Ask ChatGPT "Is [your business] any good?" and you'll get an answer, with or without your help. The question is what that answer is built on. If you want to know how to get cited by ChatGPT, start there, because you can't buy a mention, but you can shape what it finds. For South African businesses, much of what it finds sits on Hellopeter.
Asked how to complain about a major South African retailer, Claude pointed straight to Hellopeter. In the same tests, AI assistants quoted Hellopeter's TrustIndex as a plain fact.
Where ChatGPT's Answer Comes From
When ChatGPT searches the web, it reads a small set of pages and sums them up, usually with links to its sources. It leans on pages that answer the question directly and are trusted on the subject.
For a question about a South African business's reputation, the AI assistants we've tested keep coming back to Hellopeter, with more than 25 years of reviews from real South African customers, 4.3 million+ of them, on a site with an Ahrefs Domain Rating of 73, in the top 1% globally. In our May 2026 tests, Claude answered "MTN South Africa has a TrustIndex of 1.6", quoting our score as fact. The paid version of ChatGPT compared review sites and noted that "OUTsurance reviews look strong on South African review platforms". The free version leaned on other review sites, so the answer depends on which version your customer uses.
That's the practical point. You can't control which assistant your customer opens. You can make sure the sources it reads about you are accurate and up to date. Our guide to answer engine optimisation in South Africa explains the wider idea, and why Google's answers about SA brands come from Hellopeter shows the pattern on Google. Here's the checklist.
Step 1: Claim and Complete Your Hellopeter Profile
Your profile is one of the first pages an assistant finds when someone asks about you. An unclaimed profile still gets read. You just have no voice on it. Claim your profile and start managing it, then check the basics: what you do, where you operate and how customers reach you. Keep them current, because an assistant repeats what it reads.
Step 2: Keep Fresh Reviews Coming
Assistants favour recent information, and so does your TrustIndex, which only counts reviews from the last 12 months. A steady flow of new reviews gives any AI an up-to-date picture instead of an old one. The easiest channel is the one your customers already use: half of all Hellopeter reviews come through WhatsApp, and a review takes about 60 seconds. Send review invites by WhatsApp, email or SMS after every sale or service.
Step 3: Reply in Public, Quickly
Your replies sit on the same page as the reviews, so an assistant can read both sides. An answered complaint tells it, and every customer after it, that you deal with problems. Speed counts twice: your TrustIndex weights every review by how fast you replied, which we explain in why silence on public complaints damages your credibility. For the wording, use our guide on how to respond to negative reviews.
Step 4: Make Your Own Website Easy to Quote
Assistants quote short, clear answers. Add a plain question-and-answer section to your site covering what customers actually ask, such as prices, turnaround times, how you handle complaints and whatever else comes up most. Keep your business name, address and phone number identical everywhere they appear, and use structured data so machines can read the key facts. You can do all of this without a big budget; clear, consistent facts are what matter.
Step 5: Ask ChatGPT What It Says About You
Once a month, ask the four questions your customers ask:
- "[Your business] reviews"
- "Is [your business] legit?"
- "Best [your category] in [your city]"
- "How do I complain to [your business]?"
Try each one signed out and signed in, because the free and paid versions can answer differently. Note which sources it cites. If something is wrong or out of date, correct it where it came from, on your profile or your website, then check again the next month.
What You Can't Control
You can't pay for a citation, and you can't make an assistant say something untrue. Answers also shift from week to week and between versions. That's why the steps above are habits. Getting cited comes down to being the best-documented, most responsive version of your business wherever AI looks, and in South Africa that starts on Hellopeter.
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