The short answer: ChatGPT names a business when it can find clear, consistent information about it and when other pages back that information up. Your competitor probably has more of that than you do. Nobody outside OpenAI can give you the exact reason, but you can check the usual suspects yourself in an afternoon, and most of them are fixable.
You asked ChatGPT for the best business in your line of work, and it gave you your competitor. Maybe a customer told you. Maybe you tried it yourself at eleven at night. Either way it stings, and it is a fair question.
I will be straight with you. Nobody can tell you exactly why an assistant picked one name over another. These tools do not publish their reasons. What we can do is look at what they have to work with, and compare you with the business they chose.
First, is it really just ChatGPT?
Before you worry, check the other assistants. In our own test on 30 October 2026, the same business was named very differently depending on the tool. SEO Smart was named in 2 of 60 ChatGPT answers, but in 19 of 60 Perplexity answers. Google’s AI answer named us in 3 of 60.
So if you only tested one assistant, you have a hint, not a result. Ask the same question on ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity, three times each, and write down who gets named. Our 30-minute AI test for Nairobi businesses shows you how.
Source: SEO Smart’s own test using DataForSEO, 30 October 2026. 30 questions, 3 runs each. Counts are answers to questions that did not contain our name, out of 60 per tool.
Why the assistant might prefer your competitor
These are the reasons I would check first, in the order I would check them. None of them is a guarantee. They are the places where a business usually falls behind.
- Their details are the same everywhere. Name, address and phone match on their website, their Google Business Profile and their directory listings. Yours may not. When the details disagree, an assistant has less reason to trust any of them.
- They have a page that answers the question. If a buyer asks, “who can fix a slow WordPress site in Kenya?”, the assistant looks for pages that answer exactly that. A competitor with one clear page on it has an edge over a business whose site only says “our services”.
- Other places mention them. Reviews, news pieces, directories and other sites that name them give the assistant more to go on.
- Their reviews describe the work. “Fixed our checkout in two days” tells an assistant something. “Great service” does not.
- Their site is easy to read. Pages that load fast, are open to crawlers and are clearly written are easier for a machine to use.
How big can the gap be?
Bigger than most owners expect. In our test, one agency was named in 79 answers across the whole run. You only see a gap like that when you write the answers down. Without the sheet, it just feels like “they come up a lot”.
That is useful, not scary. A gap you can count is a gap you can work on.
How to compare yourself with them
Do this once. It takes about an hour.
- Open their site next to yours. Look for a page that answers the buyer’s question. Do you have one?
- Check the details. Search for their name and your name. Do the address and phone look the same on every listing?
- Read their reviews and yours. Which ones say what was actually done?
- Ask the assistant why. Type, “Why did you recommend them?” It will not give you a perfect answer, but it often names the pages or facts it leaned on.
Then pick one gap and close it. Do not try to fix everything at once. If you are not sure which fix matters most, our guide on SEO, GEO and AEO and which to start with helps you choose.
What not to do
Do not pay anyone who promises to put you in ChatGPT’s answers. You cannot buy a place there. Do not fill your site with pages that repeat the same words either. It makes you harder to trust, not easier. We cover the common traps in five AI search myths Kenyan businesses believe.
Also, do not panic about a file such as llms.txt as the fix. Google has said you do not need special AI files to appear in its AI features. We explain this in do you need an llms.txt file.
How long until it changes?
I will not give you a date, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Answers shift from week to week. Change one or two things, wait a month, then ask the same questions again. That is how you will know whether it worked. For the full picture, start with how to know if AI recommends your business.
Key points
- Nobody outside the AI company can say exactly why a name was chosen, so treat any single claim with care.
- Test more than one assistant. In SEO Smart’s own test on 30 October 2026, ChatGPT named us in 2 of 60 answers and Perplexity in 19 of 60.
- Compare your site, your business details and your reviews with the competitor’s, side by side.
- Fix one gap at a time, then ask the same questions again after a month.
- You cannot pay to be named. You can make your business clearer and easier to trust.
Questions people ask
Why does ChatGPT keep recommending the same competitor?
Usually because their information is clearer and appears in more places. The assistant has more to work from. Compare their pages, listings and reviews with yours to find the difference.
Can I ask ChatGPT why it chose them?
You can, and it is worth trying. The answer is not a reliable explanation, but it often points to the pages or facts it used.
Does this mean my competitor is paying for it?
No. You cannot pay to be named in an assistant’s answer. A competitor who comes up often has usually just made themselves easier to find and trust.
Will fixing my website change the answer?
It can help, but nobody can promise it. Clear pages, matching business details and specific reviews are the sensible place to start.
How often should I check?
Once a month is enough. Use the same questions each time so you can compare.
Come and see where you stand
If you would like to know why AI names someone else, let us sit down together in Nairobi.
Bring the questions your customers ask before they buy. We will put them to the AI assistants in front of you, and you will see for yourself who gets named.
Mehul Shah, Founder and Managing Director, SEO Smart Limited
Mehul Shah is the Founder and Managing Director of SEO Smart Limited, a specialised SEO, GEO and AEO agency based in Kenya. With nearly 20 years of experience, Mehul helps agencies and businesses build scalable SEO strategies, performance-optimised websites, and conversion-driven content marketing frameworks.