Guide

How to get cited by ChatGPT: a step-by-step guide

Q: How does ChatGPT decide which sites to cite?

In two stages. First it retrieves candidate pages: ChatGPT leans heavily on Bing's index and on live browsing. At this stage your site must be crawlable, indexed and readable without JavaScript. Then it selects, among the retrieved pages, the passages that best answer the question, and cites their sources. This second stage happens at the passage level, not the domain level: a self-contained paragraph that answers the question directly can be cited even from a small site. The practical consequence: you're not trying to 'rank first', you're trying to be the easiest passage to lift. Write each paragraph so it stands on its own and answers one question, and you match exactly what the selection stage looks for.

Q: What are the concrete steps to get cited by ChatGPT?

Seven steps, from the most mechanical to the most editorial. One: allow GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User in your robots.txt (blocking them removes you from the pool). Two: publish an llms.txt file at your root, a structured summary of your site. Three: add Q&A schema.org markup as JSON-LD on your key pages. Four: structure your pages as real questions with direct, self-contained 40-160 word answers — the first sentence should answer, not introduce. Five: back every important claim with a fact, a number or a verifiable source; the GEO study shows statistics and citations clearly increase visibility. Six: keep your content fresh, with a visible updated date. Seven: make sure content is server-rendered, because several AI crawlers don't execute JavaScript. These seven steps guarantee nothing — nobody controls ChatGPT — but they align your site with everything the engine can recognize and lift.

Q: What kind of content does ChatGPT lift the most?

Specific, verifiable, self-contained passages. Concretely: an answer that starts by answering ('No, an llms.txt is not enough to get cited, because…') rather than by setting context; a claim backed by a number and its source; a paragraph that makes sense on its own, without having read the rest of the page. Princeton's GEO study and Search Engine Land's analyses converge: statistics, source citations and direct phrasing are the traits that most increase the odds of being lifted. Conversely, vague marketing ('the best solution on the market'), keyword stuffing and long unstructured blocks are ignored. The right mental image: write as if an AI assistant will copy-paste a single one of your paragraphs into its answer and attribute it to your site. That paragraph must be accurate, self-contained and attributable. If each of your paragraphs passes that test, you're optimized for citation.

Q: Can anyone guarantee you'll be cited by ChatGPT?

No, and be wary of anyone who promises it. Nobody controls ChatGPT: its answers vary by question, by day, by model version and by mode (live search or internal knowledge). What you do control is being in the candidate pool and being the easiest source to cite. Mechanical changes — robots.txt, llms.txt, schema.org markup — take effect as soon as engines re-crawl your site, often within days to a few weeks. To measure, keep it simple: ask the engines the questions your customers actually ask and see who they cite, then repeat regularly. That is also Citeable's logic: a best-efforts obligation, not a guarantee of results. The tool takes your URL, crawls your site and generates both your llms.txt and your Q&A schema.org markup, consistent with each other, to make you as citable as possible — the rest depends on the engines, which nobody controls.

Updated · July 5, 2026 — Joffrey Bonifay

What is GEO?→

Getting recommended by ChatGPT isn't luck: the engine picks its sources on criteria you can influence. Here is a concrete, step-by-step guide to maximize your chances of being cited — with no magic promise, since nobody controls these AI systems.

How does ChatGPT decide which sites to cite?

In two stages. First it retrieves candidate pages: ChatGPT leans heavily on Bing's index and on live browsing. At this stage your site must be crawlable, indexed and readable without JavaScript.

Then it selects the passages that best answer the question and cites their sources. This stage happens at the passage level, not the domain level: a self-contained paragraph can be cited even from a small site. You're not trying to “rank first”, you're trying to be the easiest passage to lift.

What are the concrete steps to get cited by ChatGPT?

Seven steps, from the most mechanical to the most editorial:

Allow GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User in your robots.txt.
Publish an llms.txt file at your root.
Add Q&A schema.org markup (JSON-LD) on your key pages.
Structure pages as questions with direct 40-160 word answers — the first sentence answers, it doesn't introduce.
Back every claim with a fact, number or source (the GEO study shows the clear lift from stats and citations).
Keep content fresh, with a visible updated date.
Ensure server-side rendering (several AI crawlers don't execute JavaScript).

These steps guarantee nothing — nobody controls ChatGPT — but they align your site with what the engine can recognize and lift.

What kind of content does ChatGPT lift the most?

Specific, verifiable, self-contained passages. An answer that starts by answering (“No, an llms.txt is not enough, because…”) rather than by setting context; a claim backed by a number and its source; a paragraph that makes sense on its own.

Princeton's GEO study and Search Engine Land's analyses converge: statistics, source citations and direct phrasing most increase the odds of being lifted. Vague marketing, keyword stuffing and long unstructured blocks are ignored. The mental image: write as if the AI will copy-paste a single paragraph and attribute it to your site — it must be accurate, self-contained and attributable.

Can anyone guarantee you'll be cited by ChatGPT?

No, and be wary of anyone who promises it. Nobody controls ChatGPT: its answers vary by question, day, model version and mode. What you control is being in the candidate pool and the easiest source to cite.

Mechanical changes take effect as soon as engines re-crawl, often within days to weeks. To measure: ask the engines your customers' questions and see who they cite, regularly. That is Citeable's logic — a best-efforts obligation: it generates your llms.txt + Q&A schema.org markup, consistent with each other, to make you as citable as possible; the rest depends on the engines.