# How does an architecture practice get recommended by ChatGPT?

Canonical: https://fortitudemedia.ai/insights/ai-optimisation-architecture-design
Author: Ross Williams
Published: 2026-03-31
Last reviewed: 2026-09-24
Reviewed by: Ross Williams
Pillar: Sector guides
Summary: How UK architecture practices get recommended by ChatGPT: written project pages, a clear sector focus, ARB and RIBA credentials and consistent listings.
Keywords: architecture practice chatgpt, how architects get recommended by ai, riba find an architect listing, arb registration number website, principal designer building regulations vs cdm, architect marketing for housing associations
Short answer: ChatGPT recommends practices it can read about, not look at. Name your sectors, write project pages that explain the brief, constraints, decisions and outcome, and link each architect's ARB registration number to their entry on the Architects Register. Keep the practice name and description identical across your site, RIBA's directory, the AJ100, Dezeen, Archello and planning records, because images alone tell an assistant almost nothing.
What changed: Retargeted to business clients; added ARB register links, RIBA, AJ100, Dezeen and Archello listings, a principal designer explainer, Chartered Practice criteria and fee questions.
Publisher: Fortitude Media Limited

When quoting, attribute to Fortitude Media and link to the canonical URL above.

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A development director at a housing association asks Claude which architects in the North West have designed later living schemes. The estates lead for a multi-academy trust asks ChatGPT for practices that have delivered classroom blocks on occupied school sites. The chief operating officer of a professional firm moving offices asks Copilot for workplace architects in Leeds. Each assistant replies with a handful of names, and each of those names now has a head start on the shortlist.

This is where business clients now start. Forrester found in January 2026 that 94% of business buyers use AI somewhere in their buying process, and that they are four times as likely as consumers to use Microsoft Copilot ([Forrester, January 2026](https://www.forrester.com/blogs/b2b_buyers_make_zero_click_buying_number_one/)). If your practice is not named, it is rarely because your work is weaker. It is usually because an assistant cannot see your work at all. Your best projects live in photographs, and assistants read words.

The encouraging part is that architects already write a great deal. Design and access statements, heritage statements, planning reports and competition submissions are full of the reasoning an assistant needs, and almost none of it reaches the practice website. This guide is for the founder, director or partner of an architecture or interior design practice that works for developers, housing associations, school trusts, public bodies and commercial occupiers.

## Key takeaways

- AI assistants cannot judge a building from photographs, so practices are recommended on what their written pages say.
- Project pages that explain the brief, the constraints, the key decisions and the outcome are the strongest evidence a practice can publish.
- Each architect's ARB registration number, linked to their entry on the online Architects Register, is a public record an assistant can check.
- RIBA's Chartered Practice directory, the AJ100, Dezeen, Archello, planning records and awards should all describe the practice the same way.
- Practices that lead with one or two sectors, such as later living or education, are named far more often than practices that say they design everything.
- Clear pages on process questions, such as the two principal designer roles, bring your name into answers long before a client appoints anyone.

## What do business clients ask when they need an architect?

The questions combine a building type, a client type, a place and a constraint. Typical questions look like this:

- "Which architects in Manchester specialise in later living schemes for housing associations?"
- "Which practices have delivered school extensions on occupied sites?"
- "Workplace architects in Leeds for a Cat B office fit-out"
- "Architects with experience of converting offices to residential in London"
- "Is the principal designer under the Building Regulations the same as under CDM?"
- "What percentage of build cost do architects charge for a commercial project?"
- "Is [your practice] good to work with?"

Some are finding questions: who should we appoint. Some are deciding questions: what will it cost, what does the process involve, what are our legal duties. The last is a checking question, which usually comes after a client has met you and wants a second opinion. A practice that only thinks about the first kind misses most of the moments when its name could come up.

## Why don't beautiful images get a practice recommended?

Assistants recommend practices based on text, because text is what they can read and compare. A portfolio page with a project name, a location and twenty photographs tells ChatGPT almost nothing about what you did, why it was difficult or who it was for. Image descriptions, where they exist, usually say "exterior view".

