In short
- A working generative engine optimization (GEO) strategy tracks buyer questions across multiple checks, since single manual prompts are unreliable.
- OpenAI's October 2026 docs state blocking
OAI-SearchBotexcludes sites from ChatGPT search answers, while blockingGPTBotonly opts out of training. - FoundByChat's October 2026 study (4,203 retrieved results, 211 answers) found vendor pricing pages were cited 51.2% of the time when retrieved, product pages 28.4%, and docs 23.0%.
- In our October 2026 local tests, businesses on ChatGPT-cited pages had 3.3x the odds of being named for plumbers and 2.1x for dentists.
Execute a repeatable four-week GEO plan by allowing OpenAI's search crawler, upgrading the pages it cites, and tracking search positions over time.
Week 1: Pick buyer questions and baseline ChatGPT search
List the commercial questions customers ask before buying and check how ChatGPT search works across multiple runs: ChatGPT can retrieve web results; in one study, it cited 10.3% of the results it retrieved.
In our October 2026 study of 218 ChatGPT answers with web search, ChatGPT cited 2.2 different URLs per answer on average, or 10.3% of retrieved results. Position 1 of the first search was cited 55.5% of the time (95% CI 49.1% to 61.9%), dropping to 34.9% in position 2 and 27.5% in position 3.
| Search result position | Citation rate in ChatGPT answer | Study source |
|---|---|---|
| Position 1 | 55.5% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 218 answers) |
| Position 2 | 34.9% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 218 answers) |
| Position 3 | 27.5% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 218 answers) |
| Positions 4 to 5 | 14.4% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 218 answers) |
| Positions 6 to 10 | 8.1% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 218 answers) |
| Positions 11 to 15 | 2.4% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 218 answers) |
| Position 16 and lower | 0.4% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 218 answers) |
Set up this baseline in FoundByChat, free to start via Google or email. Add your website and customer questions, and FoundByChat asks ChatGPT with web search on every 2 hours from the US or the Netherlands. Each check records whether your pages are "Found" in search results or "Cited" in answers, and the usual position of your pages among search results. The first check sets the baseline for change alerts.
Week 2: Open access for OAI-SearchBot and clean up snippets
In week two, ensure OpenAI's search crawler can reach your HTML and extract a clean snippet. Per OpenAI's bot documentation (retrieved October 29, 2026), OpenAI runs separate crawlers with independent settings:
OAI-SearchBot(OAI-SearchBot/1.4; +https://openai.com/searchbot, IPs atopenai.com/searchbot.json) surfaces sites in ChatGPT search. Opted-out sites are excluded from search answers, though navigational links can still appear.GPTBot(GPTBot/1.4; +https://openai.com/gptbot, IPs atopenai.com/gptbot.json) crawls content that may be used to train generative AI foundation models. DisallowingGPTBotopts out of training without affecting search.ChatGPT-User(ChatGPT-User/1.0; +https://openai.com/bot, IPs atopenai.com/chatgpt-user.json) handles user actions in ChatGPT and Custom GPTs. It does not crawl automatically or affect search appearance, androbots.txtrules may not apply.OAI-AdsBot(OAI-AdsBot/1.0, IPs atopenai.com/adsbot.json) checks ad page safety and is required for advertisers, per OpenAI's October 19, 2026 guidance.
Allowing both OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot lets OpenAI use one crawl for both purposes, and ChatGPT search can take about 24 hours to adjust after a robots.txt change. Per OpenAI's October 2026 publisher FAQ, a URL blocked in robots.txt but learned via a third-party search provider may still show as a bare link and title; a crawler-readable noindex tag prevents that.
Test priority URLs with our free GEO audit (no account required, 5 audits/day). It fetches your page as OAI-SearchBot, rebuilds the title and roughly 200-character snippet ChatGPT keeps, looks the page up in ChatGPT, and scores it out of 100 on bot access, HTML text without JavaScript, menu or cookie text leaking into snippets, opening sentences, facts up front, noindex, and the sitemap.
Week 3: Build and upgrade the vendor pages ChatGPT actually cites
In week three, shift from generic blog articles to your pricing, product, and documentation pages to earn ChatGPT citations.
