Someone in Kuala Lumpur opens ChatGPT and types: “What’s a good accounting firm for a small business in PJ?”
ChatGPT thinks for two seconds and names three firms. One of them gets a call that afternoon.
How did it pick those three? Is it random? Is it advertising? Is it the same as Google ranking?
None of the above. Here’s what’s actually happening — and why it matters more than most Malaysian business owners realise.
ChatGPT Isn’t a Search Engine
The first thing to understand is that ChatGPT doesn’t work like Google.
Google crawls the web in real time, indexes pages, and ranks them based on hundreds of signals. When you search on Google, it’s looking at what’s live on the web right now and deciding what’s most relevant.
ChatGPT was trained on a large dataset of text from the internet — articles, websites, forums, directories, reviews, social media — up to a certain point in time. It learned patterns from all of that text. When you ask it a question, it’s not searching the web. It’s drawing on what it learned during training.
Think of it less like a search engine and more like a very well-read person. If you ask that person “who’s a good dentist in Bangsar?”, they’ll answer based on what they’ve read and heard. If your clinic was mentioned frequently, authoritatively, and consistently in places they read — they’ll know about you. If it wasn’t, they won’t.
That’s the mental model. Now let’s get into the specifics.
The Five Things ChatGPT Uses to Decide
1. How Often Your Business Is Mentioned
The most basic signal: frequency of mention.
If your business name appears across dozens of sources — your own website, Google reviews, industry directories, news articles, LinkedIn posts, local blogs — ChatGPT has encountered it many times during training. That repetition builds recognition.
A business that exists only on its own website, with no external mentions anywhere, is essentially invisible to ChatGPT. There’s nothing for it to have “learned” about you.
The lesson: your business needs to exist across the web, not just on your own domain.
2. Where You’re Mentioned
Not all mentions are equal.
A mention in a well-known business directory carries more weight than a mention on a random low-traffic blog. A review on a major platform carries more weight than a comment on an obscure forum. A news article in a recognised Malaysian publication carries significant weight.
ChatGPT’s training data wasn’t just a dump of every webpage — it was weighted toward credible, widely-read sources. The platforms that showed up frequently in its training data are the ones where mentions matter most.
For Malaysian businesses, this means: Google Business Profile reviews, LinkedIn, local directories, industry associations, and any media coverage are the most valuable places to have your name.
3. What Is Said About You
It’s not just that you’re mentioned — it’s how you’re described.
ChatGPT learns associations. If your accounting firm is consistently described as “reliable,” “good for SMEs,” “based in Petaling Jaya,” and “specialises in tax compliance,” ChatGPT builds an understanding of what you are and what you’re good at.
When someone asks “which accounting firm in PJ is good for small businesses?”, ChatGPT looks for businesses whose descriptions match the query. If yours does, you get named.
This is why how your website and online profiles describe your business matters enormously. Vague descriptions — “we provide comprehensive financial solutions” — don’t create strong associations. Specific, clear language does.
4. Whether Your Own Website Is Citable
When ChatGPT has encountered your website in its training data, it looks at whether your content clearly answers the kinds of questions people ask.
A website that says “Welcome to XYZ Clinic, we care about your health” gives ChatGPT almost nothing to work with. A website that clearly states what conditions you treat, what areas you serve, what your approach is, and why patients choose you — that’s content ChatGPT can actually use.
There’s a concept in AI optimisation called citability — how easy it is for an AI to quote or reference your content when answering a question. High-citable content is specific, well-structured, and directly answers real questions people ask.
Most Malaysian business websites have low citability. They were written to look good, not to be understood by AI.
5. Consistency Across Platforms
If your business name, address, phone number, and description are inconsistent across different platforms — different on your website, your Google profile, your Facebook page, and a local directory — that creates confusion.
AI systems have trouble reconciling conflicting information. When they can’t establish a clear, consistent picture of who you are, they default to recommending businesses whose information is clean and consistent.
This sounds mundane, but it’s a surprisingly common issue. A business that rebranded two years ago, changed location once, or uses slightly different trading names across platforms may have more inconsistency in its online footprint than it realises.
What ChatGPT Doesn’t Use
Just as important as what matters is what doesn’t.
Google Ads — buying Google ads has zero effect on whether ChatGPT recommends you. None. AI recommendations and paid search are completely separate systems. Google Search Central confirms that organic ranking signals and paid advertising operate through entirely independent systems.
Google ranking — ranking number one on Google doesn’t automatically make you visible to ChatGPT. They use different signals. You can dominate Google and still be invisible on ChatGPT.
How long you’ve been in business — ChatGPT doesn’t know your founding date unless it was mentioned somewhere in its training data. A newer business with strong online presence can appear before an older business with weak online presence.
Your website’s design or speed — beautiful, fast websites are good for user experience and Google rankings. They don’t directly affect ChatGPT recommendations.
The Gap Most Malaysian Businesses Have
Here’s the honest picture for most Malaysian SMEs right now.
Their website was built to rank on Google — keyword-heavy, maybe some backlinks, technically solid. Their social media is active on Instagram or Facebook. They have some Google reviews.
But:
- Their website content is vague and not structured to answer specific questions
- Their business is barely mentioned anywhere outside their own platforms
- Their information is inconsistent across platforms
- They’ve never thought about whether AI crawlers can access their site
- There’s no structured data telling AI exactly who they are and what they do
None of this was a problem when Google was the only channel. But it’s a significant gap now that AI recommendations are influencing real customer decisions every day.
The practice of fixing these gaps is called Generative Engine Optimisation — GEO. It’s what SeenBy Digital focuses on exclusively for Malaysian businesses: auditing exactly where your AI visibility gaps are, and closing them before your competitors do.
A Practical Example
Let’s make this concrete.
Two physiotherapy clinics in Subang Jaya. Similar services, similar Google rankings, similar price points.
Clinic A:
- Website clearly lists every condition treated, with specific language patients actually search for
- 80+ Google reviews, many mentioning specific treatments
- Listed on 12 local health directories
- Featured in two local health articles
- Consistent name, address, and description across all platforms
- Schema markup on website identifying it as a MedicalBusiness
Clinic B:
- Website is well-designed but uses generic language
- 25 Google reviews, mostly short (“great service!”)
- Listed on Google only
- No media mentions
- Slightly different trading name used on different platforms
When someone asks ChatGPT “best physiotherapy clinic in Subang Jaya,” Clinic A appears every time. Clinic B doesn’t appear at all.
Same quality of service. Very different AI visibility. Different number of new patient calls.
What You Can Do About It
If you want to improve how ChatGPT sees your business, the practical starting points are:
Rewrite your website content to directly answer the questions customers ask. Not marketing speak — real answers to real questions.
Build your presence on credible platforms — complete your Google Business Profile, list on industry directories, get active on LinkedIn if you’re B2B.
Collect more specific reviews — encourage customers to describe what you helped them with, not just leave a star rating.
Fix inconsistencies — make sure your business name, address, and description are identical everywhere.
Add structured data to your website — schema markup is a direct signal to AI systems about who you are, using an open vocabulary maintained at schema.org.
None of this is complicated. But it requires knowing specifically what your gaps are — which is different for every business.
The bottom line: ChatGPT doesn’t pick businesses randomly, and it’s not pay-to-play. It recommends businesses that have built a clear, consistent, authoritative presence across the web. That’s entirely within your control. The question is whether you act on it before the businesses in your category do.
Want to know exactly how ChatGPT currently sees your business — and what’s missing? Get your free GEO score from SeenBy Digital →