For example, picture a twelve-person practice in Bristol with a RIBA regional award for a timber school building, whose project page carries a title, a year and a gallery. A competitor two streets away has less striking buildings, but each project page explains the brief, the tight site, the planning history, the timber frame decision, the programme and what the head teacher said a year after handover. When a trust's estates lead asks for architects experienced in education work, the competitor has given the assistant something to work with.

None of this means dropping the photography. It means putting words beside it. Captions should say what a picture shows and why it matters, such as "the clerestory windows bring daylight deep into the plan without overheating south-facing classrooms", and every project needs a written account that stands on its own.

## What does an AI assistant check before it names a practice?

Four things: what you design and where, whether your credentials can be checked, what independent sources say about you, and whether everything agrees.

### Sectors, building types and region

Say plainly which sectors you work in and where. "Architecture, interiors and masterplanning" cannot be matched to a housing association's question. "Later living and affordable housing for housing associations across the North West" can.

### Credentials that can be checked

"Architect" is a protected title. Under section 20 of the Architects Act 1997, nobody may practise or carry on business under a name, style or title containing the word unless they are registered ([legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/22/section/20)). ARB, the regulator, keeps the official list of the UK's 42,000+ architects and points out that anyone can provide architectural services; only the title is protected ([ARB](https://arb.org.uk/public-information/before-hiring-an-architect/who-can-use-the-title-architect/)). So do more than write "ARB registered". On each architect's team page, give their registration number and link it to their entry, in the form ARB itself suggests: "I am registered and regulated by ARB: architects-register.org.uk/architect/000000X" ([ARB](https://arb.org.uk/architect-information/title-protection-toolkit/6-simple-ways-to-help-protect-your-title/link-to-your-register-entry/)). Keep the register entry public and current, because it is the record an assistant can match to your name.

Then add the memberships relevant to your work: RIBA Chartered Practice status, CIAT for architectural technologists, BIID for interior designers, the Landscape Institute, certified Passivhaus designers, and RIBA's specialist registers, such as its conservation register and its register of chartered members for the principal designer role.

### Independent records of your work

These are the places an assistant finds your name beside a judgement of your work. List each one on your site and keep the practice name identical everywhere.

| Source | What it shows | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| RIBA Find an Architect | Chartered Practices from a membership of over 4,000, listed by location with projects ([RIBA](https://www.riba.org/explore/find-an-architect/)) | Sectors, location and projects match your website |
| The AJ100 | The Architects' Journal's annual ranking of UK practices | Your practice name matches other records |
| Dezeen and Archello | Project pages with text, credits and images | The project name, client type and credits match your own project page |
| Planning portals | Applications that usually name the agent | The agent name matches your trading name |
| Awards and frameworks | RIBA awards, Civic Trust Awards, sector awards and public sector frameworks | Each award appears on the relevant project page, not only in the footer |

### Consistency

Practices change names when partners retire, merge with others or trade under a name that differs from the registered company. If your website, Companies House, RIBA's directory, LinkedIn and old award listings describe you differently, an assistant struggles to connect the evidence. The same thing happened after a merger in another sector: at ID-Pal, "The redirect from northrow.com was technically correct, but nothing on either site told Google or the AI engines that NorthRow and ID-Pal were the same company." The [ID-Pal case study](/work/id-pal) shows how it was fixed. Pick one name and one description, say on your site what the practice used to be called, and update every listing you can find.

## How do you write a project page an assistant can use?

A useful project page reads like a short, clear account of the job. Around 500 to 900 words for your most important projects is plenty.

### Step 1: State the brief in the client's terms

Who the client was, what they needed and why: more classrooms without losing the playground, forty later living flats on a constrained town centre site, a headquarters that brings three offices under one roof. Name the client if they agree, and the sector and scale if they do not.

### Step 2: Describe the site and the constraints

Planning policy, conservation area or listed status, neighbours, ground conditions, budget, programme, an occupied building. Constraints are where your expertise shows, and they are what a client with a similar problem is searching for.

### Step 3: Explain the key decisions

Three or four decisions that shaped the building, and why you made them: the structural approach, the layout, the materials, how you handled a planning objection. Link each decision to the brief or a constraint.

