How to get your moving company recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI
AI tools recommend the movers they can find and verify across the web: a website they can read, a complete Google Business Profile, steady reviews, and mentions on other sites. We know of no form or paid placement that gets you recommended. A moving company we work with went from not mentioned to recommended by name in ChatGPT and Gemini by doing ordinary SEO well.
What happened
When we started, asking ChatGPT or Gemini for the best movers in this company's city returned a list that did not include it. Months later the company is named in the answer on both. We have screenshots of each.
Here is the part most agencies would leave out. We have not yet measured this in analytics. What we have is the owner telling us that callers now say ChatGPT sent them, which was not happening before. Tracking is the next step. We'd rather tell you that than show you a number we can't back up.
What AI tools read
- Your website, as plain text. ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity mostly cannot run JavaScript. If your services and prices only appear after scripts load, those tools see an empty page.
- Your Google Business Profile. Google has said its AI features pull directly from business profiles. Your business name should match your website exactly.
- What other sites say about you. For questions like "best movers near me," most of what AI cites comes from third-party sites, not from the business itself. Reviews, local news, associations and directories all count.
- Prices and policies. When a business publishes no pricing, AI tools go to third parties for it. Publish at least a range.
What we did
Nothing exotic. We rebuilt the site with every service, price range and answer in plain text on the page. We wrote pages that answer the questions people ask before they hire a mover. We completed the Google Business Profile, kept reviews coming, and published one or two articles a week. Google's own guidance says AI search runs on its normal ranking systems and that there is no special file or trick. That matches what we saw: the AI mentions followed the search rankings.
How to check your own company
Ask the question the way a customer would: "Who are the best movers in" and your city. Then ask it again, several times, on different days. AI answers change from one run to the next, so a single check tells you very little. Count how often you appear out of ten tries, and write it down so you can compare next month.
What doesn't work
- An llms.txt file. Google does not use it, and a large study found almost none of these files are ever read.
- Hidden instructions written for AI. Google calls these abuse, and Microsoft is working to block them.
- A "best movers in town" list that ranks yourself first. AI tools have started skipping these.
- A separate page for every possible question. Google classes this as spam. A few thorough pages beat a hundred thin ones.
Common questions
How do I add my moving company to ChatGPT?
We know of no form that gets a business recommended. ChatGPT builds its answers from what it finds on the web, so the way in is a readable website, a complete Google Business Profile, steady reviews and mentions on other sites.
How do I get my company to show up in AI searches?
Rank in regular search first. Google says its AI features use the same ranking systems, and sites that lose search rankings tend to lose AI citations too. Then make sure your prices and services are in plain text on your site and that other sites mention you.
Does AI search replace Google for movers?
Not yet. Published studies still show AI tools sending a small share of the traffic Google search sends. It is growing, and the work that earns AI recommendations is the same work that earns Google rankings, so you don't have to choose.
Keep reading
- How to market a moving companyThe six places moving jobs come from, the order we work them in, and the numbers from doing it for a real moving company.
- Moving company SEO: how one mover went from page 3 to page 1The five steps that moved a moving company from page 3 to page 1 on Google in about 60 days with no ad spend, and what SEO costs.
- Google Business Profile for movers: the setup that gets callsWhich Google Business Profile settings actually affect where a moving company ranks in Maps, which don't, and the address rules movers get wrong.
- Buying moving leads vs building your own marketingAn honest comparison of buying moving leads and building your own website, rankings and reviews: speed, cost, who owns what, and when each makes sense.
- How much does moving company marketing cost?Published agency prices for moving company marketing in 2026, what you should get at each level, and the questions to ask before you sign.
- Slow season marketing for moving companiesWhat to do when the phones go quiet: the past-customer email that booked about 30 jobs from 589 sends, commercial outreach, and the foundation work winter is for.
- What's changing in moving company marketingPlain-spoken articles for moving company owners on how customers find movers now, why old marketing stopped working, and what to do this year.