Show up in ChatGPT as an accounting firm

Before you change anything, see what it answers today

Ask ChatGPT what a client would ask, without naming your firm:

• “Which accountant would you recommend for a freelancer in your city?”
• “Online accountant or local accountant for a small limited company?”
• “What do I need to register as self-employed?”

Note the date, whether you appear, who it names and which sites it cites. That note is your starting point: without it, you will not know later whether anything changed. If you would rather not do it by hand, the free check asks ChatGPT and Gemini about your sector and shows you what they answer.

1. Let ChatGPT read your website

OpenAI uses OAI-SearchBot to show websites in ChatGPT search, and says that sites that block it are not shown in its search answers. GPTBot is a different crawler, for training models, and is decided separately. If your robots.txt blocks “all AI bots”, check that you are not shutting out search as well:

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

Google, for its part, says nothing special is needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode: the page has to be indexed, the important content has to be in text and robots.txt has to allow crawling.

2. One page per service (template)

“What does it include?” is answered by a page per service, not a list on the home page. Copy this structure and fill it in with your own details:

[Service] for [type of client] in [city or area]

What we do: [one sentence, no adjectives].
Who it is for: [freelancers without staff, freelancers with staff, companies…].
What it includes: [quarterly taxes, payroll, bookkeeping, annual accounts…].
What it does not include: [what is charged separately or not done].
How we work: [how you send us documents, who looks after you, when we reply].
What you need to start: [documents].
What it costs: [a range and what it depends on, or “a fixed quote before we start”].
Who handles it: [name, qualification and, if any, professional body].
Last reviewed: [date].

Answer in the first lines and write the way you talk to a client. Google’s helpful content guide asks whether it is clear who wrote the content and whether it was written or reviewed by someone who knows the topic well: for an accounting firm, that means putting names on it.

3. One page per area, only if you serve it (template)

If you serve several areas, a page per area helps answer “accountant in neighbourhood”. But only with real content about that area: Google calls pages created for specific cities that only change the name doorway pages, and treats them as spam.

Accountants in [neighbourhood or city]

Where we serve: [real address, or “we serve clients in [area] remotely” if you have no office there].
Who we serve here: [shops, restaurants, professionals…].
Local procedures we handle: [licences, council paperwork…].
Opening hours and how to find us: [real details].
Who looks after you: [name].

Google Business Profile guidelines ask for a precise address or a service area, and for a business that serves customers at their locations to have one profile for its central office with a designated service area. Do not invent offices.

4. Buying FAQs (template)

The questions asked before hiring are not support questions. Publish the answers as visible text, one per question:

Is there a minimum term? [Yes or no, and how the service ends].
How do I switch from another firm? [What you do and what the client does].
Who will keep my books? [Name or team, and how to reach them].
What happens if the tax office sends me a request? [What is included and what is not].
Is payroll included? [Yes, no, or from when].
How fast do you reply? [What you actually deliver].

5. Structured data that tells the truth (template)

Schema.org has a type for accounting firms, AccountingService, and Google asks you to use the most specific LocalBusiness subtype possible, with at least a name and an address. Fill in only what is also visible on the page: Google asks for structured data to match the visible text.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "AccountingService",
  "name": "[exact name, the same as on Google and on your door]",
  "url": "[your website]",
  "telephone": "[phone]",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "[street and number]",
    "addressLocality": "[city]",
    "postalCode": "[postcode]",
    "addressCountry": "[country code]"
  }
}
</script>

Do not add ratings, awards or details that are not on the page.

6. Be the same firm everywhere

Google asks that your profile’s name be the one you use on your storefront, your website and with your clients, and that categories not be used as keywords. Run the same check on your website, your Business Profile, LinkedIn, your professional body if you belong to one and the directories where you appear:

• Exact name, with nothing added.
• Address or service area.
• Phone and website.
• The same sentence about what you do and for whom.
• Services named as on your website.

7. An honest answer in a forum (template)

When someone asks on Reddit or in a forum which accountant to choose, you can answer. Reddit’s rules ask you to participate authentically, not to spam and not to mislead others about who you are; each community also has its own rules, worth reading first.

I work at [firm name], so bear that in mind.

[The answer to what they asked, useful even if they never hire us: the deadline,
the document they need, what to ask any accountant.]

If it helps, we explain it in more detail here: [link to the specific page].

No fake profiles, no asking for votes and no pasting the same answer into many threads.

8. Asking for a mention (email template)

Look at which sites ChatGPT cites when you do not appear: directories, local media, “how to choose an accountant” guides. There you can ask them to correct a detail or to consider you, offering something useful:

Subject: A detail for [article title]

Hi [name],

I am [your name], from [firm], in [city]. I have read [article title] ([link]).

[Choose one:]
- The figure on [topic] has changed: it is now [correct detail], according to [linked official source].
- If it helps, we can contribute [a guide, an explanation or a specific example] for the part on [topic].

We are not asking for anything in return. If there were ever a payment or a commercial collaboration, it would be disclosed as such.

Thanks,
[name, role, website]

If money changes hands, say so. Google asks for paid links to be marked with rel="sponsored" or nofollow and treats buying links for ranking as spam.

What you do not need, and what does not work

• Special files or markup. Google says they are not needed for its AI features.
• Rewriting the site “for AI”. Write for the person asking; it is the same text.
• Bought reviews, fake profiles or cloned area pages. They break the platforms’ rules and expose you.

Afterwards, ask again

Repeat the same questions a few weeks later and compare them with your note, answer by answer. If something changes, it coincides with what you did, but it does not prove that it caused it: AI answers also change on their own.

What this guide does not say

This guide gives no result figures and no client cases: we have none published for this sector and we will not invent them. Following it does not guarantee that you appear either. What it says about ChatGPT, Google and Reddit comes from their own documentation, linked in the sources.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get ChatGPT to recommend my accounting firm?

Nobody can guarantee it: each assistant decides what it cites. What does depend on you is that its search can read your website, that your pages answer what your clients ask and that the sites the AI already cites describe you correctly.

Do I need an llms.txt file or special markup?

Not for Google’s AI features: Google says no special files or markup are needed. For ChatGPT search, what counts according to OpenAI is not blocking OAI-SearchBot. No major assistant has confirmed that it uses llms.txt to choose answers: its effect is not proven.

Should I create a page for every city?

Only for the areas you really serve, with content of their own. Google calls pages created for specific cities that only change the name doorway pages, and treats them as spam.

Can I answer on Reddit or in forums as my firm?

Yes, if you say who you are and answer the question. Reddit’s rules ask you to participate authentically, not to spam and not to mislead others about who you are.