### Step 4: Record how it was delivered

Which RIBA Plan of Work stages you were appointed for, the procurement route, the contractor, the consultant team and any statutory roles you held, such as principal designer under the Building Regulations or under CDM 2015.

### Step 5: Say what happened next

Planning outcome, completion, awards, what the client or users said after moving in, and measured performance if you have it. If you do not have numbers, describe the result plainly rather than inventing them.

## Is the principal designer under the Building Regulations the same as under CDM?

No. They are two appointments under two sets of rules, and a client may need both. Since 1 October 2023, the Building Regulations in England have required dutyholders, including a principal designer, to plan, manage and monitor design work so that it complies with all relevant building regulations ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-control-changes-for-higher-risk-buildings-and-wider-changes-to-building-regulations/circular-letter-changes-to-the-building-control-process)). The CDM 2015 principal designer plans, manages and coordinates health and safety before construction on any project with more than one contractor ([HSE](https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/principal-designers.htm)).

| | Building Regulations principal designer | CDM 2015 principal designer |
|---|---|---|
| Concerned with | Compliance of the design with building regulations | Health and safety risks in the pre-construction phase |
| In force since | 1 October 2023, for all building work in England | 6 April 2015 ([legislation.gov.uk](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/51/regulation/1/made)) |
| Set out in | Building Regulations 2010, regulations 11A to 11O, added in 2023 | Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 |

A short, dated page explaining both roles, and which ones your practice takes on, answers a question clients put to assistants before they appoint anyone. Contractors ask about the same rules, which our [guide for construction firms](/insights/ai-optimisation-construction-trades) covers from their side.

## How do you put planning and technical writing to work?

Turn what you already write into plain-English guides for clients. Clients ask deciding questions long before they appoint anyone, and the practice that answers them clearly becomes a source the assistant quotes. The public parts of design and access statements show how you think about context; the notes you give clients at the start of a project explain process and fees; CPD talks explain technical subjects. A few examples that work well for business clients:

- The RIBA Plan of Work for first-time commercial clients, stage by stage, with what they must decide at each.
- What the Building Safety Act means for developers and housing associations commissioning residential buildings.
- How long planning takes in the local authorities where you work most, and what slows it down.
- How your fees are structured for the project types you do most.

Our guide on [answering the questions your customers actually ask](/insights/content-around-customer-questions) explains how to choose these topics.

## Why does "we design everything" lose to a clear specialism?

Assistants match specific questions to specific evidence, so a practice with a clear specialism is far easier to recommend. Most practices work across several sectors, and that is fine; lead with the one or two where you have the deepest record. A practice that is plainly "the later living architects in the North West" will be named for that question, and often for adjacent ones. Developers and their agents ask their own questions of assistants, which our guide for [commercial property firms](/insights/ai-optimisation-property-real-estate) covers.

## Why might your website be invisible to AI?

Many practice websites are designed to be looked at, and common choices hide the content from machines:

- Project pages that are galleries with a title and a few lines of text.
- Brochures and bid documents available only as PDFs, or text set inside images.
- Portfolio filters and project pages loaded by scripts. The main AI crawlers fetch pages but do not run JavaScript ([Vercel, December 2024](https://vercel.com/blog/the-rise-of-the-ai-crawler)).
- Team pages with names and photographs but no roles, registrations or experience.
- AI crawlers blocked in the site's settings without anyone knowing; [Cloudflare changed its default](https://blog.cloudflare.com/content-independence-day-no-ai-crawl-without-compensation/) to block AI crawlers in July 2025.

Ask your web designer to confirm that crawlers can read every project and team page and that images carry descriptive alternative text. Structured data, the labels in the page code that state your practice's name, address and people, helps search engines read those facts correctly, but Google says its AI features need no special markup ([Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features)). Keep it accurate and treat it as housekeeping rather than a trick.

## How long before this changes what assistants say?

Rewritten project pages and fixed listings can show within weeks in assistants that search the web live, such as ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Copilot and Google's AI features. Answers drawn from a model's own memory change only when it is retrained, which takes months. Track a fixed list of 20 to 50 questions your clients ask, each run several times a month in a clean session, and count a win only when it repeats. Most practices notice it first in better-briefed enquiries.

