How do ChatGPT and other AI tools choose local businesses? I checked 1,352 picks against Google Maps
I asked ChatGPT to name the best plumbers, dentists, electricians, mechanics, hair salons and real estate agents in four cities, three times each. Then I asked Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google’s AI Mode the same questions, and checked every name against Google Maps.
Tayyab Hussain · 9 min readOriginal data, collected on 2 and 3 October 2026. Every finding here comes from it, and you can check it yourself.
- AI picks checked
- 1,352
- answers from 5 AI tools
- 168
- searches in 4 cities
- 24
- Google Maps listings
- 480
The short answer
Mostly from the businesses Google Maps already shows, but not in Google’s order. On 2 October 2026 I asked ChatGPT 24 local questions, three times each. 70% of the 540 businesses it named were in Google Maps’ top 20 for the same search. Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google’s own AI Mode followed Maps less, at 35% to 50%. But all five had the same habit: their picks typically had more than twice the reviews of the ones they skipped.
Key takeaways
- Mostly Google’s businesses. 70% of the 540 businesses ChatGPT named were in Google Maps’ top 20 for the same search.
- Not Google’s order. ChatGPT named Maps’ number one business in only 39 of 72 answers (54%).
- Reviews win, on every AI tool. All five tools’ picks typically had more than twice the reviews of the businesses they skipped.
- Google’s numbers, word for word. All 239 times ChatGPT gave a rating and review count for a Maps business, both matched Google.
- Other AI tools follow Maps less. Share of picks in Maps’ top 20, one ask each: ChatGPT 69%, Google AI Mode 50%, Gemini 45%, Claude 44%, Perplexity 35%.
- A new list every time. Of 289 businesses ChatGPT named across three asks, only 100 (35%) showed up all three times.
What exactly did I test?
I asked ChatGPT and four other AI tools the same simple question for 24 local searches. Then I checked every answer against Google Maps.
The searches were six trades in four cities: plumbers, dentists, electricians, car mechanics, hair salons and real estate agents, in Austin, Manchester, Toronto and Dubai.
The question never changed: “What are the best [trade] in [city]?” For ChatGPT, I used a new chat every time and wasn’t signed in. I asked each question three times, because AI answers change from one ask to the next. That gave me 72 answers.
ChatGPT gets the deep look, because it’s the one I asked three times. I also asked Gemini, Google AI Mode, Claude and Perplexity the same 24 questions, once each. All five are compared further down.
On 2 October 2026 I wrote down the first 20 businesses Google Maps showed for “[trade] in [city]”, with the ads left out. A business only counts as a match if it’s the same business, at the same branch, as the one on Maps. I checked the unclear ones by hand.
One thing to keep in mind: these are snapshots of two days, mostly signed out. If you’re signed in, you may see something different.
Want to check my work? Here’s the full dataset, and the page that explains every step.
How many of ChatGPT’s picks are on Google Maps?
Most of them. 70% of the businesses ChatGPT named were somewhere in Google Maps’ top 20 for the same search. But fewer than half were in the top 7.
Across the 72 answers, ChatGPT named 540 businesses, between 5 and 10 each time. 378 of them (70%) were in Maps’ top 20 for that search. 231 (43%) made the top 7. The other 162 (30%) weren’t in the top 20 at all.
Every single answer had at least one business from Maps’ top 20.
Where ChatGPT’s 540 picks sit on Google Maps
All businesses named in 72 ChatGPT answers, 2 October 2026
- Maps top 7 · 231 businesses
- Maps 8 to 20 · 147 businesses
- Not in Maps top 20 · 162 businesses
Source: My local AI audit, ChatGPT and Google Maps, 2 October 2026.
Think of it like this. ChatGPT shops from roughly the same shelf as Google, then picks differently. Being in Google’s top 20 seems to get you considered. It doesn’t decide whether you make the final list.
Does ChatGPT pick Google’s top results?
Not reliably. ChatGPT named Google Maps’ number one business in 54% of its answers, just over half. And its order rarely matched Google’s.
On average, each answer named 1.85 of Maps’ top 3. 15 of the 72 answers named all three. 4 named none of them. And here’s an odd one: Maps’ number three got named more often (in 50 answers) than its number one (in 39).
