How to help ChatGPT and AI discover your products: a business owner’s guide
- Manelik Sfez
- Aug 25
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 28
Strange as it sounds, a fastest-growing search in 2025 is “help ChatGPT discover your products.” It shows how business owners are thinking in plain words: if customers now ask AI first, how do I make sure my company shows up?
The answer isn’t as simple as pressing a “submit” button. OpenAI recently introduced a function that lets businesses feed structured product data into ChatGPT (we provide the link at the end of this article). That’s progress, but it doesn’t guarantee your business will be mentioned, trusted, or recommended.
Other AI models don’t even offer that kind of feature. They rely on what they can understand from the web, your ecosystem, and your digital signals. Which means that if your products aren’t structured and consistent online, AI won’t discover them and clients never will either.
This guide explains what’s new, how different AI systems handle product discovery, and what you need to do today to stay visible.
Why product discovery in AI matters
AI is now the first “reader” of your business. People don’t browse search results the way they did a decade ago, they ask an assistant and receive a single answer.
If ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity can’t find your business in their data, you don’t lose to competitors, you disappear before the client even sees you. That’s why product discovery inside AI is becoming as fundamental as having a website was twenty years ago.
How to help ChatGPT discover your products today
ChatGPT uses a web crawler called OAI-SearchBot to find, access, and surface information in its search. OpenAI’s new feature lets you submit structured product information directly to ChatGPT. In plain terms, it gives the AI a cleaner feed about what you sell. That’s a step forward, but it doesn’t replace the need for a broader strategy.
Here’s why:
ChatGPT doesn’t act like a directory. It interprets data and chooses what to include in an answer.
It cross-checks with other signals: your website, schema markup, trusted listings, reviews.
If your product information is inconsistent or incomplete, the AI simply ignores it.
So yes, you can help ChatGPT discover your products with this new function. But discovery isn’t the same as recommendation. That requires clarity, trust, and authority.
Do other AI models offer the same?
Right now, most don’t. Claude reads context from the open web but has no “product feed.” Google Gemini connects AI Overviews with Google Merchant Center, leaning on Google’s long retail ecosystem. Perplexity and You.com crawl and aggregate but don’t let businesses upload structured data directly. In other words: ChatGPT’s feature is new, but the rule is old. AI models prioritize what they can understand. And if your data isn’t structured, they won’t see you.
The bigger picture: Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was about keywords and backlinks. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is about structure and semantics, making your business understandable to machines.
That means:
Schema markup for products, offers, and organization.
Consistent naming, pricing, and descriptions across your ecosystem.
A clean, integrated infrastructure instead of scattered plugins and tools.
AEO ensures you’re not just present online, but present in the data layer that AI actually reads.
GEO: two meanings you need to know
You may see the acronym GEO used in two different ways:
Generative Engine Optimization → optimizing content so generative AI can reuse it in answers. In reality, this overlaps with AEO.
Geographic Engine Optimization → ensuring AI understands where you are, not just what you sell.
For local businesses, the second definition matters most. If a user asks for the “best dentist in Geneva,” AI pulls from local structured data, business listings, and consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) details. If that information is missing or messy, you’re invisible even if your website looks great.
Practical steps to make your products AI-discoverable
Step 1: Structure your product data
Use schema markup and product feeds. Keep naming and descriptions identical across your website, social media, and listings. This is the first step if you want to help ChatGPT discover your products.
Step 2: Create a clean ecosystem
A site patched with dozens of plugins confuses AI. A modern, integrated system (website + CRM + automations) makes your business easier to interpret.
Step 3: Build trust signals
AI favors products with reliable signals: consistent reviews, credible backlinks, and mentions in trusted sources.
Step 4: Monitor and adapt
Regularly test discoverability: ask ChatGPT if it knows your products. Update your data frequently. AI punishes outdated or inconsistent information.
Common mistakes that make you invisible
Writing for keywords instead of structure.
Using fragmented tools that don’t connect.
Inconsistent product naming or descriptions across channels.
Ignoring structured data altogether.
These mistakes don’t just hurt SEO, they erase you from AI’s perspective entirely.
What’s next: AI search is your new marketplace
Helping AI discover your products is not optional. Whether you call it AEO, GEO, or AI discoverability, the reality is clear: if machines can’t read you, humans won’t find you. Businesses that adapt now will own the space while others scramble. Those that delay risk vanishing, not because they failed, but because they never even appeared.
Final word
You don’t need conspiracy theories to explain why companies vanish in 2025. You need structure, clarity, and systems that AI can read. And if you want to submit your products or services to OpenAI's OAI-SearchBot to find, access, and surface information in ChatGPT search, click here.
About the author
Manelik Sfez, founder of the Swiss brand consultancy Ultrabrand, brings 25 years of international business, marketing, and brand strategy experience to the table. He has worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands throughout his career. From luxury goods to global retail, financial services and technological and industry giants, he has guided companies through brand-led transformations that have enabled significant business growth.
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