How to Show Up in ChatGPT
The order we use on clients: OAI-SearchBot, a public page with the claim in HTML, then Promptwatch for the answer log and chatgpt.com referrals.
When a client says they want to show up in ChatGPT, we translate that into OpenAI's words, not a content slogan. The publisher FAQ says any public site can appear in ChatGPT search, and summaries and snippets need OAI-SearchBot allowed. Referrals use utm_source=chatgpt.com. We run the program on Promptwatch, the platform we use for client work.
We also split the ask in the kickoff. Named without a link is a mention. A source URL they control is a citation. A session with that UTM is a referral. Mixing those three into one "ChatGPT score" is how QBRs go sideways.
Engineering before copy
We read robots.txt with the security team. SearchBot allowed. Published IP ranges allowed. GPTBot is a separate, training-shaped decision. Legal often wants to block "AI." If they block SearchBot while trying to block training, the ChatGPT Search conversation is over before we write a paragraph. About a day for robots.txt to propagate.
ChatGPT-User is user-initiated (a question in ChatGPT, Custom GPTs). We do not treat it as the Search robots token. OpenAI says robots.txt may not apply because a user asked. It is not used to decide Search appearance.
WAF rules that block "GPT" strings often block Search by accident. We match published IP ranges, not a regex hobby.
If they want a URL out of Atlas title-only leftovers after a third-party pickup, the FAQ's noindex path requires the crawler to fetch the tag. We do not Disallow the page and then wonder why the tag never applied.
On Professional, Business, or an agency plan, Agent Analytics shows ChatGPTBot and related CDN hits, errors, and the crawl-to-citation path. Essential has no listed crawler-log allowance. A rewrite on a 404 is how retainers waste April.
The page we actually ship
One URL per money question. Claim in visible text. Dates and numbers we can defend. We reject invented case studies in the review inbox.
Google's optimization guide is the quality bar we already used for Search: unique, non-commodity pages. We do not tell clients Google's llms.txt dismissal is an OpenAI law. We tell them OpenAI did not make a special file the admission ticket in the FAQ. We also do not wait on a ChatGPT submit console. There isn't one.
Webflow or Framer publish from Content Agents only after accept. WordPress: measure in Promptwatch, write where editors already work. Essential includes 5 AEO articles at $95/mo, but no crawler logs. On Professional, Business, or an agency plan, we skip the content agent if Agent Analytics shows a 403. On Essential, we make that check at the CDN.
How we know it showed up
Frozen prompts from sales calls, including vs-queries. Same wording each week. Daily paid checks. Mention versus citation. Explore is a 10-prompt ChatGPT snapshot, not a retainer. Essential at $95/mo is the first paid desk, but it has no listed crawler-log allowance. Professional at $245/mo is the first brand plan with crawler logs and a larger prompt list.
Visitor analytics (script or GTM) beside GA4 so chatgpt.com is a channel, not a myth. A referral without a stored cite can happen. A cite without a session can happen. We report both. We do not average them.
Otterly at $29 is a side thermometer. Profound Starter is ChatGPT-only with 50 prompts on the annual $99 desk; we will not sell it as multi-engine. We do not promise real-time alerts. Paid Promptwatch is daily.
Show up, for us, is a prompt that cites a URL we control after a fetch we can point at. Allow the bot. Ship the page. Keep the log. That is the whole offer.