How Do AI Search Engines Pick Which Broker to Mention? (2026)

AI search tools are answering more borrower questions than ever before. A first home buyer asks ChatGPT "what's a good mortgage broker near me", or a refinancer types the same thing into Google and gets an AI answer before any list of links. The broker who gets mentioned in that answer gets the enquiry. The one who doesn't, doesn't.

That's a real shift in how borrowers find help, and it's happening while competition between brokers is rising. The MFAA's June 2026 data shows 24,116 brokers now operating in Australia, up 9.1% in a year, all competing for a share of the market.

At Copyburst, we work with mortgage and finance brokers across Australia on AI search for mortgage brokers, Google Business Profiles and SEO, and the question of how AI tools decide who to mention comes up in almost every strategy call. In this article, we'll cover what shapes those decisions and what's worth doing first.

How do AI search engines decide which mortgage broker to mention?

AI search tools mention brokers whose pages they can find, access and make sense of. Each tool searches the web using its own crawler or index, reads pages that aren't blocked, and pulls the clearest, most directly relevant answer into its response. For ChatGPT, Google's documentation says being indexed and snippet-eligible is what qualifies a page for Google's AI features. For ChatGPT, OpenAI's crawler documentation says sites that block OAI-SearchBot won't appear in ChatGPT search answers. For Microsoft Copilot, being in Bing's index is what matters. The practical point is this: if your site can't be read by these tools, or if your pages don't clearly describe what you do and where you do it, no AI tool will mention you.

What does each AI tool actually look at?

The first thing to understand is that ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Microsoft Copilot are not the same product running the same search. They use different indexes and different crawlers. What works for one won't automatically work for the others.

Here's how they differ in terms of what you control:

• Google AI Overviews and AI Mode: these draw on Google's main index. Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in them beyond normal SEO best practice, and a page must be indexed and eligible to show in Google Search with a snippet.
• ChatGPT search: OpenAI uses its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot. If your site blocks it in robots.txt, you won't appear. ChatGPT visits show in your analytics as referral traffic from chatgpt.com, not in Search Console.
• Microsoft Copilot: Copilot draws on Bing's index, so being indexed in Bing is what matters here. That's a separate check from Google.

This table shows what you control for each tool, and where to check.

The checks themselves take minutes. Copyburst runs them as part of every AI search setup, then works through what needs fixing on your site.

Expert tip Open ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode and ask each one: "Who are the best mortgage brokers for refinancing in [your area]?" Read what they say about your brokerage and what they say about the competitors they mention. If the description is vague, wrong or missing, that's what your own pages need to fix first. Copyburst does this check at the start of every AI search engagement.

Does your Google ranking affect whether AI tools mention you?

For Google's own AI features, yes. Google's documentation says a page must be indexed and eligible to show in Google Search with a snippet to appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode. So your Google ranking does matter for those tools specifically.

For ChatGPT and Copilot, the relationship is less direct. ChatGPT uses its own crawler and search partners; Copilot uses Bing. Neither requires Google rankings. That said, a strong, well-structured website helps all of them, because readable pages with clear descriptions of what you do are what any AI tool needs to pull a useful answer.

The practical fix is the same regardless of which AI tool you're trying to appear in: clear, specific pages that describe who you help, what loans you specialise in and where you work.

Mortgage broker SEO Need help with showing up in AI search? We help mortgage brokers get found first in Google, Google Maps and AI search. Book a free strategy call How we help brokers

What does your website need to say to get mentioned?

Say you're a broker who specialises in self-employed borrowers. A borrower searches "mortgage broker for self-employed near me" in Google and gets an AI answer. For you to appear in that answer, the AI tool needs to be able to read a page on your site that specifically addresses self-employed lending, explains how you help, and makes it clear where you're based or where you work.

