Which businesses does AI recommend? What 162 answers show
For accounting firms, law firms and dental practices in Austin, Columbus and Denver, AI assistants named specific businesses in every answer to a 'who should I hire' question: 81 of 81 on Oct 12, 2026 (questions 1–3 of our 6, across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity; 162 answers in all). They rarely agreed on which: depending on the industry, 11–15% of the businesses named in a city were named there by more than one assistant (11% accounting, 14% law, 15% dental). And each industry leaned on its own set of sites.
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What did the assistants name, industry by industry?
One row per industry, all from the Oct 12, 2026 run.
| Industry | Answers naming a business (of 54) | Businesses named (per city, summed) | Named by 2+ assistants (same city) | Most-cited site type (of 36) | Assistants asked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting firms | 44 of 54 | 190 | 20 | firms' own websites (32 of 36) | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity |
| Law firms | 51 of 54 | 264 | 37 | legal directories and peer rankings (29 of 36) | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity |
| Dental practices | 45 of 54 | 154 | 23 | booking and review sites, tied with practices' own sites (26 of 36 each) | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity |
For dental practices, insurance was the check buyers were told to make in all 27 'how do I choose' answers. Single booking sites such as Opencare (19 of 36 ChatGPT and Perplexity answers) were cited far more often than any one practice's own website (at most 4 of 36).
Where can I read the details for each industry?
How did we run this?
On Oct 12, 2026 we asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, through their APIs with web search on, the 6 questions our free Quick Scan asks (3 'who should I hire', 3 'how do I choose'). We asked each question once, for each industry, in Austin, Columbus and Denver: 54 answers per industry. Each assistant was told it was helping a person looking for that kind of business and to recommend specific businesses, websites or resources by name where relevant. So this is a test of prompted recommendations, not of every way people ask. A second AI model listed the businesses each answer named, and we checked a sample of answers by hand. Businesses are counted per city. Cited sites come from ChatGPT and Perplexity only (36 answers per industry). One answer can cite several kinds of site, so the site-type figures overlap. We don't publish the businesses named.
What are the limits of this study?
- One run on one evening. Answers change from run to run, so these are samples, not rankings.
- These are API answers with web search on, and the city came from the question, not the person's location. The consumer apps can answer differently.
- The assistants were prompted to recommend by name where relevant, which likely raises how often they name businesses.
- A second AI model listed the business names and buyer checks, and we hand-checked a sample of 3 answers. Name matching is approximate: a spelling variant can split one firm in two.
- Businesses are counted per city, so a firm named in two cities counts twice.
- Cited sites cover ChatGPT and Perplexity only, and site types overlap.
- A site being cited often does not show that a listing on it causes a recommendation.
- We never publish the businesses that were named.
Which Answersky pages go with this study?
- Guide: what generative engine optimization is.
- Guide: what to fix first for AI search.
- Post: which websites AI cites when buyers ask.
- Check your own business with the free Quick Scan.
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