How do I rank in ChatGPT search?

You do not rank in ChatGPT search the way you rank on Google. There is no position one to hold. Instead, you become the page ChatGPT retrieves and cites when someone asks a specific question. That means matching the question, answering it fast, and making the page easy to trust.

Think retrieval, not ranking

ChatGPT search retrieves a small set of sources, then synthesizes an answer. Your goal is to be in that retrieval set and to be the source the synthesis step prefers. The retrieval set is influenced by relevance, freshness, and domain signals. The synthesis step prefers clear, factual, attributable text.

What the work involves

• — Finding the questions your customers ask ChatGPT, in their exact words.
• — Recording what ChatGPT currently says and which URLs it cites.
• — Building one page per question, with the question as the H1.
• — Writing the answer in the first 80 words, with a number, range, or condition.
• — Adding sources, author, date, and FAQ schema.
• — Making sure the page is crawlable and linked from an indexed page.
• — Rerunning the questions monthly and refining the pages.

Want this done for you?

That list is an AnswerBuild package. We run the audit, write and publish the pages, and handle the rerun. Contact us to talk through your questions, or see pricing.

Why specificity wins

Broad questions like "best plumber" pull from memory and directories. Narrow questions like "who does same-day septic pumping in Ulster County on a weekend" pull from pages because no strong default exists. That is where a small site can win.

What not to do

• — Do not write one giant page covering every question.
• — Do not stuff keywords into the answer.
• — Do not publish undated, authorless pages.
• — Do not buy "ChatGPT ranking" tools or badges.

Sources

OpenAI publishes documentation on ChatGPT search and its crawler. General crawlability guidance comes from Google Search Central.