AI has wrong information about my business. How do I fix it?

“Google’s AI has wrong information about my business. Can I fix it?” You can, though you can’t edit the answer itself. What you can do is fix the page or listing the AI is reading, report the bad answer through the tool’s own feedback button, and check again once the corrected pages have been recrawled, which Google says can take days to weeks. Most wrong answers we see trace back to something the business can change: an old Google Business Profile, a forgotten page on its own site, or a directory that never got updated.

The question turns up in Google’s own autocomplete (“ai overview has wrong information listed about my google business”, “how to report incorrect ai overview”) and in threads like a founder on r/SEO_LLM asking why ChatGPT has “never heard of us” while competitors get named. Below is the order we work through when a client sends us a screenshot of an AI answer that gets them wrong. If you’d rather hand it over, that is part of our AI SEO service.

Why is AI giving wrong information about my business?

Usually because the wrong fact is still published somewhere the AI can read, or because nothing clear is published and the model fills the gap with a guess. Google’s help page for AI Overviews says plainly that they “can and will make mistakes” (AI Overviews in Google Search). The common causes we find:

• Old facts you published yourself: a footer with the old phone number, a 2022 blog post announcing the old address, a service page for something you stopped offering.
• Listings that disagree. Your Google Business Profile says one thing, a directory says another, and the AI picks the wrong one.
• A comparison article, review site or news story with outdated or wrong details.
• Another business with a similar name. Two dental practices with near-identical names in different cities can get blended into one answer.
• No source at all. When there is little about you online, the model can invent plausible details such as prices or opening hours.

Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode build answers from pages in Google’s index, sometimes running several related searches at once (Google calls this “query fan-out”), and they link the pages they used (AI features and your website). ChatGPT’s search answers are built from websites its search crawler can reach and are credited with links (OpenAI publishers and developers FAQ). So in both cases the fix starts with the pages being read.

How do I find where the wrong information is coming from?

Look at the links the answer cites, then search for the wrong fact itself. That usually finds the source within ten minutes.

1. Screenshot the answer first, with the date and the exact question you asked. You will want it for the report and for comparing later.
2. Open every source link shown with the answer. In an AI Overview the links sit beside or under the summary; in ChatGPT the sources appear when the answer used web search. Check whether the cited page actually contains the wrong fact.
3. Search for the wrong fact in quotes on Google, for example the old phone number or old street name. Add site:yourdomain.com to find it on your own site.
4. Ask the same question in a clean session. In ChatGPT a Temporary Chat won’t use your memories or past conversations, though it still follows your custom instructions (Temporary Chat FAQ). That tells you whether the error is what customers see or something coming from your own chat history.
5. Check which of your pages Microsoft’s AI cites. Bing Webmaster Tools has an AI Performance report that counts how often your pages are cited in Microsoft Copilot, Bing’s AI summaries and some partner integrations, with the pages and the “grounding queries” behind them (Bing Webmaster blog). If an old page is being cited, that is your culprit.

Sometimes there is no source to find. That points to a thin footprint rather than a bad page, and the fix is to publish the correct facts clearly in the places covered below.

Which fix do I need for which kind of error?

Match the error to its likely source, fix that source first, and report the answer second. A report on its own rarely holds, because the next answer reads the same pages again.

How do I fix wrong information in a Google AI Overview?

Correct your Google Business Profile and website first, then report the overview with the thumbs-down button. Google gives no way to edit an AI Overview directly.

1. Update your Business Profile. On Google Search, find your profile, select Edit profile, make the change and select Save. Google reviews edits before they go live, so they don’t appear instantly (Edit your Business Profile). If you have moved, our guide to changing your address on Google Business Profile covers the re-verification that can follow.
2. Fix your own pages, then ask Google to recrawl the important ones with the URL Inspection tool in Search Console. Google says crawling “can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks” and that requesting the same URL repeatedly won’t speed it up (Ask Google to recrawl your URLs).
3. Report the overview. Under the AI Overview, click thumbs down, choose “Report a problem”, pick the closest category and add a short description such as “Lists our old address; current address is on our Business Profile”. The report includes your search and its results (AI Overviews in Google Search).
4. If your business has a knowledge panel and you have verified that you represent it, use Suggest edits at the top of the panel. Google says it reviews verified feedback within a few days (Submit feedback on content about you).

You don’t need special markup to appear in AI Overviews; Google says there is no special schema.org structured data required (AI features and your website). LocalBusiness markup is still a tidy way to state your hours, address and phone number on the page itself (Local business structured data), as long as it matches what the page shows. For more on how pages get picked, see how to get your business into Google AI Overviews.

How do I correct what ChatGPT says about my business?

Make sure ChatGPT can read your corrected pages, because OpenAI offers no form for fixing ordinary factual errors about a business. Its reporting flow is thumbs down, then “Select an issue”, then “Safety or Legal concern”, which is meant for content that may break its terms or the law (OpenAI: reporting content). Use it for a damaging false claim, not for a wrong opening time.

For everything else:

• Allow OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt. OpenAI says sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot “will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers”, that each crawler setting is independent (you can block GPTBot from training and still allow search), and that robots.txt changes can take about 24 hours to apply (OpenAI crawlers). Our post on whether to block AI crawlers has the exact lines.
• Fix the pages ChatGPT’s search draws on. That means your own site plus the listings and articles you found in the source check. For how ChatGPT finds sites in the first place, see does ChatGPT use Google or Bing.
• Tell Bing the pages changed. Bing supports IndexNow, a protocol for telling search engines a URL has been updated (IndexNow). Submitting the corrected URLs through it lets participating engines know to fetch them again.

