top of page

Why ChatGPT cites some firms and not others

Writer: Alexandre KOERFER
Alexandre KOERFER
9 hours ago
5 min read
Smartphone displaying ChatGPT next to a laptop

When a prospective client asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity to find a lawyer, a chartered accountant or a notary, the answer cites a handful of sources, rarely more. These tools do not choose at random: they run searches, read pages and keep the ones that answer the question clearly. Here is what the research and the providers themselves say, and what it means for your firm.

AI assistants search before they answer

When a question calls for recent or local information, ChatGPT searches the web. According to OpenAI's help pages, it does so automatically when a question could benefit from information from the web. The answer then includes inline citations and a ‘Sources’ button listing the pages cited [2]. OpenAI states that queries, disassociated from the user, may be passed to third-party search providers such as Bing [2].

Google works in a similar way for its AI Overviews and AI Mode. Its documentation describes answers that are ‘grounded’ in up-to-date pages from its index, retrieved by its usual ranking systems. It also describes ‘query fan-out’: the model runs several related searches to cover the different aspects of a question [3]. As a result, it can display more links than classic search results [4].

What the research calls ‘GEO’

In November 2023, a team of researchers (Aggarwal et al.) published the paper ‘GEO: Generative Engine Optimization’, accepted at the KDD 2024 conference [1]. In it, GEO refers to methods that increase the visibility of content in the answers of ‘generative engines’, the systems that write an answer drawing on several sources. On their benchmark, some methods improve this visibility by up to 40% [1]. Their main findings:

  • citing sources and adding quotations and statistics are among the most effective methods [1];

  • in the ‘law and government’ category of their benchmark, citing sources and adding statistics give the best results [1];

  • keyword stuffing brings no benefit and can even reduce visibility [1];

  • sites with lower initial rankings benefit more from these methods [1].

These results, drawn from controlled experiments, guarantee no citation. Google, for its part, points out that there is no need to create files intended for AI or to break text up into small chunks [3]. It adds that chasing artificial ‘mentions’ across the web is less useful than it might seem [3]. GEO is therefore first and foremost a matter of clear, reliable content.

Clear content, by practice area and by city

A client's question is specific: a subject, a place, a situation. An ‘Expertise’ page listing fifteen subjects answers each of them poorly. One page per practice area, tied to the place where the firm practises, answers better. An assistant only cites what it can link to a specific question.

Google says that a unique perspective matters, and that a simple summary of existing content merely repeats what is already available elsewhere. It values analysis by experts or practitioners that goes beyond common knowledge [3]. For a firm, this can take the form of:

  • Q&A pages written and signed by an identified professional at the firm, showing the date they were last updated;

  • explanations of procedures (steps, time limits, documents to gather) that refer to the official texts;

  • figures drawn from public sources, presented as such.

For lawyers, the structure of the site must follow the rules of the profession. No more than three dominant areas of practice may be claimed, and the terms ‘specialist’ or ‘specialised’ are reserved for holders of a certificate of specialisation or a qualification [7].

Google Business Profile, reviews and consistent information

For local searches, Google states that a Google Business Profile can help a business to be visible in AI answers [3]. Its help pages explain that local ranking is based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. They add that there is no way to request or pay for a better ranking [5]. The levers cited:

  • a verified profile with complete and accurate information: address, opening hours, category [5];

  • client reviews, to which Google recommends replying; their number and positive ratings contribute to prominence [5].

Also make sure that your name, address and telephone number are identical on your website, your profile and in directories. For lawyers, replying to a review remains an act of communication: naming clients is prohibited, and a client cannot authorise their lawyer to waive professional secrecy [8]. The reply must remain restrained and say nothing about the matter.

Pages that crawlers can access

Google requires a page to be indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet in order to appear in its AI features [4]. It recommends allowing crawling in the robots.txt file, including at hosting provider or CDN level, and keeping important content in text form [4].

On the OpenAI side, the OAI-SearchBot crawler is used to surface websites in ChatGPT search results. Sites that opt out of it are not shown in ChatGPT search answers [6]. It is separate from GPTBot, which relates to model training: you can allow one and block the other [6]. According to OpenAI, a change to robots.txt takes effect within about 24 hours [6].

Structured data completes the picture. Google states that it is not required for its AI features and that no particular schema.org markup is needed, while still recommending it for rich results [3]. It must match the visible text of the page [4].

Communication that remains regulated

Writing to be cited by an AI does not change the rules of professional conduct. For lawyers, Article 10 of the Règlement intérieur national (RIN, the national rules of the French legal profession) requires honest information. It prohibits any false or misleading advertising and any comparative or disparaging statement [7]. Opening a website, or substantially changing one, must be declared to the Bar (Ordre) without delay, together with the domain names [7]. The Conseil national des barreaux (CNB, the French national bar council) also points out that a lawyer may not claim to be the best and that the terms used must not be exaggerated [8].

A Q&A page remains information: no promise of results, no rankings, no superlatives. Chartered accountants and notaries are subject to their own rules, which should be checked with their Ordre or chambre.

Our recommendations

  • Check crawler access: robots.txt file, Googlebot and OAI-SearchBot allowed, key pages indexed in Search Console.

  • Create one page per practice area and per place of practice, in line with the rules of your profession.

  • Publish signed, dated and sourced Q&As, based on your clients' real questions.

  • Complete and verify your Google Business Profile, then reply to reviews with restraint.

  • Align your name, address, telephone number and practice areas across all your channels, structured data included.

To find out how your firm currently appears in AI assistants' answers, Tao Sense offers a free assessment.

Sources

Comments

Commenting on this post isn't available anymore. Contact the site owner for more info.
bottom of page