Austin plumbers show how this plays out. All three times, ChatGPT put Radiant Plumbing first. On Maps, Radiant was number 8. But it had 17,959 reviews, almost seven times as many as Maps’ number one, Beyond Wow Plumbing & Drains, with 2,597. ChatGPT listed Beyond Wow second every time.
And Maps’ number three? A firm with 444 reviews and a Facebook page instead of a website. It didn’t make any of the three answers.
How often ChatGPT named each of Google Maps’ top 7
How many of the 72 answers named the business in each Maps spot
Bars run from 0 to 100%. Source: My local AI audit, 2 October 2026.
“Local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity.”
Google’s order depends partly on where you’re searching from. ChatGPT was asked about a whole city, so it had no location to go on. It seems to lean on reputation instead: big, well-reviewed names first.
Does it depend on the city or the trade?
Yes, a lot. The match with Google Maps was highest in Austin and Manchester and lowest in Dubai. By trade, it went from 90% for electricians down to 48% for dentists.
ChatGPT picks in Google Maps’ top 20, by city
Of the businesses ChatGPT named, the share in Maps’ top 20 for the same search
Bars run from 0 to 100%. Source: My local AI audit, 2 October 2026.
ChatGPT picks on Google Maps, by trade
Four cities, three asks each, 2 October 2026
| Trade | Businesses named | In Maps top 7 | In Maps top 20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician | 89 | 52% | 90% |
| Real estate agent | 89 | 54% | 78% |
| Plumber | 82 | 32% | 76% |
| Hair salon | 101 | 40% | 70% |
| Car mechanic | 86 | 49% | 59% |
| Dentist | 93 | 31% | 48% |
Source: My local AI audit, 2 October 2026.
Dentists stand out. Fewer than half of ChatGPT’s dentist picks were in Maps’ top 20, and under a third made the top 7. One day and four cities can’t explain gaps like these, so I treat them as patterns to watch, not rules.
Will ChatGPT give the same list if you ask again?
No. Ask the same question three times and only about a third of the businesses show up every time.
Across the 24 searches, ChatGPT’s three answers named 289 different businesses. Only 100 of them (35%) were in all three. The rest came and went.
The steadiest search was Manchester hair salons, where 8 of 11 names showed up all three times. The least steady were Dubai real estate agents and Dubai car mechanics. There, just 1 of 17 and 1 of 16 names showed up every time.
That fits what SparkToro found in a much bigger test of brand recommendations, published in January 2026. Across 2,961 runs by 600 volunteers, there was less than a 1 in 100 chance that ChatGPT or Google’s AI gave the same list twice.
So one screenshot of ChatGPT recommending you, or leaving you out, proves very little. What counts is how often you show up across several asks, not where you show up in one.
Do Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google’s AI Mode choose the same way?
Not quite. All four followed Google Maps less than ChatGPT did. But every one of them went for businesses with lots of reviews.
I asked Gemini, Google AI Mode, Claude and Perplexity the same 24 questions, once each. To keep it fair, I compare them with ChatGPT’s first ask only, so every tool gets one answer per question. The last column is the median number of Google reviews: for the Maps top 20 businesses each tool picked, against the ones it skipped.
Five AI tools against Google Maps
One ask per question, 24 answers each (ChatGPT: its first ask). ChatGPT and Gemini signed out on 2 October 2026. The other three signed in on 3 October.
| AI tool | Picks per answer | In Maps top 20 | Answers naming Maps #1 | Typical reviews, picked vs skipped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 7.4 | 69% | 63% | 507 vs 225 |
| Google AI Mode | 6.7 | 50% | 42% | 546 vs 227 |
| Gemini | 5.2 | 45% | 29% | 810 vs 243 |
| Claude | 9.3 | 44% | 46% | 632 vs 233 |
| Perplexity | 12.7 | 35% | 29% | 502 vs 228 |
Source: My local AI audit, five AI tools and Google Maps, 2 and 3 October 2026.
Google AI Mode is Google’s own AI, yet only half its picks were in Google Maps’ top 20. 3 of its 24 answers also had a “Sponsored” ad inside the answer itself.
