Where does ChatGPT get its information about a business?

Ascent Vision · Published October 24, 2026

From a few places. In its 2025 system card for GPT-5, OpenAI said those models, like its others, were trained on information publicly available on the internet, information it accesses through partners, and information from users, trainers and researchers. When ChatGPT searches the web, results and their sources appear in the chat. For a quote-request feature in beta, approved partners also supply local business records. That is why a clear, current website and honest mentions elsewhere usually matter to what it says about you.

What its models learned in training

In its GPT-5 system card, published August 13, 2025, OpenAI says that, like its other models, the GPT-5 models were trained on information that is publicly available on the internet, information it partners with third parties to access, and information that users or human trainers and researchers provide or generate.

Training happens before a model is released, so what a model learned on its own can be older than your current details. As general advice, that is one more reason to keep your own website current: it is the source you control.

What it finds when it searches

OpenAI's ChatGPT documentation says ChatGPT includes "a first-party web search tool", and that "Search results and citations appear in the chat when ChatGPT uses web search." It adds that workspace settings can limit whether search is available.

When an answer about your business shows sources, open them: they usually show which pages it drew on for that question. The related answer on how customers find businesses through AI assistants describes what the customer sees.

Business records from partners

OpenAI's developer guide for a local-services quote feature describes approved partners supplying a record for each business, including its name, address, location, phone number and website. It says ChatGPT uses these records for search and to decide whether a business gets a Get Quote button. The feature is in beta; the related answer on whether you can add your business to ChatGPT covers what that means for an owner.

What an owner can do with this

Three related answers cover the owner's side: the one on whether AI assistants get facts wrong says what you can correct; the one on getting ChatGPT to recommend your business says what to do with the sources an answer shows; and the one on checking what AI says about your business sets out a monthly check. What they add up to: keep your own site current and plain, because it is the one source you control.

Sources

GEO: recommended in AI answers

When a customer asks ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI who to call, the answer names a few businesses. GEO is the work of making yours one of them.

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