How to Get AI to Recommend Your Business as the Expert
Personal branding just got a shortcut. AI is now repeating what businesses say about themselves as though it’s established fact and the businesses showing up in those answers aren’t always the most qualified.
They’re just the ones who understood how to get AI to recommend your business before their competitors did.
Here’s the honest version of how it’s happening, adapted for the Australian market.
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Sasha Kaluar
Digital marketing expert
Fair warning first
Every tactic below gets easier the smaller your niche is. In something crowded and SEO-savvy say, digital marketing itself you’re up against people who already know every trick. In a niche where nobody’s paying attention, this is almost too easy.
Tactic 1: A well-optimised LinkedIn profile, backed by a well-phrased post
LinkedIn posts get pulled into AI Overviews constantly, because LinkedIn is exactly the kind of user-generated platform Google trusts as a source.
The formula that works: a founder states their positioning claim plainly, in the first line of a post something like “Australia’s leading voice on [X].”
That claim only sticks if the LinkedIn profile backs it up: a headline using the same language, a work history that reinforces it, a consistent posting habit, and a real, engaged following. Take any one of those away and the claim looks hollow to readers and to the algorithm.
Relevance + a platform Google trusts + an authoritative profile on that platform = a claim that starts showing up in AI answers.
Tactic 2: Press releases, distributed properly
A modest press release naming your business as a category leader can be enough to shift how AI describes you provided it’s distributed through a source Google actually trusts.
In Australia, that means outlets like Medianet or a distribution service that lands your release on recognised finance and news sites, not just a low-authority PR blog. The releases that stick around longest also pick up a handful of backlinks pointing back to them that’s what keeps them ranking for months instead of weeks.
Three levels of impact, roughly in order:
- Highest impact: a relevant release on a genuinely authoritative site, with backlinks pointing to it.
- Mid impact: a relevant release on a solid site, no extra backlinks.
- Lower impact but still useful: a cheaper release every month or two, so a new one is always live by the time the last one fades. Several distribution services offer bulk packages that work out far cheaper per release than paying for a premium one-off placement.
Tactic 3: Build the case on your own site, then talk about it
If you’ve already got a website with some SEO history, you don’t need anyone else’s permission. Write the article yourself — “Why [Your Business] Leads [Category] in Australia” — structure it properly with clear headings, and back the claim up with real detail rather than hype. Then post about it. If the underlying site has authority, that combination is often enough for the claim to become the answer Google (and AI) gives.
Tactic 4: Self-promotional listicles done honestly
For more competitive searches, a listicle on your own site “The Best [Category] in [Your City], 2026” — genuinely works, provided you don’t abuse it.
A few rules that keep it credible rather than spammy and on the right side of the ACCC’s rules on substantiating claims:
- Use this format sparingly. One or two listicles, not a strategy built entirely on them.
- Be upfront that you’re on the list, and say plainly why you believe you’ve earned the spot.
- Give every business on the list roughly equal space. Don’t bury competitors in one line while giving yourself three paragraphs.
- Write it straight. No hyperbole, no “revolutionary,” no exclamation marks doing the persuading for you.
Tactic 5: Stack them to get AI to recommend your business faster
The tactics compound when they point at each other:
- A self-promotional listicle on your site naming your business among the best.
- A press release referencing the same claim, distributed properly.
- Social posts linking to both some to the article, some to the release.
Each piece reinforces the others, and together they give Google (and AI) several independent-looking signals pointing at the same conclusion.
Why this actually matters
Right now, someone is asking Google or ChatGPT to recommend a business exactly like yours. If they don’t know you exist, or don’t know why you’re credible, that recommendation goes to whoever showed up first not necessarily whoever deserved it most.
Getting this right isn’t about tricking anyone. It’s about making sure the credibility you’ve already earned is legible to the systems now doing the recommending on your customers’ behalf.
The short version: to get AI to recommend your business, you need relevance, a platform AI trusts, and a profile or page with enough authority to back the claim up then you repeat that signal across a few channels until it compounds.
Want this built for your business?
SAEIGHT helps Australian businesses turn this into an actual strategy auditing where you currently show up in AI search, building the content and profile signals that support it, and tracking whether it’s working.
