A Salesperson Lied to One of Our Clients
A few weeks ago, one of our church clients got a call from a salesperson. The pitch was simple: “Your church isn’t showing up in AI search tools like ChatGPT. People are searching for churches there now, and you’re invisible. We can fix that.”
Sounds scary, right? A pastor hears that and thinks, “We’re already struggling to get found online. Now there’s a whole new place we’re missing?”
So I did what any reasonable person would do. I tested it.
I opened ChatGPT and typed: “I’m looking for an evangelical church in Heber City, Utah.”
Our client showed up first. Highest review count. 4.8 stars. Full description of their services, small groups, and office hours. Two other local churches appeared after them.
The salesperson was selling a fix for a problem that didn’t exist.
First Result
When we searched ChatGPT for evangelical churches in our client's city, they showed up in the top position with their full star rating, review count, and service details. No "AI optimization" product needed.
The “AI Optimization” Sales Pitch Is Spreading
This isn’t an isolated incident. We’re hearing from more churches getting cold-called by companies selling “AI search optimization” or “LLM visibility packages.” The pitch usually goes something like this:
- “People are using ChatGPT to find churches now, and your church doesn’t show up.”
- “We can get your church listed in AI search results.”
- “There’s a special process for getting indexed by large language models.”
And look, I get why it works. AI is new. It’s confusing. Most pastors don’t have time to figure out how ChatGPT works, let alone test whether their church appears in it. So when someone calls and says you’re invisible, the instinct is to trust them and write a check.
But here’s what they’re not telling you.
How AI Search Actually Works (The Simple Version)
ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews. These tools don’t have some secret index that churches need to register for or pay to join.
They pull from the same web presence data that Google uses.
Your Google Business Profile. Your website. Your reviews. Your directory listings. Your schema markup. That’s what feeds AI search results.
If your church has a solid foundation in local SEO, you’re already doing the work that makes you visible in AI tools. There’s no separate product you need to buy.
Let me say that again, because it’s important: the things that make your church show up in Google are the same things that make your church show up in AI search.
What Actually Determines If Your Church Shows Up in AI Search
AI tools generate their answers by pulling from publicly available web data. The signals they use look remarkably similar to what Google has valued for years:
1. Your Google Business Profile
This is the single most important factor. If your Google Business Profile is claimed, complete, and accurate, AI tools can pull your church’s name, address, hours, phone number, and description directly from it.
If your profile is incomplete or outdated? That’s where visibility problems start. Not because you need an “AI optimization” product, but because you need to update your free Google listing.
2. Your Reviews
When I searched for churches in Heber City, ChatGPT pulled the star rating and review count for each church. Our client had 44 reviews at 4.8 stars. That’s not an accident. Reviews matter for traditional search, and they matter for AI search too.
More reviews with higher ratings signal to AI tools that your church is established, active, and worth recommending.
3. Your Website
AI tools crawl websites to understand what your church is about. A church with a clear, well-structured website that includes service times, location info, a statement of beliefs, and regular content updates gives AI tools plenty to work with.
A church with a one-page site that hasn’t been updated since 2019? That’s harder for any search tool to recommend, AI or otherwise.
4. Directory Listings and Citations
Your presence on platforms like Yelp, Apple Maps, church directories, and other online listings creates a web of consistent information that AI tools can cross-reference. The more places your church’s name, address, and phone number appear consistently, the more confident AI tools are in recommending you.
5. Structured Data (Schema Markup)
This is the one area where most churches are genuinely behind. Schema markup is code on your website that tells search engines (and AI tools) exactly what your content means. Your service times, your denomination, your location, all of it spelled out in a format machines understand perfectly.
Almost no churches have this. If you want an actual edge in AI search, this is where to focus your energy.
How to Test Your Church’s AI Visibility Right Now
You don’t need to hire anyone to find out if your church shows up in AI search. You can check it yourself in about 30 seconds.
Step 1: Open ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity. Any of them will work.
Step 2: Type a search like someone looking for a church would. Try these:
- “I’m looking for a [denomination] church in [your city]”
- “What are the best churches in [your city]?”
- “Churches near [your neighborhood or zip code]”
Step 3: See what comes back. Does your church show up? Is the information accurate? Are your service times, ratings, and description correct?
