A marketing chief found ChatGPT describing her company badly

Leila Dillon, chief marketing officer at energy company Ameresco, asked ChatGPT and other AI chatbots what her company does. The answers were wrong enough that she called them "quite horrifying." The tools kept calling Ameresco a cleantech or renewable energy business. Business Insider reports on how she is fixing it.

What the chatbots got wrong

Ameresco is a publicly traded energy infrastructure provider. It helps power the fast-growing AI buildout, as well as military bases and municipal facilities. Renewable energy is still part of its work, but less of a focus. The chatbots also pointed to smaller projects from years ago. "That's not at all who we are," Dillon recalled thinking.

How the company responded

In January 2025, Dillon's team and its PR agency, Greenough, began testing how often Ameresco showed up in answers to 50 questions. One example was "What are the top energy infrastructure providers in the US?" The questions were meant to mirror what investors and customers, such as universities and utilities, might ask. Platforms tested included ChatGPT and Claude.

The audit found 47 areas to improve. They covered how the company described itself on its website, social media, press releases and executive communications. Ameresco then changed its messaging and how it structures its content. In July this year it began rolling out a new brand identity built around two pillars: power infrastructure, and buildings and public infrastructure.

What the numbers show

• Ameresco appeared in 61% of the 50 answers in 2026, up from 43% in 2025, per the company.
• Organic traffic to its website rose 50% in the 12 months to June 2026.
• Dillon says it is too early to say how that translates into business results.

Why other businesses should care

Many people now use chatbots to research companies. Dillon says she barely uses Google anymore and prefers Copilot. Marketers are reacting. In a January survey from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 73% of US brand and agency buyers planned to spend more time or resources on content for AI answers in 2026. This work is often called generative engine optimization, or GEO.

Errors are common. A Semrush survey of US marketers in April found 30% said AI search tools had described their brands inaccurately.

What happens next

No one has a sure recipe. AI companies keep updating their models, so results shift. "What happened last week is not what you're going to get this week," Dillon said. Ameresco rechecks its scores regularly and trains its marketing team. Its third-quarter earnings report is scheduled for November 9.