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Your Window Is Open (But Not For Long) Right now, if you ask ChatGPT to recommend a chiropractor in most cities, it stammers. It hedges. It gives generic advic
Right now, if you ask ChatGPT to recommend a chiropractor in most cities, it stammers. It hedges. It gives generic advice about "checking reviews" instead of actual names.
That's your opportunity.
Most businesses still think AI search is "coming eventually." They're wrong. It's here. But the training wheels are still on. AI assistants don't have confident answers for most local searches yet.
The businesses that get positioned now—before AI has strong opinions—will own their categories for years. Not because they're better. Because they were first.
Here's why starting today gives you a 12-month head start your competitors can't overcome.
AI doesn't wake up one day and suddenly know you're great. It builds confidence over time.
Think of it like this: When ChatGPT sees your business mentioned once, you're a data point. Mentioned five times across different sources? You're a pattern. Mentioned consistently for six months with fresh reviews and educational content? You're an authority.
That's the moat. Not better marketing. Just more time in the system.
Our clients typically see their first AI mentions around 30-60 days. But dominance—being the default recommendation—takes longer.
Here's what we see consistently:
A med spa owner in Phoenix started creating AI-optimized content in March. By September, she was the only business ChatGPT recommended by name for "Botox in Phoenix." Two competitors launched content efforts in August. They're still not mentioned.
That's not because her content is better. It's because AI trusts patterns it's observed for months, not weeks.
You can't trick your way into AI recommendations. You have to actually become authoritative. But "authoritative" has a specific meaning to AI systems.
ChatGPT can't recommend what it can't read. If your website is just service pages and contact forms, you're invisible.
AI looks for content that answers real questions. Not "Why Choose Us" pages. Actual helpful information.
When someone asks Perplexity "how often should I get adjusted by a chiropractor," it scans thousands of sources. If you've written a genuinely helpful article about adjustment frequency, you're in the running. If you haven't, you're not.
Start here:
A fitness studio owner published 20 articles over five months about workout programming, recovery, and nutrition. Now when ChatGPT gets asked about personal training in Austin, it cites three of her articles as sources and recommends her studio by name.
Her competitor has a beautiful website with zero blog content. ChatGPT doesn't know they exist.
Google taught us that links matter. AI learned the same lesson, but it's pickier about sources.
When a local news site mentions you, AI notices. When you're featured in an industry publication, that's a trust signal. When multiple independent sources reference your expertise, AI concludes you matter.
You can't fake this layer. You have to actually get mentioned on sites that AI considers authoritative.
Practical approaches:
An insurance agent got quoted in three local news articles about flood insurance after a major storm. Six weeks later, Perplexity started citing him as a flood insurance expert and recommending his agency.
His direct competitor spent $8,000 on Facebook ads during the same period. ChatGPT has never mentioned them.
AI doesn't recommend dormant businesses. It looks for signs you're currently operating and serving customers.
For local businesses, that means recent Google Business Profile activity and fresh reviews. For eCommerce brands, it's updated product information and current customer feedback.
Those 47 five-star reviews from 2019? They prove you were good. They don't prove you're still in business.
Maintenance required:
When Meta AI evaluates businesses, timestamp matters. A business with 15 reviews in the past three months beats a business with 200 reviews from three years ago.
Here's the part that makes this a real moat: AI systems weight consistency over time.
If you've published helpful content every week for six months, you've established a pattern. AI sees you as a reliable information source.
A competitor who starts tomorrow can match your content quality. They can match your publishing frequency. But they can't match your history.
Even if they do everything perfectly, they're six months behind. And if you keep going, they never catch up—they just run in parallel.
This is fundamentally different from paid ads, where a competitor with a bigger budget can outspend you tomorrow. It's different from traditional SEO, where a site with more domain authority can outrank you immediately.
Time-based authority is more defensible than either.
Right now, most industries have zero businesses doing AI optimization properly. Maybe one or two attempting it.
That won't last.
We're seeing adoption follow a predictable pattern. Early adopters start seeing results. Their competitors notice. Within 12-18 months, the category gets crowded.
In competitive markets like real estate and dentistry, we're already seeing this. The realtors who started building content in early 2024 now dominate AI recommendations. The ones starting in late 2025 are fighting for scraps.
In less saturated markets like specialty retail or B2B services, you still have runway. But it's shrinking.
The question isn't whether your competitors will eventually figure this out. They will. The question is whether you'll have a six-month head start when they do.
You don't need a massive content operation to start building your moat. You need consistency.
Here's the minimum effective dose:
Do that for 90 days and you'll see your name start appearing in AI recommendations. Do it for six months and you'll be difficult to displace. Do it for a year and you'll own your category.
Or wait six months to see if this "AI thing" is real. Your competitors will thank you for the head start.
Want to test whether AI currently recommends you? Open ChatGPT and ask it to recommend a business in your category in your city. If you're not mentioned by name, you're invisible to the fastest-growing discovery channel in history.
The businesses that fix that this month will still be reaping the benefits three years from now.
Most businesses see their first AI mentions around 30-60 days after starting optimization efforts. However, becoming the dominant or default recommendation typically takes 5-6 months of consistent content creation and authority building.
AI systems prioritize consistency over time, not just content quality. Even if a competitor matches your content quality and publishing frequency, they can't replicate your historical pattern of authority, leaving them months behind permanently.
The minimum effective approach is one comprehensive blog post per week answering real customer questions, weekly Google Business Profile updates with review responses, and one third-party mention per month. Consistency over 90 days is more important than volume.
Not significantly. AI systems prioritize recent activity and fresh signals that prove you're currently operating. A business with 15 reviews in the past three months typically outperforms one with 200 reviews from three years ago.
Simply open ChatGPT or similar AI assistants and ask them to recommend a business in your category and city. If your business isn't mentioned by name, you're currently invisible to this growing discovery channel.