ChatGPT chooses agencies by looking for the most relevant, credible, and clearly described options for the user’s request. It is not simply checking who ranks first on Google, who has the most backlinks, or who has spent the most on ads.

For agency searches, ChatGPT is trying to answer questions like:

  • Which agencies are strongly associated with this service?
  • Which ones are credible enough to recommend?
  • Which ones match the user’s location, sector, budget, or problem?
  • Which names appear across trustworthy sources?
  • Which agencies have clear proof, reviews, awards, or expert content?

That means AI visibility is not just traditional SEO with a new name. It is about making your agency easy for AI systems to understand, verify and recommend. Sierra Six Media has explored this wider shift in its posts on Google AI Mode and AI Overviews.

There is no public ChatGPT agency ranking formula

There is no published “ChatGPT agency ranking factor” checklist. As Sussex SEO explains in its article on how ChatGPT chooses brands to mention, ChatGPT brand visibility is not controlled by a public ranking formula.

That matters because agencies often ask the wrong question. The question is not “How do we rank number one in ChatGPT?”

The better question is:

“How do we become the obvious agency to mention when someone asks for help with our exact service, sector, or location?”

For example, a user might ask:

  • “Who are the best SEO agencies in London for e-commerce?”
  • “Which digital marketing agencies understand AI search?”
  • “Recommend an SEO agency for a multi-location hospitality brand.”
  • “What agency can help with technical SEO and AI Overviews?”

Each of those prompts has a different intent. ChatGPT will not always recommend the same agencies because the best answer depends on the wording, context, location, and available sources.

What signals help ChatGPT trust an agency?

ChatGPT is not human, but the signals that influence agency recommendations are very human.

Onely’s research into AI search visibility factors found a strong relationship between brand mentions and AI visibility. Surfer SEO has also reported that brand mentions in blog posts can affect AI recommendation strength.

It needs enough evidence to understand what you do and why you are worth mentioning. Strong signals include:

  • Clear service pages that describe what the agency does
  • Location pages for searches with local intent
  • Case studies with specific problems, actions, and outcomes
  • Third-party reviews and reputation signals
  • Awards, accreditations, and industry recognition
  • Mentions in credible lists, roundups, and comparison pages
  • Expert blog content that answers real buyer questions
  • Consistent brand information across directories and profiles
  • Fresh content that reflects current search behaviour

This is where AI search and SEO overlap. Your website still matters, but it is only one part of the picture.

Sierra Six Media has covered this wider shift in posts such as Google AI Mode: What It Means for Search, SEO, and Your Brand and How Google’s AI Overviews Are Changing SEO. The common thread is simple: search engines and AI assistants are becoming answer engines, not just lists of blue links.

Reviews and reputation help ChatGPT compare agenciesr

When someone asks ChatGPT to recommend an agency, they are usually asking for a shortcut to trust.

That means reviews matter. Not just the number of reviews, but the pattern behind them.

Useful review signals include:

  • Recent reviews
  • Specific comments about service quality
  • Mentions of results, communication, and expertise
  • Consistency across platforms
  • Responses from the agency
  • Reviews that match the services the agency wants to be known for

For example, an agency with reviews that repeatedly mention “technical SEO”, “clear reporting,” and “commercial strategy” is sending a much stronger signal than one with generic praise.

This also connects to Google Business Profile and local SEO. If people are asking for agencies in London, Essex, or another specific area, ChatGPT may lean on location signals and business information. Sierra Six Media’s guide on how to recover missing Google reviews is relevant here because reviews are now part of a wider trust ecosystem, not just a local ranking asset.

Content structure affects whether AI can use your site

AI systems do not read your website like a person leisurely browsing every page. They extract chunks of information and use them to answer specific questions.

That means your content needs to be easy to parse.

Good AI-friendly agency content includes:

  • Direct answers near the top of the page
  • Descriptive headings
  • Short sections with one clear idea
  • Service pages that explain use cases
  • FAQs that mirror real sales questions
  • Case studies with structured details
  • Schema markup where relevant

Sierra Six Media’s guide to structured markup data and schema markup is useful here. Schema will not magically make ChatGPT recommend you, but it can help search engines and AI systems understand your business, services, and content more clearly.

Does ranking on Google still matter?

