You asked ChatGPT what to buy, and it named your rival but not you. By the end of this page, you will know why and have one fix in place.
Source: Aggarwal et al., "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", KDD 2024. This was a lab test on an older AI model, so treat it as a hint, not a promise.
Where to start
Check the question fits you
Do this: Type the question you asked and what you sell, then press the button.
Why: If the question is not about what you sell, your rival winning it may not matter.
AI answers change each time you ask. So one screenshot is not proof. Ask the same question a few times in new chats before you decide.
Question fit checker Example numbers
Runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere. Fill in the four boxes and press the button.
Find the pages that name your rival
Do this: Click the first 5 links ChatGPT shows under its answer and add each page to the table.
Why: ChatGPT often repeats what those pages say, so they show you where the gap is.
A page that names your rival but not you is a source gap. That is a place to look into. It does not mean the site owes you a mention.
Source gap finder Example numbers
Runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere. Add one row per page. Your rows are saved on this device.
| Page address | Names your rival? | Names you? | Year last updated |
|---|
Fix one thing and track it
Do this: Make one change to your own site, then add it to the log below.
Why: If you change only one thing, you can tell if it worked.
Good changes are simple. Add clear prices, real limits, or a real example to the page buyers read. Also check your robots.txt file, the file that tells robots what they may read. It should let in OAI-SearchBot, the robot ChatGPT uses to read sites for search.
You cannot change other people's sites. You can send them a helpful fix or a demo. They decide what to post.
Change log
Runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere. Each change gets a recheck date one week later. Your log is saved on this device.
| Date | Page | Change | Question | Check again on |
|---|
Why did ChatGPT name my rival and not me?
When ChatGPT searches the web, it builds its answer from the pages it reads. If review sites and lists name your rival and not you, the answer often does the same.
Should I just write more blog posts?
Not first. More posts rarely fix a source gap. Fix the pages buyers already read, and make sure ChatGPT's robot can reach your site.
How often should I check again?
Once a week is enough for most brands. Use the same question and 5 new chats each time. Then compare with your log.
Sources: Aggarwal et al., "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", KDD 2024, arXiv 2311.09735; OpenAI crawler documentation for OAI-SearchBot.