To be recommended by ChatGPT or cited in Google’s AI Overviews, these tools need to find, read and confirm your details across several sources. That means a website with clear answers, a complete Google Business Profile, genuine reviews and the same business details everywhere. There is no listing to submit and no “add me” button.

A German visitor in Heraklion no longer just types “taverna Heraklion” into Google. They ask their phone: “Where can we eat fresh fish near Heraklion, not touristy, with kids?” They get an answer with three names. If yours is not one of them, you never even make the shortlist.

What is changing in search in 2026

Google more and more often shows an AI-written answer above the normal results (AI Overviews), and it also has a separate conversational mode (AI Mode). At the same time, many travellers plan their trip directly in ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity.

Two things matter for a business in Crete:

  • General questions lose clicks. When someone asks “what is SEO” or “when is it hot in Crete”, they get the answer without clicking any link.
  • Local questions with buying intent lose far less. “Villa with a pool near Chania for 6 people” or “car hire at Heraklion airport” often end in a short list of businesses. That is where you want to be.

The name for this work is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). In practice it is good SEO and good local marketing, with a few extra details.

Where do AI tools get their information?

They don’t “know” your business. They read what is public and combine the sources:

  • Your website: what you do, where, for whom, at what prices, with what opening hours.
  • Your Google Business Profile: category, address, hours, photos, reviews. For local questions Google leans heavily on it.
  • Reviews and platforms: Google, TripAdvisor, Booking, Airbnb. What guests write matters, not only the stars. A review that says “quiet place, perfect for families” helps you get recommended to families.
  • Mentions on other sites: local blogs, travel guides, articles, associations, directories.

When ChatGPT searches the web, it draws on search engines, including Bing. So it is worth making sure your site is indexed there too, not only on Google.

7 moves that make a difference

1. Answer the question in the first lines

Every important page should say at the start, in 2-3 sentences, what it is, where it is and who it is for. Not “Welcome to paradise”. Something like: “Family taverna in Stalida, 50 metres from the sea. Fresh fish and Cretan cooking, open April to October from 12:00.” An AI tool can use that sentence as it is.

2. Write down your customers’ questions, in their words

What do people ask you on the phone and in messages? “Do you have parking?”, “Are dogs allowed?”, “How far is the airport?”. Use those questions as headings or in a FAQ section, with short, specific answers. That is exactly what AI tools look for.

3. Complete your Google Business Profile

The right primary category, opening hours (including seasonal ones), services, attributes (wheelchair access, pets, Wi-Fi) and recent photos. Our guide to setting up your Google Business Profile covers it step by step, and the Google profile check shows what is missing.

4. Keep your details the same everywhere

Name, address, phone, opening hours: identical on your website, Google, Facebook, Booking and TripAdvisor. When sources disagree, AI tools are less sure about you and pick someone else.

5. Add structured data (schema)

Structured data is code on your site that tells search engines “this is a restaurant, here is the address, these are the hours”. For tourism businesses the most useful types are LocalBusiness (or Restaurant, Hotel, LodgingBusiness) and FAQPage. You can create the code with our structured data generator.

6. Speak your visitors’ language

French travellers ask in French, Germans in German. If your site only exists in Greek, or has a rough automatic translation, it will rarely appear in those answers. See how to build a proper multilingual website for tourism.

7. Ask for reviews that say something specific

After the stay or the meal, send a review link and ask guests to mention what they enjoyed. Reply to every review, including the negative ones. Never buy reviews: it breaks Google’s rules and can cost you your profile.

Don’t lock the door by accident

Some sites block every AI bot in robots.txt, often through a security plugin or a hosting setting. For a business that wants customers, that is usually a mistake:

  • OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT search) and PerplexityBot: if you block them, your site cannot appear as a source in their answers.
  • Google-Extended: controls only the training of Gemini models. It does not affect Google Search or AI Overviews.

Also add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools and submit your sitemap. It takes ten minutes and helps with Copilot and ChatGPT.

How to measure whether it works

  1. Test it yourself. Once a month, ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity 5-10 questions your customers would ask, in English and in the languages of your main markets. Note whether you appear and which competitors do.
  2. Google Analytics: in your traffic sources, look for chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot.microsoft.com. The numbers are still small, but these visitors often arrive ready to book.
  3. Search Console: impressions from AI Overviews count in the normal performance report. If a page has many impressions and few clicks, rewrite its opening so it answers better and gives a reason to click (price, availability, booking).

For a quick view of where you stand overall, try the online presence score.

What you don’t need

  • Hundreds of AI-written articles. Generic content without your own experience does not set you apart, and Google recognises it.
  • Special “AI packages” with guarantees. Nobody controls what ChatGPT will answer tomorrow.
  • To forget traditional SEO. If you don’t show up on Google, you will rarely show up in AI Overviews. Start with the basics of local SEO.

Want us to check where you stand?

We do SEO and build websites for businesses in Crete, Greece and Cyprus, with this structure built in from day one. If you would like us to test what AI tools say about your business and tell you what is missing, send us a message.