Does ChatGPT recommend local contractors? We asked three AI tools 575 times.

More homeowners now skip the search results and ask an AI tool directly: "Who's the best plumber near me?" Scorpion's 2026 homeowner research found about 1 in 5 already use AI tools to research or find recommendations. Owners want to know two things. Does it actually name local businesses? And how do you get named?

We asked, a lot.

What we did

On October 13 and 14, 2026, we asked three AI tools the same kind of question 575 times: "Who are the best [trade] near [town, state]?" The questions covered 43 home-service trades in more than 180 U.S. towns, mostly smaller markets. Each question went to:

• ChatGPT, with web search turned on
• Gemini
• Google's AI Mode

That's 1,725 answers. For each one we recorded which businesses it named and which websites it cited.

One caution up front: AI answers change from one asking to the next. A single answer never proves an AI "doesn't recommend" a business. Patterns across hundreds of answers are more reliable, and that's what we report here.

What we found

Yes, they name local businesses

All three tools usually answered with a short list of real local companies. ChatGPT named the most, a median of 5 businesses per answer. Gemini and AI Mode named a median of 3.

The three tools mostly disagree

This was the biggest surprise. In only about a quarter of the 575 questions did at least one business appear in all three answers. Across the three tools, a typical question produced 8 different business names.

So "being recommended by AI" isn't one thing. A business can be ChatGPT's first pick and absent from Gemini's answer to the same question.

ChatGPT trusts directories and review sites

When ChatGPT cited its sources (559 of its 575 answers), these were the most common:

In other words, ChatGPT often builds its answer from the same directories a homeowner might check, plus the businesses' own websites.

Gemini and AI Mode rarely cite outside websites

Gemini and AI Mode cited outside websites far less often (in 116 and 94 of their 575 answers). Both are Google products, so they can draw on Google's own business information. A complete, accurate Google Business Profile is the safest bet for those two.

Ranking first on Maps helps, but doesn't guarantee a mention

In 214 of the questions, we could compare the AI answers to the business that ranked first at the most of our Google Maps checkpoints for the same trade and town. ChatGPT named that Maps leader in about 60% of those answers, AI Mode in about 45%, and Gemini in about 41%. A strong Maps position helps a lot. It doesn't make you the AI's pick on its own.

How to get named more often

Based on what the tools actually cite, here's where to put the work:

1. Your Google Business Profile. It's Google's own record of your business, and it drives your Maps ranking. Complete it, use the right category, and keep reviews coming. See the profile checklist.
2. The directories ChatGPT reads. Claim and fill out your profiles on Angi, BBB and Yelp at minimum, with the same name, phone and website as on Google. Encourage some reviews there too, not only on Google.
3. A website AI can read. Clear pages that say what you do, where you work, your phone number and how long you've been in business, written in plain sentences. Structured data (code that labels your business details for machines) helps. More in do you need a website if you have a Google profile.
4. Consistency. If your business name, address or phone differs between sites, an AI tool may treat them as different businesses, or skip you.

Check whether AI names you

You can ask ChatGPT yourself, but remember the results change between askings and depend on where you are. The free KarpOS audit checks whether major AI assistants mention your business for the searches you care about, alongside your Google Maps rank across your area.

Quick answers