Claude used Google’s map data for most trades and repeated Google’s star rating almost every time. For real estate agents it searched the web instead, said there’s no objective “best” agent, and warned that many ranking sites are lead-generation platforms.
Perplexity named the most businesses, about 13 per answer, and never showed a map. It cited about 10 web pages each time, almost all directories and “best of” lists like Yelp, Angi and Thumbtack. When it quoted a Google review count, it was usually out of date: only 3 of 43 were within 2% of Maps.
Gemini, signed out, runs Google’s lighter model. It named the fewest businesses, about 5 per answer, and its match with Maps fell to 18% in Dubai.
Different tools, same habit. Every one of them picked businesses with more than twice the reviews of the ones it skipped. So whichever AI your customers use, reviews on your Google listing look like the safest bet. Perplexity leans on directories, so being listed on them matters too.
What should a local business do first?
Here’s my reading of this data. Start with your Google listing, because the AI tools lean on it. Then build up the reviews and directory listings they seem to draw on.
- Keep ranking on Google first70% of ChatGPT’s picks, and 35% to 50% of the other tools’ picks, were in Google Maps’ top 20.
- Get your Google listing rightChatGPT, Claude and Google AI Mode repeated Google’s star rating almost every time they showed one.
- Keep the reviews comingOn all five AI tools, the businesses picked typically had more than twice the reviews of the ones skipped.
- Be listed where it looksChatGPT cited web pages in every answer, and Perplexity about 10 each time, mostly directories. Make sure you’re on the ones for your trade and city.
- Check more than one AI tool, more than onceChatGPT’s list changed with every ask, and each AI tool followed Google differently.
Questions people ask
Does ranking first on Google Maps mean ChatGPT will recommend me?
Not on its own. In my test on 2 October 2026, ChatGPT named Google Maps’ number one business in 39 of 72 answers, 54%. It often picked businesses further down the Maps list that had a lot more reviews. Ranking well on Maps helps, since 70% of its picks were in Maps’ top 20. But it doesn’t decide the answer.
Does ChatGPT use Google Maps data?
I can’t tell you where ChatGPT gets its data, and it doesn’t follow Google’s order. Here’s what I can tell you. ChatGPT gave an exact rating and review count for a business on the Maps list 239 times. All 239 matched Google Maps on the same day, 2 October 2026. Whatever it’s reading matches Google’s listings exactly.
Do Perplexity, Claude and Gemini recommend the same businesses as ChatGPT?
Not quite. I asked all of them the same 24 local questions, once each, on 2 and 3 October 2026. 69% of ChatGPT’s picks were in Google Maps’ top 20. For the others it was 50% (Google AI Mode), 45% (Gemini), 44% (Claude) and 35% (Perplexity). But all five typically picked businesses with more than twice the reviews of the ones they skipped.
Why does ChatGPT give a different list every time?
Because it writes every answer fresh, so the list moves around. I asked the same 24 questions three times in October 2026. ChatGPT named 289 businesses, and only 100 of them, 35%, were in all three answers. SparkToro’s bigger 2026 study found the same thing. So judge your visibility across many asks, not one.
Did the city or the trade change the results?
Yes. In Austin and Manchester, 77% of ChatGPT’s picks were in Google Maps’ top 20 for the same search. In Dubai it was 58%. By trade, it ran from 90% for electricians down to 48% for dentists, in my October 2026 test. Treat these as patterns to watch, not rules.
Sources
- Local AI audit dataset: five AI tools vs Google Maps (CSV, 1,352 rows)Tayyab Hussain · Collected 2 and 3 October 2026
- How I ran the local AI audit (the full method)Tayyab Hussain · 3 October 2026
- Tips to improve your local ranking on GoogleGoogle Business Profile Help · Checked 3 October 2026
- NEW Research: AIs are highly inconsistent when recommending brands or products; marketers should take care when tracking AI visibilitySparkToro (Rand Fishkin) · Published 28 January 2026
How I checked this. I opened every source linked here and checked each figure and each quotation against the source page, most recently on 3 October 2026. Anything in a box marked “My reading” is my own interpretation, not a finding of the sources. Studies change and new ones appear, so I will update this piece and change its dates when the evidence does.