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THE MARKETING GURU I BY TRACY HOEFT HOW TO GET CHATGPT TO RECOMMEND YOU F or years, the path was the same. A guitarist caught the itch for a new amp and started exploring what would the story the AI tells. 3. Think beyond your website. Get- ting your message to show up in multiple places is one of the best ways to raise your AI vis- ibility. Work this message into your reviews and online forums.
Want to know where you stand? Stop reading for a sec- ond, open ChatGPT and ask it to recommend the best option in your category the way a custom- er would. Go ahead, I’ll wait. If your name didn’t come up, don’t panic. You just found your opportunity. My team and I have studied millions of these AI answers across the MI industry, and four moves stand out as the best places to start. Do these first and you’ll be ahead of nearly everyone else in our business. 1. Have one message. Pick what you want to be known for, then keep it consistent everywhere: your homepage, your Google Business Profile, your reviews and your YouTube page. The AI trusts what it sees repeated, so the same story told the same way becomes the story it re- peats back. 2. Prioritize YouTube. In our in- dustry, nothing drives these AI answers more than YouTube. Tell your story there. The plat- form transcribes every word in every video — which is your chance to showcase your mes- sage and position yourself as the authority.
be the best fit. They’d narrow their favorite options and then turn to the brands they’re con- sidering and contact their favorite dealer to decide what to buy. That’s where their exploration became a purchase and that’s where we all earned our own place in the journey. However, the buyer’s journey is changing fast. Now a player describes what they want to an AI platform like ChatGPT and gets back specific answers on what to buy and where. The decision gets made right there, before they ever turn to the brand’s website or a trusted dealer. If you’re not in that an- swer, you’re suddenly invisible to that buyer. So, how do you become that recommendation? It starts with one clear reason you’re the right choice. Not 10. One. Claim you’re the best at every- thing and the AI hears noth- ing it can repeat. Pick the one thing you’re truly better at and say it plainly. Then say it the same way everywhere the ma- chine looks: your website, Google
4. Monitor your visibility. Regularly test how you’re showing up in the prompts your ideal custom- ers are most likely to be using. The way people decide what to buy and where is changing, whether we like it or not. So, the real question is simple: Are you changing with it? I want you to take AI visibility seriously, and the steps outlined above are how you start. And if you’d like a tool to help you see how you’re doing and where your biggest opportuni- ties are, I have a gift for you. I built it with my team, and I use it every day. Get free preview ac- cess to see what these platforms say about you and your category — no credit card and no strings attached, at MaxedMarketing. ai/MusicInc. Just a few days of monitoring your results will show you where your business stands today and help you figure out how to get ahead of this shift in consumer buying habits. MI
“The way people decide what to buy and where is changing, whether we like it or not. So, the
real question is simple: Are you changing with it?”
Business Profile, socials, reviews and anywhere else you’re men- tioned. The same clear story, told again and again, becomes
Tracy Hoeft is the president of Am- plify 11, a marketing firm specializing in the musical instruments industry.
SEPTEMBER 2026 I MUSIC INC. I 25
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