The questions your customers are already asking AIs about your industry (and how to make sure you show up in the answers)
While you read this, someone is asking ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude exactly what you offer. The question is: who shows up in the answer?
Luis Fraga·21 Sep 2026· 4 min
In short
Customers use ChatGPT, Gemini and other AIs to research services before hiring. AIs answer based on what they find published about your business, not on what you know how to do. Mapping your industry's questions and having clear answers on your website is the first step to showing up.
The way people search changed, but most businesses haven't noticed
Before, a customer opened Google, typed the name of a service and picked from the top results. Today, a growing share of those same people open ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity and ask a full question: "Which therapist accepts insurance and works with adults dealing with anxiety?". The AI doesn't list ten links. It gives a direct answer, with names, criteria and sometimes a recommendation. If your business isn't in the sources that AI consulted, you simply don't exist for that customer at that moment.
Each one of those questions is a door that can lead to your business, or to your competitor's, depending on who answered them better on their own website.
What kind of questions your customer is asking right now
Questions that reach AIs about professional services follow very clear patterns: comparison ("what's the difference between cognitive therapy and psychoanalysis?"), filtered recommendation ("grief counselor in downtown Chicago"), process doubt ("how many therapy sessions before I see results?") and price validation ("how much does a private therapy session cost on average?"). Each one of those questions is a door that can lead to your business, or to your competitor's, depending on who answered them better on their own website.
Why the AI cites one business and not another
AIs don't choose who appears based on popularity or how long a business has been around. They cite whoever has clear, consistent information published in places they can read. A therapist with a page on their site explaining their approach, the conditions they treat, how sessions work and what they charge is far more likely to appear than one who only has an Instagram profile with motivational quotes. Learn how to structure that information so AIs can find what they need.
What to do this week to start showing up
The starting point is simple: write down the five most common questions customers ask before hiring you. Then check whether your website answers each one directly, in plain prose, not just bullet points or images. AIs read text, they don't read images. If the answer to "how much does a session cost?" only lives in an Instagram story, the AI won't find it. If it's on a page of your website with context, it will find it and may cite you. That's the mechanism. It's not magic, it's structure.
Our take
At MerbIQ, we believe the race to appear in AI answers shouldn't be won by whoever has the biggest marketing budget. It should be won by whoever knows their customer best. And you, who serves that customer every day, already have the raw material. You just need to put it in the right place, in the right format, so AIs can find you and cite you.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know what questions my customers are asking AIs?
Start with the questions you already receive by email, text or in the first consultation. Those are exactly the same ones people ask AIs. You can also open ChatGPT or Gemini and type your service name followed by "frequently asked questions" to see what comes up.
Do I need to be on a specific platform for an AI to recommend me?
There's no single platform. AIs cross-reference information from multiple sources: your website, professional directories, reviews on platforms like Google Maps and mentions on other sites. The more consistent sources that carry your name, specialty and location, the higher your chances of appearing.
Does this work for small businesses or only for large companies?
It works for any size. AIs don't favor big companies. They favor clear, accessible information. A solo practitioner with a well-structured website can show up before a large clinic that never answered the customer's questions anywhere.
Run a free scan of your business and find out if AIs can find you today.
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