Last week I did something that ruined my afternoon. I opened ChatGPT and typed: "What are the best online stores for handmade candles?"

Three shops came back. All real, all in my niche. None of them were mine.

Two of them I recognized — they're competitors I've been watching for a while. The third I'd never even heard of. Smaller than me. Fewer sales. But ChatGPT recommended them by name and explained why.

That stung. So I spent the next few days figuring out what was going on.

What they had that I didn't

The first thing I noticed: all three competitors had their own website. Not just an Etsy shop — a proper site with an About page, a FAQ, and blog posts about their craft. One of them had a single blog post titled "How we make our soy candles" that basically read like an answer to a question someone might ask ChatGPT.

I only had Etsy. And when I asked ChatGPT specifically about Etsy candle shops, I still didn't show up.

The second thing: their product descriptions read differently. Mine were optimized for Etsy search — keywords, tags, all the usual stuff. Theirs read more like they were explaining the product to a friend. Less "hand-poured soy wax candle natural scent" and more "We hand-pour each candle in small batches using soy wax from midwest farms."

💡 Here's the difference: Etsy SEO rewards keywords. AI rewards clarity. The shops that show up in AI results describe themselves in complete sentences, like they're answering a question — because that's literally what AI is doing.

The review pattern I didn't expect

I dug into the reviews of the shops ChatGPT recommended. They weren't necessarily better rated than mine — we all hover around 4.8 to 5 stars. But their reviews were different.

Mine mostly said things like "Love it!" or "Great candle, fast shipping." The competitors had reviews that told stories: "I bought this for my sister's birthday and she said it smells exactly like the lavender fields we visited in France." Long, specific, emotional.

AI picks up on that. When someone asks "best candle for a gift," a review that mentions gifting and describes the experience gives the AI something to work with. A review that says "5 stars love it" tells the AI nothing.

You can't control what customers write. But you can encourage detailed reviews by following up after delivery with a specific question — like "What did you think of the scent?" instead of just "Please leave a review."

The one thing that surprised me most

I tried asking ChatGPT the same question in different ways:

  • "Best handmade candle shop" — got one set of results
  • "Where to buy natural soy candles online" — completely different shops
  • "Unique candle gift for someone who has everything" — different again

Same product category, same type of store, but different recommendations each time. The AI was matching the intent of the question to how each shop describes itself. One competitor showed up for "gift" queries because their entire website talks about gifting. Another showed up for "natural" queries because they emphasize ingredients.

So it's not just about being visible to AI — it's about being visible for the right questions. And that comes down to how clearly you describe what you do and who it's for.

What I changed

I'm not going to pretend I fixed everything overnight. But here's what I did in the first week:

  • Set up a simple one-page website with a clear description of my shop, an About section, and a FAQ
  • Rewrote my Etsy shop description from keyword-stuffed to conversational
  • Added a "Who is this for?" section to my top 10 listings
  • Started following up with buyers asking a specific question about their experience

Will it work? I don't know yet. But when I ran my Semlo score before making changes, I was at 28. After one week of fixes, I'm at 51. The AI can see me now — whether it recommends me is the next question.

✅ Try it yourself: Open ChatGPT and ask it to recommend stores in your exact niche. If you're not on the list, you now know why — and what to do about it.