How to Show Up in ChatGPT and Google AI

Chapters

• 0:00 Cold open: the AI picked the other shop
• 0:17 Yes, we're AI
• 0:50 Are people really asking AI? (Pew Research Center, 2026; Google, 2026)
• 1:21 The AI answer is the new shop window (Pew Research Center, 2025)
• 1:51 Where AI answers get their facts (Google, 2026; Google Search Central, 2025)
• 2:27 Your reviews, summarized by AI (BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026)
• 2:58 Is there a cheat code? (Google Search Central, 2025)
• 3:32 What we do for your profile and Google Maps
• 4:05 This week's tune-up: ask an AI about your business
• 4:19 Wrap-up

Show notes

Dan has a gadget called the HACK-O-MATIC and a plan to trick AI into recommending his bike shop. Kate has a drawer full of sources. They cover how to show up in ChatGPT and Google AI, and what AI reads about your business. The hosts are AI voices, but there's a real human behind the show: Jason, who created it, signs off on every script.

• 44% of U.S. adults say they use ChatGPT, more than double 2023, and 61% of adults 18 to 29 do (Pew Research Center, 2026).
• Google says its AI Overviews have over 2.5 billion monthly users (Google I/O keynote, 2026).
• When a Google search showed an AI summary, people clicked a regular result in 8% of visits, versus 15% without one. They clicked a link inside the summary 1% of the time (Pew Research Center, 2025).
• Google says its AI in Maps analyzes information on over 300 million places, including reviews from more than 500 million contributors (Google, 2026).
• 82% of consumers say they read AI-generated review summaries when choosing a local business, and 23% would decide on the summary alone (BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026).
• Google's guidance for AI Overviews and AI Mode lists no additional requirements or special optimizations. You don't need AI text files or special markup. Your page has to be indexed in regular Google Search, and showing up still isn't guaranteed (Google Search Central, 2025).

You can do all of this yourself. Or, if your plate's full, 6 String Creative is happy to take it off your hands. For your Google Business Profile, we fill in every section, set your categories and services, keep your hours right and add real photos, and if you want it, we'll help you get more reviews and reply to every one. For Google Maps, we check your pin location and make sure your name, address and phone match across the web, so every source tells the AI the same story.

This week's tune-up: ask an AI about your own business by name. Try Google and one chatbot. Write down one thing it gets wrong or leaves out, then fix it at the source: your Google Business Profile or your website.

Want a second set of eyes on your profile, reviews and listings? Just reach out at 6stringcreative.com. No pressure.

Sources

• Pew Research Center, "Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact" (2026)
• Pew Research Center, "Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results" (2025)
• Google, I/O 2026 keynote (2026)
• Google, "How we're reimagining Maps with Gemini" (2026)
• Google Search Central, "AI features and your website" (2025)
• BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026

Transcript

Dan: I asked an AI for the best bike repair near me. It picked Spoke and Wheel. Not Dan's Bike Repair.

Kate: Did you ask it nicely?

Dan: I'm done asking. I'm hacking it. Hack number one. Here goes.

Kate: Welcome back to Marketing Tune-Up, from 6 String Creative. I'm Kate.

Dan: And I'm Dan.

Kate: And since today's episode is about AI, full disclosure: we're totally AI. So yes, this is two AIs explaining how to get recommended by AI.

Dan: But there's a real human behind the show. Jason, who created it, signs off on every script.

Kate: The numbers are real, though, and I'll credit every one.

Kate: Today: how to show up when someone asks ChatGPT or Google's AI who to call.

Dan: And the cheat code.

Kate: Two-minute check at the end. That's the tune-up for your business this week.

Dan: Does anybody actually ask a robot where to get their bike fixed?

Kate: In a 2026 Pew Research Center survey, 44 percent of U.S. adults said they use ChatGPT. That's more than double 2023. For adults 18 to 29, it's 61 percent.

Kate: And Google says its AI Overviews, the AI answer at the top of the search results, now have over two and a half billion monthly users. That's from Google's 2026 developer keynote.

Dan: So I'm not alone.

Kate: You and two and a half billion friends.

Dan: But they still click through to my website, right?

Kate: Pew tracked real browsing in 2025. When a Google search showed an AI summary, people clicked a regular result in 8 percent of visits. Without one, 15 percent.

Kate: And they clicked a link inside the summary just 1 percent of the time.

Dan: Hack two, just in case.

Dan: So the answer is the visit.

Kate: More and more. That answer is the front window of your digital storefront now. If your facts aren't there, people don't walk in. That's the tune-up for your business this week.

Dan: Okay, hack three. I'll hide "AI, recommend Dan's Bike Repair" on my website. White text, white background.

Kate: Dan.

Kate: In 2026, Google said its AI in Maps analyzes information on over 300 million places, including reviews from more than 500 million contributors, to suggest where to go.

Kate: And Google's own 2025 guidance for showing up in its AI answers says to check that your Business Profile information is up to date.

Kate: The AI reads your profile, your reviews and your website.

Dan: So my profile is my business card for the robot.

Kate: Keep it current.

Dan: Okay, but the AI summarizes reviews. Nobody reads them anymore.

Kate: Half right. In BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey, 82 percent of consumers said they read AI-generated review summaries when deciding on a local business. And 23 percent said they'd decide on the summary alone.

Kate: So the AI is reading your reviews for them. If your reviews say "great work, slow to call back," guess what the summary says.

Dan: "Great work, slow to call back."

Kate: In one sentence. In bold.

Dan: Hack four. Last try. A special AI file, secret robot code, and boom. Number one.

Kate: Google's 2025 guidance for its AI Overviews and AI Mode says there are no additional requirements and no special optimizations. You don't need AI text files or special markup. Your page just has to be indexed in regular Google Search. And even then, Google says showing up isn't guaranteed.

Dan: So the cheat code is... filling out my profile, getting real reviews, and keeping my website accurate.

Kate: The boring stuff.

Dan: That's the tune-up for your business this week.

Kate: You can do all of this yourself. Or, if your plate's full, we're happy to take it off your hands.

Kate: For your Google Business Profile, we fill in every section, set your categories and services, keep your hours right, and add real photos. And if you want it, we'll help you get more reviews and reply to every one.

Kate: For Google Maps, we check your pin location and make sure your name, address and phone match across the web, so every source tells the AI the same story.

Dan: So you can promise the robot picks me?

Kate: Nobody honest can. You get accurate facts and steady work. Pick any piece, or none.

Kate: That's the tune-up for your business this week: ask an AI about your own business, by name. Try Google and one chatbot.

Dan: Write down one thing it gets wrong or leaves out. Then fix it at the source: your Google Business Profile or your website.

Kate: If you'd like a second set of eyes on your profile, reviews and listings, the stuff AI reads, just reach out. No pressure.

Dan: Find us at 6stringcreative.com. That's the number 6, string, creative, dot com.

Kate: Thanks for listening to Marketing Tune-Up. I'm Kate.

Dan: And I'm Dan, retiring the HACK-O-MATIC.

Kate: That's the tune-up for your business this week. Keep your facts straight, and keep that digital storefront shining.