How to get recommended by ChatGPT in Lebanon
Updated October 8, 2026 · 5 min read
More and more people in Lebanon ask ChatGPT instead of Google: “best dentist in Achrafieh”, “where to have brunch in Batroun”, “a good marketing agency in Beirut”. The AI doesn't show ten links. It names three to five businesses. If yours isn't one of them, that customer never hears about you. Here is how AI assistants choose, and what you can do about it this month.
How ChatGPT decides who to recommend
When someone asks for a local recommendation, ChatGPT (like Gemini, Claude and Perplexity) usually searches the web first, reads a handful of pages, and then writes an answer that names the businesses those pages agree on. It doesn't pick at random and it can't be paid to include you.
So the question is not “how do I trick the AI?” but “what does the web say about my business, and can the AI read it?”. AI assistants favour businesses that are:
- Easy to read: a website the AI's crawlers are allowed to visit, with the name, category, area, contact details and services written in plain text.
- Mentioned by others: review sites, directories, local news, “best of” lists, social media pages and Google reviews that name you.
- Consistent: the same name, address and phone number everywhere, in English, Arabic and French.
- A clear match for the question: pages that say exactly what you do and where (“pediatric dentist in Achrafieh”, not just “clinic”).
Step 1: Find out what AI says about you today
Before changing anything, ask the AI the questions your customers ask, the way they ask them. Try a few phrasings, in the languages your customers use, and note who gets named. Do it more than once: answers change from one question to the next.
This is exactly what BeenPicked does for you: it asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity your customers' questions several times, then shows how often you're named, in what position, which competitors are named instead, and which websites the AI relied on.
Step 2: Let AI read your website
Many Lebanese websites block AI without knowing it, through a firewall setting, a “block bots” option on the hosting, or a robots.txt file written years ago. Check that these crawlers are allowed:
- OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User (ChatGPT search and browsing),
- Googlebot (Google Search and AI Overviews) and Google-Extended (Gemini),
- ClaudeBot, Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User and PerplexityBot.
Then make sure your key information is in the page itself, not only inside images, PDFs or menus that need JavaScript: business name, what you do, the area you serve, opening hours, phone/WhatsApp and address.
BeenPicked's website check tests 15 of these points in under a minute (AI crawlers, firewall, content without JavaScript, business details, speed and more), and shows the top 3 problems for free.
Step 3: Complete your Google Business Profile
Gemini and Google's AI Overviews lean heavily on Google's own data, and other assistants often cite Google Maps listings too. Fill in every field: the exact category, services, areas served, hours (including holidays), photos, and a description that says what you do in plain words. Answer the questions people post there.
Step 4: Be on the pages AI quotes
Look at the sources the AI cites when it recommends your competitors. In Lebanon these are often review platforms (Google, TripAdvisor), Facebook and Instagram pages, local news and lifestyle sites, and “top 10” articles. Then work on being present there:
- ask happy customers for a review that mentions what they bought and where (“best manakish in Hamra”),
- make sure your listings on directories and booking sites are complete and up to date,
- pitch a story or a useful tip to local media and bloggers who already write about your field,
- keep your social pages public, with the same name, address and phone number as your website.
Step 5: Use one name, in three languages
Lebanese customers write your name in English, Arabic and French, and sometimes in Arabizi. If your website says “Furn Zeitouna”, Instagram says “Zaytouna Bakery” and Google Maps says “فرن الزيتونة”, the AI may not realise it's the same business. Pick one main name, list the other spellings on your website (for example in the footer or the About page), and use the same address and phone number everywhere.
Step 6: Answer your customers' questions on your site
AI assistants look for pages that answer the question they were asked. Add a short FAQ to your website in the languages your customers use: prices or price ranges, areas you deliver to, how to book, what makes you different, parking, payment methods. Clear, factual answers are easy for the AI to quote.
Step 7: Check again every month
AI answers move: models are updated, new reviews and articles appear, competitors improve. Re-ask the same questions every month and compare like for like. That way you know whether your work is paying off, and you notice early when a competitor overtakes you.
BeenPicked keeps these monthly checks for you, shows your score over time and turns what it finds into a prioritised fix list. See the plans.
What not to do
- Don't buy fake reviews: platforms remove them, and AI assistants are trained to distrust patterns that look fake.
- Don't stuff pages with keywords or city names: write for people, clearly.
- Don't trust anyone who promises a guaranteed #1 spot in ChatGPT. Nobody controls AI answers; you can only make it easy for the AI to find good, consistent information about you.