ChatGPT Is the New Google: How Apps Can Rank in AI Answer Engines
For over two decades, Google has been the dominant gateway to information, products, and services online. But in 2025, the landscape is shifting — and fast.
With the rise of AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, users are no longer typing keywords into a search bar and scrolling through 10 blue links. They’re asking a question — and getting a single, AI-generated answer.
For app publishers and marketers, this shift represents both a threat and an opportunity.
If your app isn’t included in ChatGPT’s answer, you don’t exist in this new discovery ecosystem.
Why ChatGPT Is Becoming the New Google
Faster, Direct Answers – Users skip the click-through process and get their solution instantly.
Conversational Search – People ask follow-up questions in natural language, not keywords.
Integrated Recommendations – ChatGPT can list apps, tools, and resources directly in its answers.
Trust Factor – Many users perceive AI-generated suggestions as curated and unbiased.
Just as companies fought for page-one rankings on Google, the race is now on to rank inside AI answers — a practice quickly becoming known as Ask Engine Optimization (AEO).
What Is Ask Engine Optimization (AEO)?
Ask Engine Optimization is the process of making sure your app, brand, or product is referenced, recommended, and trusted by AI models like ChatGPT when users search for solutions in your category.
Unlike Google SEO, where keyword density and backlinks reign supreme, AEO focuses on:
Authority – Is your app mentioned on high-authority, trustworthy sites?
Coverage – Are you present across blogs, forums, review platforms, and press mentions?
Context – Are those mentions framed in a way that clearly positions your app as the best choice?
Structured Data – Does your content have clear descriptions, features, and benefits AI can parse?
How Apps Can Rank on ChatGPT and AI Answer Engines
1. Dominate Your Category Online
AI models are trained on huge amounts of publicly available web content. If your app is mentioned everywhere reputable in your niche — from top industry blogs to niche review sites — it increases your odds of being pulled into AI recommendations.
Action Step: Pitch guest articles, case studies, and interviews to high-authority publications in your app’s industry.
2. Optimize for “Entity Recognition”
Unlike traditional keywords, AI looks for entities — people, companies, apps — and their relationships to topics.
If ChatGPT understands that your app is “the best budgeting app for freelancers” or “a top meditation app for beginners”, it can recall and recommend it for those queries.
Action Step: Consistently describe your app in the same structured, niche-specific phrasing across the web.
3. Get Listed on Trusted Directories
AI models pull heavily from structured lists and rankings. Being featured in “Top 10 Apps” articles, curated lists, and well-maintained directories boosts your discoverability.
Action Step: Secure placements in category-specific lists on popular review sites and tech blogs.
4. Leverage PR for AI-Friendly Content
Press coverage on high-domain authority sites not only helps with human discovery — it feeds AI models fresh, relevant data about your app.
Action Step: Publish announcements, partnerships, or feature launches via PR distribution services targeting tech and mobile news outlets.
5. Build a Blog with AI-Focused Topics
Your own content can rank inside ChatGPT answers if it’s informational, credible, and widely linked to.
Create blog posts that directly answer questions your audience might ask AI — e.g., “What’s the best calorie tracker app for beginners?” — and ensure your app is part of the answer.
The Future of App Discovery Is Conversational
The way users find apps is evolving. Instead of scrolling through hundreds of search results, they’re asking an AI directly and getting a short list of options.
To thrive in this environment, you must treat AI models like a new search engine — one where reputation, trust, and coverage matter more than keyword stuffing.
In short: If Google SEO was about getting clicks, AEO is about getting mentioned.
Final Take: Start Your AEO Strategy Now
The apps that dominate ChatGPT recommendations in 2025 will be the ones that invested early in Ask Engine Optimization.
By building a trusted, widely-referenced presence across the web, you can ensure your app stays visible — not just in the App Store and Google Play, but in the next generation of AI-powered search.