Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitor's visa agency instead of mine? (Malaysia)

In our test, ChatGPT named no visa agency, yours or a competitor's, in 16 of 18 answers. It sent employers to the Immigration Department's Expatriate Services Division (ESD) and MYXpats Centre instead, saying the company applies for the employment pass itself. The two answers that did name firms copied them from government registers: JTKSM's licensed private employment agencies, and Immigration's authorised Premium Visa Programme agents. No answer cited an agency's own website. Our reading: a competitor gets named when ChatGPT can check it on an official list, and possibly in the follow-up shortlist it kept offering, which we didn't test.

We can see who was named, not who was left out, so we compare what the named firms had in common (CSV).

Does ChatGPT send Malaysian employers to a visa agency or to ESD and MYXpats for a new employment pass?

For a new employment pass, ChatGPT sent Malaysian employers to ESD and MYXpats, not to a visa agency, in every answer to our two new-pass questions. Each said the employer, not the foreign hire, files through ESD's system. Asked which agency can help, it named MYXpats Centre itself in every run; private help appeared only as a type, such as a "licensed immigration consultant".

What does ChatGPT tell a Malaysian employer renewing an employment pass and dependant pass?

For renewals, ChatGPT told Malaysian employers that the company renews both passes through its own ESD account, and named no agency in any of its three runs. One run said: "I can't safely recommend a specific agency without checking current listings and legitimacy."

Every renewal answer then offered to find agencies, two of them by city. Overall, ChatGPT offered a shortlist in 14 of 18 answers, a follow-up we didn't send.

What kind of visa agency does ChatGPT name when a Malaysian employer asks for the best one?

When a Malaysian employer asked for the best visa agency in KL, ChatGPT named firms in only one of three runs. That run took three KL firms from the Immigration Department's list of authorised Premium Visa Programme agencies, a different scheme from the employment pass.

The other two runs listed checks to make instead:

• licence, registration or authorisation;
• clear fees and turnaround;
• recent reviews or client references;
• an office in KL, and dependant pass support.

Two of the three runs warned against agencies promising guaranteed approval.

Asked in Chinese, ChatGPT ran every search in English, the pattern our language study found for most Chinese questions. A run named four firms from JTKSM's list of licensed private employment agencies. Asked in Malay, it didn't search and named no one.

What did ChatGPT repeat about the visa agencies it named in Malaysia?

ChatGPT repeated registration facts about the firms it named on 18 October; an earlier answer from a different model repeated agencies' own service claims. On 2 October, chat-latest answered "best employment pass agent in Malaysia" by naming five agencies, each linked to its own homepage. It is one answer to a different question: an example, kept apart from the 18.

The register facts had a catch: ChatGPT explained that category C licences cover foreign employees, then listed a category A firm. Our reading: being on a list didn't mean the firm fitted the job.

What does your competitor's page tell ChatGPT that your visa agency's page may not?

Named firms could be checked on a register; in the earlier answer, the agencies' own sites spelled out their ESD work. Give ChatGPT both.

1. See the answer your clients get. EasyFound's free check shows what ChatGPT tells an HR manager who asks, say, "We're hiring an engineer from India for our Bangsar office. Which agency can handle his employment pass and his wife's dependant pass?" We then go through it with you on a free call.
2. Write your licences as text, as the register shows them. If you hold a JTKSM private employment agency licence, give its number, category and validity dates; JTKSM says licence C covers job placement for a "non-citizen employee within Malaysia" (JTKSM). Add your SSM number.
3. Describe your role without borrowing ESD's. ESD and MYXpats "DO NOT appoint nor authorise any third-party individuals or private agencies to represent or conduct ANY operations or business dealings on behalf of either ESD or MYXpats" (ESD notice, 8 March 2023). Say what you do for the employer: ESD company registration, preparing pass applications for the company's ESD account, renewals and dependant passes. ESD's own FAQ names a "Private Employment Agency" among those who may submit a Section 60K application, the JTKSM approval to hire a foreign employee (Xpats Gateway FAQ).
4. Give each pass its own page, with fees and timing. Separate your fee from government fees, quote ESD's published processing times, and never promise approval.
5. Put your office address and the areas you serve in text, such as KL, the Klang Valley, Penang or Johor Bahru.

EasyFound is an AI search visibility (GEO) tool built for Malaysian businesses. For an employment pass or visa agency, it asks AI engines the questions HR managers ask and shows whether your agency gets named or the employer is sent straight to MYXpats. Our team can run it for you through our AI SEO service.