ChatGPT SEO: how ChatGPT picks the products it names
ChatGPT names products from a short list of pages it finds through its own search crawler, so the job is to be readable by OAI-SearchBot and to be on the few pages it cites for your category.
Does ChatGPT name you, or your competitor?
Paste your URL. See what ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI answer when your buyers ask, who they name instead of you, and which pages they read. Then we do the work to get you onto those pages.
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What ChatGPT cited in our test
- Answers measured
- 110
- Sources per answer
- 5.8
- Answers citing Reddit
- 6%
- Answers citing YouTube
- 0%
7 of 110 answers cited no source at all. Across the rest, ChatGPT cited 342 different domains. Asked the same question 4 times, only 9 of 32 brand appearances (28%) were named in every run.
The domains it cited most
| Domain | Answers citing it |
|---|---|
| semrush.com | 7 of 110 |
| reddit.com | 7 of 110 |
| launchdirectories.com | 5 of 110 |
| toolradar.com | 5 of 110 |
| help.openai.com | 5 of 110 |
| cituna.com | 5 of 110 |
| thestacc.com | 4 of 110 |
| wheretosubmit.org | 4 of 110 |
Next to the other engines
| Engine | Sources per answer | Cites Reddit |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 5.8 | 6% (7 of 110) |
| Perplexity | 10.1 | 31% (32 of 103) |
| Gemini | 9.2 | 20% (22 of 110) |
| Google AI Mode | 3.4 | 40% (44 of 111) |
Source: welaunch's test of 434 live AI answers to buyer questions in seven software categories, 27 Sep 2026, US. Brand and domain counts are answers, not citations: an answer citing reddit.com three times counts once. welaunch.sh was named or cited in 0 of these 110 answers.
How ChatGPT picks its sources
ChatGPT's search features surface websites through OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI says sites that opt out of it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though they can still appear as navigational links.
Source: OpenAI crawler documentation
It cites fewer pages than the other engines: 5.8 sources per answer on average, against 10.1 on Perplexity and 9.2 on Gemini. Fewer slots means being on the pages it already reads matters more.
Source: welaunch's test of 434 live AI answers to buyer questions in seven software categories, 27 Sep 2026, US
Reddit is a small source for ChatGPT now: reddit.com was cited in 7 of 110 answers (6%), against 40% on Google AI Mode.
Source: welaunch's test of 434 live AI answers to buyer questions in seven software categories, 27 Sep 2026, US
Its answers move between runs. Asked the same question 4 times, only 9 of 32 brand appearances (28%) were named in every run.
Source: welaunch's test of 434 live AI answers to buyer questions in seven software categories, 27 Sep 2026, US (06-aeo-live.md, variance)
Its most cited pages were vendor guides and list articles (semrush.com, toolradar.com, launchdirectories.com) and OpenAI's own help pages, not forums.
Source: welaunch's test of 434 live AI answers to buyer questions in seven software categories, 27 Sep 2026, US
Which ChatGPT crawlers to allow
OAI-SearchBotSurfaces websites in ChatGPT's search results. Blocking it keeps you out of ChatGPT search answers.ChatGPT-UserVisits a page when a ChatGPT user asks about it. Not used to decide what appears in search.GPTBotCollects content that may be used to train OpenAI's models. Blocking it is a training choice, not a search one.
Add these lines to robots.txt:
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot Allow: / User-agent: ChatGPT-User Allow: / User-agent: GPTBot Allow: /
A crawler given its own group stops reading your User-agent: * rules, so repeat any private paths you disallow there. Then check the firewall: a CDN rule can block a crawler that robots.txt allows. Check both free with the AI crawler checker.
What to fix first for ChatGPT
- 01
Let OAI-SearchBot in, at the firewall too
A robots.txt that allows it is not enough if Cloudflare or Vercel challenges non-browser traffic. Check both: the free crawler checker fetches your homepage as each bot and compares it with what a browser gets.
- 02
Get onto the list articles and tool directories it cites
With under six sources per answer, ChatGPT leans on a few category pages. Find the ones it cites for your buyer questions and get listed or pitched there before writing anything new.
- 03
Publish pages shaped like the question
Pricing in plain HTML, an alternatives page and an honest comparison page give it something to quote when a buyer asks about your category or a rival.
- 04
Treat Reddit as a low priority for ChatGPT
Reddit showed up in 6% of its answers. The same thread work pays off far more on Google AI Mode and Perplexity.
- 05
Measure with repeat runs, not one answer
With 28% of brands named in every run, one ChatGPT answer is closer to a coin flip than a measurement. Count how many of 4 runs name you.
ChatGPT questions
How do I check if ChatGPT mentions my brand?
Ask it the questions your buyers ask, more than once, and count the answers that name you. The free welaunch scan does this for three buyer questions written from your homepage and shows every raw answer.
Which crawler do I need to allow for ChatGPT search?
OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI says sites that block it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers. GPTBot is the training crawler and ChatGPT-User fetches pages a user asks about.
Does blocking GPTBot remove me from ChatGPT answers?
Not from search answers. OpenAI documents GPTBot as the training crawler and OAI-SearchBot as the one for search, so they can be set separately. Blocking training does mean future models learn less about you.
Does Reddit help with ChatGPT?
Less than people think. In our test ChatGPT cited reddit.com in 6% of answers (7 of 110), against 40% on Google AI Mode and 31% on Perplexity.
Why does ChatGPT give a different answer every time?
Each answer is a sample. When we re-asked ChatGPT the same question 4 times, only 28% of the brands it named appeared in all 4 answers.
How many sources does ChatGPT cite?
About 5.8 per answer in our test, and 7 of 110 answers cited none. Perplexity cited about 10 per answer.
Is a ChatGPT rank tracker accurate?
Only if it asks each question several times. A tracker that asks once a day reports noise as movement. Look for one that shows the raw answers and how many runs named you.
How long does it take to show up in ChatGPT?
Nobody can promise a date. Founders report first mentions after one to two months of fixes, but those reports are unverified, which is why we track it weekly and show every answer.
The other engines
Does ChatGPT recommend you, or your competitor?
Paste your URL. See what ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI answer when your buyers ask, who they name instead of you, and which pages they read. Then we do the work to get you onto those pages.
Free scan, no signup, no card.