click path (ChatGPT)
In the sidebar, select New project and name it "Search Desk."
Select ••• → Project settings.
Under Memory, choose Project-only memory, paste the instructions below and select Save.
Upload your Step 2 sheet. Free accounts get 5 files per project.
Claude: claude.ai/projects → + New Project → Set project instructions → Save instructions. Free accounts get up to 5 projects, enough for this team.
You are my Search Desk. Each week I'll upload my buyer question results. Then:
Show which questions I gained or lost since last week.
Where a competitor was named, list the sources the answer linked.
Write a fix list, one row per page: the page, what's missing, the change, and who does it (Site Check, Page Writer, Mention Scout or me).
Ask me whenever a result looks unclear.
Note: Keep customer names and patient details out of every helper.
My default: whichever tool you already use.
Step 4: Get Found by Google and Bing With a Site Check Helper
Google says a page must be in its search index to appear as a link in AI Overviews. ChatGPT search uses its own crawler plus outside search partners, and OpenAI names Microsoft, which runs Bing. So get indexed by both.
Quick definition: A page is "indexed" when a search engine has saved it and can show it in results.
Click path (Google Search Console)
At search.google.com/search-console, select + Add property and verify your site.
Paste a page address into the search bar at the top.
If it says "URL is not on Google," click Request Indexing.
Check Settings → Search generative AI is set to include your site. That's the default.
Bing Webmaster Tools: at bing.com/webmasters, choose your site, go to Submit URLs, paste one address per line and click Submit.
Make a "Site Check" Project the same way as Step 3 and paste:
You are my Site Check helper. When I paste a Search Console result or my robots.txt file (yoursite.com/robots.txt), tell me in plain English:
Whether the page can be indexed, and why.
Whether robots.txt blocks Googlebot, Bingbot, OAI-SearchBot or PerplexityBot.
The exact fix, written for my web person.
A fix list row for each problem.
Note: Google says indexing can take a day or much longer, with no guarantee.
My default: your homepage and top 5 service pages first. Jake agrees: fix indexing before writing anything new.
Step 5: Make Your Business Details Match Everywhere
Google says complete, accurate info helps you show up in local results, and Business Profiles can help you appear in its AI responses.
Quick definition: Your business details are your name, address, phone number, hours and services.
Click path (Google Business Profile)
Signed in to the Google account that manages your profile, search your business name on Google.
Select Edit profile, fix anything wrong, then Save.
Then ask your Site Check helper:
Here's my Google Business Profile info, website footer, contact page and directory listings. List every place my name, address, phone, hours or services don't match word for word.
Optional: if your site has schema (code that labels your details for machines), test a page in Google's Rich Results Test (search.google.com/test/rich-results) or validator.schema.org. Google says its AI features need no special schema.
Note: Matching details on other sites may help, though no Ai company has said it changes who they recommend.
My default: Business Profile first, then everything else.
Step 6: Fix Your Top Service Page With a Page Writer
Google's AI guide says useful, first-hand content will likely matter more over time than anything else it suggests.
Quick definition: A service page is the page about one service, like "Water Heater Replacement" or "Clear Aligners."
Make a "Page Writer" Project and paste:
You are my Page Writer. Rewrite the service page I paste using this checklist:
Open with a short, plain answer to the buyer's main question.
Write subheads as customer questions and answer each in the first sentence.
Add local proof: team names, neighborhoods, recent jobs, price ranges if I publish them, and local reviews.
Link every statistic to its source and add a "last updated" date.
Write ASK ME wherever you need a fact from me.
Then run Jake Bauman's city swap test: put another city's name in place of yours. If the page still reads fine, add local details.
Note: The short answer up top is a practitioner tip with no official length. Google says its AI features need no special writing style, and churning out near-copies to catch every search wording breaks its spam rules.
Skip llms.txt for now. It's a proposed file for Ai tools, and Google says Search ignores it.
My default: your top revenue service. You approve and publish, then request indexing.
Step 7: Add a Mention Scout and Run the Weekly Loop
The sources behind a competitor's mention show where they get talked about.
Quick definition: A cited source is a link an Ai answer shows as where it got its information. In ChatGPT, select Sources under an answer.
Make a "Mention Scout" Project and paste:
You are my Mention Scout. I'll paste the sources linked when a competitor was named.
Group them: directories, local news, "best of" lists, associations and community sites.
Tell me how a business like mine earns a spot honestly.
Draft a short pitch I can edit.
Leave all sending to me.
Note: Google says fake mentions help less than you might think, and its systems block spam. Go for real ones: your trade association, supplier dealer finders, local news, your chamber of commerce.
The weekly loop: every Monday, run the same 20 questions the same way. Upload results to the Search Desk and hand out the fix list rows. Log every change with a date. Keeping the questions identical is Jake's rule, and it makes progress measurable.
Start Here This Week
Today: write your 20 buyer questions.
Tomorrow: run your baseline check.
Wednesday: build 2 helpers and check your top 6 pages.
Thursday: fix your Google Business Profile.
Next Monday: rewrite 1 page and run your second check.
LEVERAGE MATH: What your Ai helper team takes
What it takes (our estimates)
Steps 1 and 2, questions and baseline: 50 minutes
Steps 3 and 4, 2 helpers plus indexing: 45 minutes
Step 5, business details: 30 minutes
Steps 6 and 7, 2 helpers plus 1 page rewrite: 55 minutes
Total setup: about 3 hours
Every week after: about 45 minutes
What to expect
Indexing: a day or much longer after a request, per Google
Getting cited: Jake Bauman says don't expect it within 30 days
Your turn (week 1, then week 4)
Questions where ChatGPT names you: ____ of 20
Questions where Google's AI Overview names you: ____ of 20
Pages fixed: ____
Real mentions earned: ____
Here's my honest read.
Ai answers shift with who's asking and where. One week is a snapshot. Four weeks of the same questions tells you far more.
The work that gets you named looks a lot like good old SEO. Google says its AI features are rooted in its core search ranking systems.
That's good news. A clear page and an accurate profile win over human customers too.
Disclosure: my company, Better Inbound, sells Ai-visibility services. Every step here uses free tools you already have. I'm not paid by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or Microsoft to write this.
Nate
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