Yes, but it is not the whole story.

If ChatGPT uses live search, strong organic visibility can help your pages become part of the source set. OpenAI’s launch post for ChatGPT Search explains that ChatGPT can search the web and provide answers with links to relevant web sources.

So traditional SEO still matters, especially for:

  • Crawlability
  • Indexation
  • page quality
  • service page relevance
  • local visibility
  • content depth
  • authority building

But agencies also need to think beyond their own rankings. They need to ask:

  • Are we mentioning where AI systems are likely to look?
  • Are those mentions accurate?
  • Do third-party pages describe our strengths clearly?
  • Do our reviews support our positioning?
  • Do we have content that answers the questions buyers ask before choosing an agency?

This is why the future of agency visibility is a blend of SEO, digital PR, brand building, content strategy and reputation management.

How agencies can improve their chances of being recommended by ChatGPT

You cannot force ChatGPT to recommend your agency, but you can make your agency easier to understand and trust.

Start with these steps:

  1. Clarify your agency positioning
    Make sure your site clearly says what you do, who you help, and where you operate.

  2. Strengthen your service pages
    Build detailed pages for your core services, such as SEO, PPC, technical SEO, AI search strategy, or content marketing.

  3. Build credible third-party mentions
    Aim to appear in relevant roundups, expert features, directories, awards pages, and industry publications.

  4. Improve review quality and freshness
    Encourage detailed client reviews that mention the services and outcomes you want to be known for.

  5. Publish useful expert content
    Answer the questions clients ask before hiring an agency. Avoid thin AI-generated posts that add nothing new.

  6. Add structured FAQs
    Use FAQs to answer direct questions like “How do I choose an SEO agency?” or “What should an SEO agency report on?”

  7. Keep content current
    AI search is moving quickly. Refresh older posts, so they reflect current search behaviour, AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, and Google AI Mode.

  8. Track prompt visibility
    Test prompts that your buyers might use. Track which agencies appear, which sources are cited, and what gaps exist in your own visibility.

Sierra Six Media has also covered the changing measurement picture in its post on rank tracking and the number 100 crisis and why position one is no longer enough.

The bigger shift: agencies are being shortlisted before the click

The most important change is not that ChatGPT can mention agencies. It is that buyers may now shortlist agencies before they ever visit a website.

McKinsey has described AI search as a new front door to the internet, with users increasingly turning to AI tools to research, compare, and make decisions. For agencies, that means visibility inside the answer matters.

If your agency is not mentioned, you may not even make the shortlist.

If your agency is mentioned with a weak or outdated context, you may be misunderstood.

If your agency is mentioned clearly, positively, and in the right category, ChatGPT can become a powerful discovery channel.

The agencies that win will not be the ones trying to “hack” ChatGPT. They will be the ones building the strongest, clearest, and most consistent evidence of expertise across the web.

FAQs

How does ChatGPT decide which agencies to recommend?

ChatGPT recommends agencies based on relevance, credibility, available sources, brand mentions, reviews, location signals, and how clearly the agency is associated with the user’s request. If live search is used, current web sources can also influence the answer.

There is no standard paid placement system that guarantees an agency will be recommended in ChatGPT responses. Visibility is earned through relevance, authority, useful content, brand recognition, and trustworthy third-party signals.

ChatGPT may also rely on brand associations, third-party mentions, reviews, directories, comparison pages, and other sources.

Reviews can help because they provide third-party trust signals. Detailed, recent reviews that mention specific services, outcomes, and client experiences are more useful than generic reviews.

An SEO agency can improve its chances by building clear service pages, earning relevant third-party mentions, publishing expert content, improving reviews, using structured data, keeping content fresh, and tracking prompts that potential clients might ask.

Small changes in wording can change the intent. “Best SEO agency in London for e-commerce” is different from “best technical SEO agency for SaaS”. ChatGPT may also use different sources at different times, especially when search is involved.

The key takeaway

Want your brand to stay visible as search moves from rankings to AI-generated recommendations? Sierra Six Media helps businesses build SEO strategies that work across Google, AI Overviews, and ChatGPT-style discovery. Speak to our SEO Agency London team to build visibility where your customers are now making decisions.

Get in touch with our SEO agency in essex today.