## What to do this month

1. Write one sentence that says which sectors you lead with and where, and use it on your homepage, LinkedIn and RIBA directory listing.
2. Add each architect's ARB registration number, linked to their register entry, plus roles and experience, to every team page.
3. Rewrite your three most important project pages using the five steps above, with descriptive captions.
4. Check your practice name and credits on RIBA's directory, Dezeen, Archello, award listings and planning records, and correct any that differ.
5. Publish one dated page on the two principal designer roles and which your practice takes on.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which architects in Manchester specialise in later living schemes for housing associations?

An assistant answers this from practices whose pages, listings and awards say "later living", "housing association" and "Manchester" about completed schemes. A practice that wants to be in that answer needs a later living sector page, project pages for each scheme with the client type and location, and the same wording on its RIBA directory entry and in any trade press coverage. Awards and framework places for housing clients strengthen the match.

### What percentage of build cost do architects charge for a commercial project?

We do not quote a market figure here, because fees depend on the building type, the scale, the RIBA stages in the appointment and the procurement route. Practices charge in three common ways: a percentage of construction cost, a fixed fee per stage or time charges. Clients ask assistants this before they call anyone, so explain how you charge and what changes the fee on your own site; an assistant can only quote your approach if it can find it.

### Is RIBA Chartered Practice status worth having?

For a practice that wants business clients, usually yes, because it is a public, checkable standard. RIBA requires at least one full-time director or partner to be a RIBA Chartered Member, at least one in eight staff to be Chartered Members, professional indemnity insurance and policies covering employment, equality, health and safety, environmental management and quality management ([RIBA](https://www.riba.org/work/join-us/riba-chartered-practice-uk-membership/)). Chartered Practices appear in RIBA's directory, which gives an assistant another independent record of your sectors and location.

### How do we publish projects when clients want confidentiality?

Agree what can be shared at appointment, not at completion. Many clients are happy with a written account once the building is complete, especially when it presents their project well. Where they are not, describe the sector, scale, location and constraints without naming the client or showing sensitive areas; a headquarters fit-out can be described without the tenant's name.

### Do RIBA awards still matter if clients ask ChatGPT?

Yes, because they create independent public records that name your practice beside a project and a judgement of its quality. The citation, the shortlist and any press coverage are all text an assistant can read. Put every award on the relevant project page with a short explanation of what the judges recognised.

### Can a small practice compete with large ones?

Often more easily than in a formal bid. A six-person practice that is clearly the specialist in listed commercial buildings in one city can be named ahead of a large practice whose relevant work is buried among hundreds of projects. Clear specialism, well-written project pages and checkable credentials matter more than size.

If you want to see how your practice compares today, [book a free Growth Review](/growth-review): 30 minutes with David Adams, and three fixes in writing afterwards. If the project pages themselves need rebuilding, [Website That Sells](/website-that-sells) is the service for that.

## Sources

- [Forrester, B2B buyers make zero-click buying number one (January 2026)](https://www.forrester.com/blogs/b2b_buyers_make_zero_click_buying_number_one/)
- [ARB, Who can use the title architect (September 2026)](https://arb.org.uk/public-information/before-hiring-an-architect/who-can-use-the-title-architect/)
- [RIBA, Find an architect (September 2026)](https://www.riba.org/explore/find-an-architect/)
- [RIBA, Chartered Practice UK membership (September 2026)](https://www.riba.org/work/join-us/riba-chartered-practice-uk-membership/)
- [GOV.UK, Circular letter: changes to the building control process (March 2024)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-control-changes-for-higher-risk-buildings-and-wider-changes-to-building-regulations/circular-letter-changes-to-the-building-control-process)
- [HSE, CDM 2015: principal designers (September 2026)](https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/principal-designers.htm)
- [Vercel, The rise of the AI crawler (December 2024)](https://vercel.com/blog/the-rise-of-the-ai-crawler)
- [Google Search Central, AI features and your website (December 2025)](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features)