A generic homepage that lists every loan type in two lines won't do it. Here's what your pages need to do:

• Answer a specific question: each key page should address one clear topic a borrower would search for, like refinancing, first home loans, construction finance or self-employed lending.
• Put the answer first: the most important information sits at the top of the page, not buried halfway down after a large banner image.
• Say who you are and where: your name, your brokerage, the areas you cover and the types of clients you help should be clear on every page, not just the About page.
• Use real credentials: your accreditations, aggregator, experience and the lenders you work with help AI tools describe you accurately, and they build trust with borrowers reading the answer.

Google's guidance on helpful content is clear that content made to genuinely help people, not just to rank, is what its systems aim to reward. The same logic applies to what AI tools are likely to find useful.

Expert tip Read the About page on your website as if you're a first home buyer who knows nothing about lending. Does it say clearly who you help, what you specialise in and where you work? If you'd have to guess, an AI tool will too. A one-paragraph rewrite of that page, focused on your clients and your speciality, is one of the fastest things you can do.

Does your Google Business Profile help with AI search?

Your Google Business Profile directly influences Google's own AI features. Google's documentation on local ranking says local results are based on relevance, distance and prominence, and that a business's position in web results is also a factor. So a complete, accurate profile, backed by a strong website, affects how you show in Google AI Mode when someone asks "mortgage broker near me" in your area.

Google's AI Mode and Gemini can show Maps listings for local questions. That makes your profile relevant to AI search in a way it isn't for ChatGPT or Copilot, which don't use Google's index. Keep your profile accurate: category set to "Mortgage broker", services filled in, hours current and your website linked to the right page. Google says "more reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking", and replying to reviews shows you value feedback, which Google says can help your business stand out.

Is AI search actually bringing borrowers to brokers yet?

It's growing, but it's worth being clear about the scale. Roy Morgan's June 2026 data shows 13.6 million Australians (58% of those aged 14 and over) used AI tools in an average four weeks in the March quarter 2026, with ChatGPT used by 10.5 million. That's a large and growing audience. But Pew Research Center's March 2025 US browsing data found that when an AI summary appeared, people clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits, compared to 15% when there was no summary, and clicked a link inside the summary in just 1% of visits.

What this means for your brokerage is that AI search is real traffic, not imagined, but it sits alongside Google search, not instead of it. A borrower sitting at home at 9pm wondering whether to refinance might ask ChatGPT first, read an AI answer, then open Google and search "mortgage broker near me" to look at profiles and reviews before they call anyone. Being present at both moments matters.

Expert tip Check your website analytics for referral traffic from chatgpt.com. That's how ChatGPT visits show up: as referrals, not as search traffic, because ChatGPT links carry a chatgpt.com tag. If you're already getting visits that way, you're in the mix. If not, it's a signal your pages need to be more accessible to AI tools.

What's the catch with chasing AI mentions?

The main one is that how each AI tool picks its sources isn't published in full. Google is transparent that its AI features use its normal index with no extra requirements. OpenAI documents its crawler. Beyond that, the selection process for any given answer isn't something you can engineer from the outside.

That's actually good news for brokers, because it means there's no secret formula to buy. The brokers who appear are the ones with clear, accessible, specific pages that describe what they do and who they help. That's exactly what good SEO produces anyway. The risk isn't chasing AI mentions and failing; it's ignoring the shift entirely while the broker ranking above you in your area gets comfortable being mentioned first.

Mortgage broker SEO Need help with showing up in AI search? We help mortgage brokers get found first in Google, Google Maps and AI search. Book a free strategy call How we help brokers

What else do brokers ask about AI search?

Your next steps

Start by searching for your own brokerage in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini. Read what they say, or don't say, and compare it to the clearest, most specific page on your website. If the gap is obvious, that's where to begin. Make your key pages readable, specific and easy to find across every index that matters, not just Google's.

If you want help with showing up in AI search, book a call with the Copyburst team.

About the author Adam Maynard Founder, Copyburst Adam Maynard is the founder of Copyburst, Australia's dedicated mortgage broker SEO and AI search agency. With over 15 years in search, he helps mortgage and finance brokers rank at the top of Google and AI search so they become the go-to broker in their area. Meet the team → Book a call →