ChatGPT answers using pages it has been able to crawl, that allow it in, and that state facts in plain, citable text. It can only quote what it can find and understand, so a vague page, an image-only page, or one locked behind a login stays invisible to it, no matter how good the business behind it is.
In plain English
It is a bit like being interviewed for a news article. The reporter can only quote you if they can actually reach you and understand what you said clearly. Say something vague, or hide behind a locked door, and you simply do not make the story.
Three fixes
Answer real questions in plain writing
Write the exact questions customers ask, answered clearly and directly.
Keep facts current
Outdated details are less likely to be trusted and cited.
Do not block AI crawlers in robots.txt
Make sure your site's rules allow AI bots to read your pages.
Worth remembering
OpenAI says ChatGPT now has over 900 million weekly users.
That is an enormous audience asking questions your business could be answering. If your site is unreadable to ChatGPT, you are simply absent from that entire conversation.
What to do about it
Check your robots.txt file, write clear plain-English answers to real customer questions, and keep facts current. If you want that checked properly, get a free website audit.
