In short
ChatGPT is the most used AI assistant and the one that sends the most visitors to websites. Since October 2026 it runs on the GPT-6 family, and it searches the web live whenever a question needs fresh or precise information. To be recommended, your pages must be readable by OpenAI's search crawlers, answer buyer questions clearly, and be confirmed by other trusted sites.
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What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is the conversational assistant built by OpenAI, launched in November 2022. It is available on the web, on mobile, on desktop and through the OpenAI API. Users ask it to compare products, find a provider, write, code or plan, which makes it a direct source of qualified visitors for businesses.
The latest ChatGPT models
| Model | Release | What it is for | Web search |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.4 and GPT-5.4 mini | March 2026 | General use, mini version for free users | Yes, in ChatGPT |
| GPT-5.5 | April 2026 | Reasoning and long tasks | Yes, in ChatGPT |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | July 2026 | Flagship reasoning model for paid plans: code, research | Yes, in ChatGPT |
| GPT-6 Astra | September 2026 | Most capable model, first opened to a cybersecurity program | Yes |
| GPT-6 Sol | September 2026 (API), October 2026 (ChatGPT) | Default model of paid ChatGPT plans | Yes |
| GPT-6 Luna | September 2026 (API), October 2026 (ChatGPT) | Fast, low-cost model for Free and Go users | Yes |
| GPT-6.1 Terra | October 2026 | ChatGPT Work and Codex, long agentic tasks | Yes |
The October 2026 update also brought Intelligent UI, which mixes text, visuals and interactive elements in answers. OpenAI's model release notes list every change.
How ChatGPT finds the sites it cites
ChatGPT answers from two sources. The first is the training data of the model, which gives it general knowledge of brands up to a cut-off date. The second is ChatGPT search: for recent, local or comparative questions, it runs several web searches, reads the pages and lists them as sources. In reasoning mode, it can chain many searches before answering.
| Crawler | Role | Should you allow it? |
|---|---|---|
| OAI-SearchBot | Builds the index used by ChatGPT search | Yes, or you disappear from live answers |
| ChatGPT-User | Opens a page when a user or an agent asks for it | Yes |
| GPTBot | Collects content for training future models | Your choice: blocking it only affects future models |
The details are in OpenAI's crawler documentation. Check your settings with the free Robots.txt Checker.
Where people use ChatGPT
- The ChatGPT app on web, iOS, Android, macOS and Windows, with Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise plans.
- Agents and Codex: ChatGPT can browse, fill forms and compare offers on its own, which makes your site's readability even more important.
- The OpenAI API, used by thousands of apps and assistants that inherit the same models.
How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT
- Open the door to the crawlers. Test your site with the Website Crawlability AI Audit.
- Answer buyer questions first. Each page should start with a direct answer of two or three sentences. Test it with the LLM Readability Checker.
- Be confirmed elsewhere. ChatGPT trusts what several independent sites say: reviews, directories, press, comparisons. Our GEO studies show the sources cited in each sector.
- Use structured data and a clean brand identity. Same name, description and links everywhere, declared with the Schema Generator.
- Measure. Start with the free ChatGPT Visibility Checker, then follow dozens of questions every day with the ChatGPT rank tracker.
Compare with the other assistants in our guide by AI model, and read how to measure AI traffic in Google Analytics.