An answer given without web search comes from what the model learned in training, so it can repeat an old fact for longer because it isn’t reading your site at that moment. When the answer shows sources, fixing those sources is what changes it.

What about Perplexity and Copilot?

Perplexity lets you flag a bad answer directly: use the flag icon below the answer, or email support@perplexity.ai with the link to the query, what’s wrong and what you expected (Perplexity Help Center). Perplexity’s own crawler is PerplexityBot, and blocking it in robots.txt stops it indexing your pages (Perplexity crawlers), so check you haven’t blocked it by accident. Our guide to ranking on Perplexity goes further.

For Copilot, the most useful tool is the Bing AI Performance report mentioned above. It shows which of your pages Microsoft’s AI cites, so you can see whether an outdated page is still being used. Microsoft notes the report counts citations and doesn’t show where in the answer you appeared.

Example: a clinic that moved across town

This is an illustrative example rather than a client result. A physio clinic moves in March. In June, an AI Overview and ChatGPT both still give the old street address when asked “physio near Riverside open Saturday”.

1. Source check: the AI Overview links to a health directory that still lists the old address, and a site search finds the old address in the clinic’s own 2023 “We’re open!” blog post and in its footer image text.
2. Fixes: Business Profile address updated and re-verified; footer and blog post corrected, with a line added to the post saying the clinic moved in March; the directory emailed with the new details; LocalBusiness markup on the contact page updated to match.
3. Signals: URL Inspection recrawl requested for the contact page and the blog post; corrected URLs submitted through IndexNow; robots.txt checked to confirm OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot are allowed.
4. Reports: thumbs down and “Report a problem” on the AI Overview with a one-line description.
5. Re-check: the same question asked monthly in a Temporary Chat and in a private browser window, with a screenshot saved each time.

Nothing in that list needs special software. The slow part is waiting for each source to update.

How long until the AI shows the right information?

Nobody can promise a date. Google says recrawling takes a few days to a few weeks, Business Profile edits are reviewed before going live, and OpenAI says robots.txt changes take about 24 hours to register. Third-party sites move at their own pace. In practice, plan to re-check about a month after the last source is fixed, then monthly.

Expect some answers to stay wrong for a while even when every source is right, because the same question can give a different answer from one day to the next. Judge it across several checks. If you want to measure whether AI tools are sending you visitors at all, see how to track AI traffic in Google Analytics.

What if the AI says something false that could hurt my business?

Document it and get legal advice before posting about it publicly. Then use the formal routes: Google’s Report Content for Legal Reasons form asks you to flag the content in the product first, name the exact URL or result, and explain why it breaks the law or your rights; and ChatGPT’s “Safety or Legal concern” report covers responses. If the claim comes from a page on another site, Google points out that removal from its products doesn’t remove the page itself, so you may also need to contact that site. We aren’t lawyers, and this isn’t legal advice.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

• Arguing with the chatbot. Telling ChatGPT “that’s wrong” in your own chat doesn’t change what other people see. Fix the sources instead.
• Fixing Google but not your own site. If your footer still shows the old number, the AI has two versions to choose from. Search your site for every old detail.
• Blocking the crawlers that would read the fix. A blanket AI block in robots.txt or a firewall can stop ChatGPT search and Perplexity from seeing the corrected page. Block training bots separately if you want to.
• Deleting old posts without a note. If a well-linked page announced your old address, update it with the new details rather than letting it 404, so the correct version is what gets read.
• Keyword-stuffed “facts” pages. A plain About and Contact page with consistent details works better than a page written for bots.
• Checking once. One good or bad answer proves little. Keep a dated log.

FAQ

Can I pay ChatGPT or Google to correct an answer about my business?

No. Neither OpenAI’s publisher FAQ nor Google’s AI features guide describes any paid or manual way to change what an answer says. The routes are fixing your sources, keeping crawlers allowed and using the feedback tools.

Will adding schema markup fix a wrong AI answer?

Not on its own. Google says no special structured data is needed for AI features. Markup helps state your details clearly and consistently, and Organization markup helps Google tell your business apart from others with similar names, but the visible page and your listings have to be right too.

Should I write a page that says what we don’t do?

Yes, when an AI keeps saying you offer something you don’t. A plain sentence on your services page, such as “We don’t do commercial work”, gives the AI a clear statement to read instead of a gap to fill.

Does a wrong AI answer mean my site has a problem with Google?

No. It isn’t a penalty. It usually means an outdated or conflicting source is being read, or there isn’t enough clear information about your business online.

Sources: 1. AI features and your website (Google Search Central). 2. AI Overviews in Google Search (Google Search Help). 3. Edit your Business Profile (Google Business Profile Help). 4. Ask Google to recrawl your URLs (Google Search Central). 5. Submit feedback on content about you (Knowledge Panel Help). 6. Local business structured data (Google Search Central). 7. Organization structured data (Google Search Central). 8. Report Content for Legal Reasons (Google Legal Help). 9. Publishers and developers FAQ (OpenAI Help). 10. Overview of OpenAI crawlers (OpenAI). 11. Reporting content in ChatGPT (OpenAI Help). 12. Temporary Chat FAQ (OpenAI Help). 13. How can I report incorrect or inaccurate answers? (Perplexity Help Center). 14. Perplexity crawlers (Perplexity). 15. Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools (Bing Webmaster blog). 16. IndexNow.