Who Does AI Recommend in Austin? A 20-Category Study

We asked ChatGPT and Google AI Mode “Who is the best [category] in Austin, Texas?” for 20 categories, and they mostly named different businesses: only 20 of ChatGPT's 79 picks (25%) were also on Google's list. ChatGPT's citations pointed to third-party ranking and review sites, Google's mostly pointed to Google Business Profiles, and a named business's own website was the cited source only 2 times out of 171.

What the AIs cited as evidence

Each answer showed the sources behind it: citation pills in ChatGPT, and a source panel or inline chips in Google AI Mode. The two engines leaned on different kinds of sources.

Google AI Mode cited Google Business Profiles in 15 of its 20 answers. In 11 of those answers, Business Profiles were the only source it cited.

ChatGPT cited third-party ranking, directory, and review sites. expertise.com was cited in 8 of its 20 answers and showed up among the sites it searched or cited in 13. ChatGPT also cited google.com pages, such as a Google Maps listing, in 6 answers and Yelp in 5.

Several sites ChatGPT relied on never appeared in a Google answer: expertise.com, trustanalytica.org, birdeye.com, siftpros.com, and bestprosintown.com. Reddit went the other way. Google cited Reddit threads in 3 answers (personal injury lawyer, property management company, and moving company), and Reddit did not appear anywhere in ChatGPT's 20 runs, cited or searched.

Some familiar review sites played a small role. Yelp was cited in 6 of the 40 answers, and bbb.org did not appear in any.

What the named businesses have in common

The two engines named 172 businesses in all. We left out Thumbtack, which Google named as a platform for private tutors. That leaves 171 local businesses.

Most of them had a website the answer linked to. A business's own site appeared next to 149 of the 171 (87%), usually as a website button on the business card.

The website was linked, but it was rarely the evidence. The sources cited for a recommendation pointed to the business's own site 2 times out of 171, both in Google AI Mode answers. None of the sources ChatGPT cited in its 20 answers was the website of a business it named.

On Google, the Business Profile carried the recommendation. Google's source panel tied 30 of its 92 named businesses to a specific source: 27 to their Google Business Profile, 2 to their own website, and 1 to a Thumbtack listing.

A website link was not required. 22 named businesses had no link to their own site in the answer. One veterinary clinic was named by both engines with no website link on either, and Google cited its Business Profile.

A high rating was not required either. Google named at least 3 businesses that it displayed with a rating of 3.0 or below. Ratings were not recorded for every card, and we did not verify them.

Google's sources and Google's list did not always match. In 8 of the 15 answers where Google cited Business Profiles, the source panel included profiles for businesses the answer did not name (12 in all). In 4 of those cases, the unnamed business was one that ChatGPT named in the same category.

Who each engine named first

Being named by one engine did not mean being named by the other. Only 20 of ChatGPT's 79 names (25%) were also on Google's list for the same category, or 22 (28%) if you count an attorney and an agent whose firms Google named. Even counting those, 4 categories had no business in common: electrician, dentist, CPA firm, and chiropractor.

The two engines named the same first business in 2 of 20 categories: moving company and personal injury lawyer. In family law they matched at the firm level, with ChatGPT naming an attorney at the firm Google named first. ChatGPT's first business appeared somewhere on Google's list in 7 categories, or 8 counting that firm-level match.

ChatGPT named 3.95 businesses per answer on average (2 to 5). Google AI Mode named 4.65 (3 to 6).

The table lists each engine's first business, as the answer named it. This is the order each answer gave. It is not our ranking, and a single run is not a stable ranking.

Other things we noticed

ChatGPT showed a sponsored ad below all 20 of its answers. Angi was the advertiser in 3. Some ads were not for local services at all, including a back brace from a sporting goods retailer, accounting software, and test prep. Google AI Mode showed a sponsored block in 3 answers: plumber, roofing company, and electrician.

ChatGPT's business cards had errors. In at least 5 answers, a card photo came from a different business's website, and one website link appeared to have two letters swapped.

Real estate and wedding photography looked different on Google. Google showed no business cards in either answer. In real estate it named brokerages and teams, not individual agents, and cited the Austin Business Journal and Luxury League. ChatGPT named individual agents and cited RealTrends, HomeLight, EffectiveAgents, and Zillow.

One business was named across categories. ABC Home & Commercial Services was named for plumber on both engines and for pest control on Google. No other business was named in more than 2 answers.

How we ran it

We asked one question per category, worded exactly: “Who is the best [category] in Austin, Texas?” The 20 categories were plumber, roofing company, HVAC company, electrician, dentist, family law attorney, personal injury lawyer, CPA firm, financial advisor, real estate agent, property management company, med spa, chiropractor, veterinarian, auto repair shop, landscaping company, pest control company, moving company, wedding photographer, and math tutor.

We asked two engines, ChatGPT (chatgpt.com) and Google AI Mode, both logged out in a clean browser with no account and no history. ChatGPT reported the model gpt-6-mini for every answer and ran its web search on its own. Neither engine was given a location; it came from the browser's network.

Each question ran once on each engine, for 40 answers in total, with no retries. Each ChatGPT question started a fresh chat, and only one question ran at a time. All runs were on October 20, 2026, between 2:38 and 4:16 p.m. Central.

For each answer we recorded the businesses named, in the order given, the sources the answer cited, and every other link on the page. "Cited" means the evidence the answer showed: ChatGPT's citation pills, and Google's source panel and inline chips. A business's own website counts as linked when it appeared as a website button, a link, or a card image, and as cited only when the answer showed it as evidence. Ads were recorded separately and left out of every count.

We matched businesses across the two engines by hand, by name and website. In two categories the match holds only at the firm level, because ChatGPT named a person and Google named that person's firm.

Limitations:

• One run per engine per category. Ask again and the names, the order, and the sources can change. No first business here is a stable ranking, and with 20 answers per engine, one answer moves any percentage by 5 points.
• Answers change. They vary between runs, by time, by location, and by whether you are signed in. Signed-in ChatGPT users may get a different model.
• Only two engines. Other AI assistants were not tested and may name different businesses.
• One afternoon, one place. Every run came from one network location over about 100 minutes.
• Partial answers. In 4 Google runs (HVAC company, dentist, family law attorney, and personal injury lawyer), an error appeared after the business list rendered. We kept the list that rendered. Two of these showed no source panel, so their cited sites were read from the page code.
• Hand matching. Websites were paired with Google's business cards by hand, and a few pairings may be wrong. Ratings mentioned here are what the engines displayed; we did not verify them.

What a business can do

These are patterns from 40 answers, not rules, but they point to a few practical steps. For step-by-step guides, read how to get recommended by ChatGPT and how to get recommended by every AI assistant.

The data file, with every business named and the sources for each answer, is available on request.

• Keep your Google Business Profile complete and current. Google AI Mode cited Business Profiles in 15 of 20 answers, and ChatGPT cited google.com pages in 6.
• Get listed, accurately, on the third-party sites that rank and review businesses in your field. ChatGPT's evidence came from sites like these, not from the businesses' own websites.
• Make your name, address, phone, and website match everywhere they appear. ChatGPT showed photos from other businesses' websites in at least 5 answers, and one link appeared misspelled.
• Keep your website clear about what you do and where. It was linked next to 87% of the businesses named, and it is where a customer goes after an AI names you.
• Know what people say about you on Reddit and review sites. Google cited Reddit threads in 3 answers, and in moving every source it showed was a Reddit thread.
• Ask the AI yourself, more than once. A single answer is a snapshot.

Questions about the study