FoundByChat's October 2026 study of 4,203 labelled search results across 211 ChatGPT answers found a company's own pages were cited 20.1% of the time when retrieved, versus 3.9% for third-party pages about the company (13.1 odds ratio). ChatGPT cites your site as evidence about you.
| Page type | Share of retrieved pages cited | Study source |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor pricing pages | 51.2% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 4,203 results) |
| Vendor product pages | 28.4% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 4,203 results) |
| Docs and help pages | 23.0% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 4,203 results) |
| Vendor blog posts | 14.5% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 4,203 results) |
| Third-party listicles and reviews | 7.5% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 4,203 results) |
| "A vs B" comparison pages | 4.2% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 4,203 results) |
| PDFs | 0.4% | FoundByChat (Oct 2026, 4,203 results) |
Prioritize three updates on your domain:
- Put clear numbers and plan details in plain HTML on your pricing page.
- Rewrite core product page openings so the first 200 characters state facts up front without cookie banners or menus leaking into the snippet.
- Move key specs from PDFs (cited 0.4% when retrieved) into HTML docs and help pages (cited 23.0%).
Week 4: Get listed on the third-party pages ChatGPT cites and re-measure
In week four, get listed on the independent directories and review pages ranking atop ChatGPT's searches for your category. While your own pages provide product facts, in local tests, businesses listed on pages ChatGPT cited were more likely to be named in the answer.
In FoundByChat's October 2026 local tests, businesses on ChatGPT-cited pages had higher odds of being named in the answer: 3.3 times the odds for plumbers and 2.1 times for dentists (the 1.6x lift for agencies was not statistically significant). In the local tests, businesses listed on cited pages were more likely to be named in answers. See how to get recommended by ChatGPT. Skip Reddit threads: in our October 2026 study of 218 answers, Reddit was 28% of retrieved results, but only 2 of 2,462 citations.
At week four's end, review tracking. OpenAI's publisher FAQ notes ChatGPT clicks carry utm_source=chatgpt.com. In FoundByChat, check "Pages in ChatGPT's index" to inspect each URL's saved title and short snippet, and review email alerts for "New in the index", "Snippet changed", and "No search results" (triggered when ChatGPT returns no web results three checks in a row).
Common mistakes that stall a GEO strategy
- Blocking all AI bots. Blocking
OAI-SearchBotremoves you from ChatGPT search answers. - Publishing only blogs and "A vs B" comparisons. Retrieved vendor blogs are cited 14.5% of the time and comparisons 4.2%, versus 51.2% for pricing pages.
- Treating one check as proof. Never attribute citation changes to a page edit from one manual prompt.
FOUNDBYCHAT
Know the moment ChatGPT picks up your pages
We ask ChatGPT your questions every 2 hours and mail you what its index picked up or rewrote. Free to start: sign in with Google or an email link.
Questions
What is the difference between a GEO strategy and traditional SEO?
Traditional SEO focuses on ranking pages in search engine result lists for clicks, while a GEO strategy focuses on getting your pages retrieved in the top positions of AI web searches and cited as evidence in generated answers. In our October 2026 study, the result in position 1 of ChatGPT's first search was cited 55.5% of the time, compared with 0.4% at position 16 and lower.
Does blocking GPTBot hurt my ChatGPT search visibility?
No, blocking GPTBot tells OpenAI not to use your content for training foundation models, and OpenAI states that its bot settings are independent. To appear in ChatGPT search answers, you must allow OAI-SearchBot.
Why is my pricing page so important for ChatGPT search?
In FoundByChat's October 2026 study of 4,203 labelled search results, ChatGPT cited retrieved pages on a company's own site 20.1% of the time versus 3.9% for third-party pages about it. Retrieved vendor pricing pages had the highest citation rate among the page types reported, at 51.2%.
How do I track whether my GEO strategy is working in ChatGPT?
Filter your web analytics for referrals containing utm_source=chatgpt.com to see click traffic, as documented in OpenAI's publisher FAQ. FoundByChat checks ChatGPT search every 2 hours in English (US) or Dutch (Netherlands), recording whether pages are found or cited and alerting you to title or snippet changes.