If you show up with accurate info, you’re in good shape. If you don’t, the fix isn’t some paid AI product. The fix is the fundamentals.
What to Do If Your Church Doesn’t Show Up
If you tested it and your church is missing from AI search results, here’s where to start. Every item on this list is free.
Update Your Google Business Profile
Log into your Google Business Profile and make sure every field is filled out. Hours, phone number, address, website, description, categories. Upload recent photos. Post an update. Google rewards active, complete profiles, and AI tools pull heavily from this data.
Get More Google Reviews
Ask your congregation to leave honest reviews. You don’t need hundreds. Even going from 5 reviews to 20 can make a meaningful difference. The key is consistency. A church with 20 reviews added over the past year looks more active than one with 50 reviews that all came in 2021.
Make Sure Your Website Is Crawlable
Some churches accidentally block AI bots from accessing their website. Check your site’s robots.txt file (usually at yourchurch.com/robots.txt). If you see lines blocking ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, or Googlebot, talk to your web provider about opening those up.
Add FAQ Content to Your Website
AI tools love answering questions. And they get those answers from websites that structure information in a question-and-answer format. Add an FAQ section to your homepage or a “Plan Your Visit” page that covers the basics:
- What time are your services?
- What should I wear?
- Is there childcare?
- What denomination are you?
- Where do I park?
Add Schema Markup
If you want the single biggest technical upgrade for AI visibility, schema markup is it. It takes your church information and structures it in a way that both search engines and AI tools can parse with zero guesswork.
Your web developer can add this, or if you’re a REACHRIGHT client, we build it in by default.
When You Should Be Concerned (And When You Shouldn’t)
Let’s be clear: AI search is real, it’s growing, and churches should pay attention to it. Pew Research reports that AI tool usage has grown significantly in the past year alone. People are asking ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews for local recommendations, including churches.
But “pay attention to it” doesn’t mean “panic and buy whatever someone is selling.”
You should be concerned if:
- Your Google Business Profile is unclaimed or outdated
- Your church has fewer than 5 Google reviews
- Your website hasn’t been updated in over a year
- You have no presence on any directory or listing site
You should NOT be concerned about:
- Paying for a separate “AI optimization” product
- Registering your church with AI platforms
- Buying “LLM visibility packages”
- Any product that claims to get you “listed” in ChatGPT
The foundation is the same as it’s been for years. Good local SEO. Accurate information across the web. A website that works. Reviews from real people.
How to Spot a Bad Sales Pitch
Since these cold calls are increasing, here are some red flags to watch for:
-
They claim you’re invisible without showing proof. Ask them to show you the search. Better yet, test it yourself before the call ends.
-
They sell a product separate from your existing web presence. AI visibility isn’t a standalone service. It’s a byproduct of doing local SEO and web fundamentals well.
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They use fear and urgency. “Your church is losing visitors every day to AI search” is designed to make you act before you think.
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They can’t explain how AI search works. If they can’t tell you that ChatGPT pulls from web data, Google Business Profiles, and directory listings, they don’t understand what they’re selling.
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They guarantee results in AI search. Nobody can guarantee how ChatGPT or any AI tool will respond to a specific query. The outputs change constantly.
If a salesperson calls your church with any of these tactics, hang up. Or better yet, open ChatGPT while they’re talking and search for your church yourself.
The Bottom Line
AI search is the next evolution of how people find information online. But for churches, the playbook hasn’t changed as much as some vendors want you to believe.
The churches that show up in AI search are the ones doing the fundamentals well. Claimed Google Business Profile. Consistent information across the web. A real website with real content. Reviews from real congregants.
Our client in Heber City wasn’t doing anything exotic. They had a solid Google Business Profile, good reviews, and a functioning website. That’s what got them the top spot in ChatGPT’s recommendations. Not a paid product. Not an “AI optimization” package. The basics.
Before you spend a dollar on “AI visibility,” spend 30 seconds testing it. You might be surprised at how well your church is already showing up.
And if you’re not? The fix is free. Start with your Google Business Profile and work from there.
Want to know how your church stacks up online? Start with a free Local SEO Report. It takes 30 seconds, and we’ll show you exactly where your church stands in search, including the signals AI tools use to find you.