How to Get Your Business on the "Best Of" Lists AI Reads (Step by Step)

Ask ChatGPT "what's the best email platform?" and it doesn't flip a coin. It reads the internet's "Top 7 Best Whatever" articles and repeats them back with confidence.

So the game is simple: be on those lists.

Here's how, in six steps, with zero shady tricks.

Quick words (one line each):

• Best-of list (listicle): an article like "The 10 Best Plumbers in Austin."

• AI Overview: the AI answer box at the top of some Google results.

• Byline: the author's name on an article.

• Outreach: politely emailing someone to ask for something.

Why lists win "best X" questions

The numbers line up across three sources:

• Kasra Dash quotes an Ahrefs study of 750 top-of-funnel searches: best-of lists were 48.9% of AI Overview sources and 43.8% in ChatGPT (0:00:00, Oct 26, 2026).

• Amit Tiwari's own test found that for "best X" shopping searches, only about 25% of AI Overview links go to stores; the rest go to review sites, YouTube, Reddit and blogs (0:06:30-0:07:30, Oct 26, 2026).

• Exposure Ninja saw AI cite Wired, MacRumors and ZDNet for iPad cases, pitched those sites' best-case roundups for Zugu Case, and AI started recommending Zugu after that (0:08:30-0:09:01, Oct 26, 2026).

One caution: Peec AI's own data saw listicles fall from 20% to 8% of ChatGPT's sources (Sept 30, 2026). That is a different data set from the Ahrefs study above, so treat each number as its own source's claim.

Your homepage is lovely. It's just not where AI shops for "best."

Step 1: Find the lists AI already uses

The free way (Kasra, 0:04:01-0:04:30):

1. Google your money question ("best [service] in [city]").

2. Open the sources in the AI Overview.

3. Ask ChatGPT the same question and open its sources.

4. Put every list in a sheet: page, author, brands named, are you on it?

Lists written by your competitors go to the top of the sheet. Yes, competitors. Keep reading.

Step 2: Publish your own fair list

Kasra's recipe (0:05:00-0:05:32):

1. Pick 3-4 brands: your biggest competitor plus a couple of lesser-known ones.

2. Short intro, then a line on how you picked.

3. A comparison table near the top.

4. Each brand gets: best for, pricing, pros and cons.

5. Stay neutral. Find competitor cons in their own bad reviews (Trustpilot, G2, Reddit).

Step 3: Give yourself an honest con

Put one real weakness of your own on the list (0:05:32-0:06:02). His example: "we only host WordPress, not right for big custom enterprise setups."

It feels weird. It also makes the whole page believable. A list where you win every category reads like a ransom note from your marketing team.

Step 4: Email the author, not the founder

Check the byline. Kasra's example: Klaviyo's list was written by an outside agency person, not anyone at Klaviyo (0:06:02-0:07:00). No byline? Find the head of content on LinkedIn. Use a tool like hunter.io to find the email; its free plan gives 50 credits a month.

Stop sending these to hello@ inboxes. Nobody lives there.

Step 5: Send a short email that gives first (short means short)

Keep it to two lines (0:07:00-0:07:30):

"We've just published our own list and I'd like to include you. Would you be open to adding us to yours?"

Offer a short write-up, your pricing and a screenshot so saying yes takes them 30 seconds.

Step 6: Follow up (politely, three times), then check AI again

1. Follow up three times: after 3 days, 1 week and 2 weeks. One or two lines each (0:07:30-0:08:01).

2. No reply? Try again when they next update the article.

3. A week after a yes, check you're actually on the page.

4. Ask Google and ChatGPT your question again and see which lists they cite now (0:08:01).

Two rules that keep you out of trouble

• Make a few fair lists, not 50 thin ones. Kasra says 50 mass-made listicles gave a short bump and then a drop (0:17:56-0:19:26, Oct 20, 2026).

• Never fake reviews, rankings or awards. Check every price you publish.

Do this today

1. Ask Google and ChatGPT "best [your service] in [your city]."

2. Copy every list they cite into a sheet with the author's name.

3. Draft one fair 3-4 brand comparison page, with one honest con about you.

4. Email the author of the first list on your sheet. Two lines. Give first.

5. Put three follow-up dates in your calendar right now.

Sources

• Kasra Dash ? Important Change to AI SEO (Best Of Lists) (2026-10-26)

• Exposure Ninja, 'The Truth About Backlinks and AI Search' (sponsored by Semrush), uploaded 2026-10-26, (0:08:30-0:09:01, 0:16:30-0:19:31)

• Amit Tiwari (aFactor) ? Inside Google AI Overviews: Who Gets Featured-and Why? (2026-10-26)

• Kasra Dash ? I Ranked 32 AI Search Factors S to F (2026-10-20)

Don't worry if this seems like it's a pain in the ass for someone who doesn't build websites. That's because it is. The good news: just click the link below, pull the trigger, and we'll take care of the rest.