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Local AI report, October 2026

ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini named the same local business first for 9 of 40 questions

We asked ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini 40 questions people ask when they hire a dentist, injury lawyer, plumber, med spa or HVAC company in Austin, Texas. For 31 of them, at least one engine put a different business first.

Recorded September 25, 2026. 120 answers, 5 local markets, 829 cited pages.

22.5%

of questions got the same first business from all three engines (9 of 40)

Rank.ai, September 25, 2026

52.3%

of businesses named for a question were named by one engine only (255 of 488)

Rank.ai, September 25, 2026

288

different businesses named in 120 answers

Rank.ai, September 25, 2026

70.1%

of cited pages were on business websites (581 of 829)

Rank.ai, September 25, 2026

Named first

The three engines agreed on the first business for 9 of 40 questions

Two engines often agreed while the third named someone else. ChatGPT and Claude put the same business first least often: 14 of 40 questions.

How often ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini named the same business first

Share of questionsCount
All three named the same business first22.5%9 of 40
Two of the three agreed60.0%24 of 40
Each engine named a different business first17.5%7 of 40

Share of the 40 questions. One Gemini answer (affordable plumber in Austin) named no business and pointed to directories; that question counts in the last row. Source: Rank.ai, answers recorded September 25, 2026. Download the data.

MarketAll threeTwo of threeAll different
Dentists143
Injury lawyers440
Plumbers161
Med spas332
HVAC071

Questions per market (8 each) by how many engines named the same business first. Recorded September 25, 2026.

EnginesSame first businessShare
ChatGPT and Claude14 of 4035.0%
ChatGPT and Gemini19 of 3948.7%
Claude and Gemini18 of 3946.2%

Questions where both engines named a business, by whether they named the same one first.

Overlap

52.3% of the businesses named for a question came from one engine only

For each question we pooled every business any engine named: 488 in all. 97 of them were named by all three engines.

How many engines named each business, question by question

Share of businesses namedCount
Named by one engine only52.3%255 of 488
Named by two engines27.9%136 of 488
Named by all three engines19.9%97 of 488

Share of the 488 businesses named across the 40 questions, counting a business once per question. Source: Rank.ai, answers recorded September 25, 2026. Download the data.

MarketBusinesses namedNamed by one engine only
Dentists7654.9%
Injury lawyers4642.7%
Plumbers5957.3%
Med spas6349.5%
HVAC4955.7%

Businesses named: every business any engine named across the market's 8 questions. Named by one engine only: of each question's businesses, the share only one engine named. Recorded September 25, 2026.

Sources

70.1% of the pages the answers cited were on business websites

yelp.com was the most cited single site, with 84 of 829 citations, then reddit.com with 44. The answers cited 213 different sites.

What the answers cited, by type of site

Share of citationsCount
Business websites70.1%581 of 829
Review sites and directories20.4%169 of 829
Reddit and social media8.0%66 of 829
News and magazines1.6%13 of 829

Share of the 829 pages the 120 answers cited, grouped by the site each page is on. Source: Rank.ai, answers recorded September 25, 2026. Download every site.

#SiteTypeCitationsShare
1yelp.comDirectory8410.1%
2reddit.comSocial445.3%
3angi.comDirectory232.8%
4facebook.comSocial192.3%
5vivadayspa.comBusiness site192.3%
6abacusplumbing.comBusiness site161.9%
7personalinjurylawyersaustintx.comBusiness site151.8%
8skinenvyaustin.comBusiness site141.7%
9westlakedermatology.comBusiness site141.7%
10goettl.comBusiness site131.6%

The 10 most cited sites across all 120 answers. Recorded September 25, 2026.

Every question

The business each engine named first, for all 40 questions

Names are as each answer wrote them. A business can rank first in one engine and go unnamed in another.

QuestionMarketChatGPTClaudeGeminiNamed first
best dentist in AustinDentistsKunik OrthodonticsToothbarDr. John BainesAll different
best family dentist in AustinDentistsATX Family DentalForest Family DentistryForest Family DentistryTwo of three
best cosmetic dentist in AustinDentistsDr. Annalisa HeckAustin Dental SpaAustin Dental SpaTwo of three
emergency dentist in Austin open todayDentistsEmergency Dentist of AustinEmergency Dentist of AustinEmergency Dentist of AustinAll three
best Invisalign dentist in AustinDentistsTomblyn Family OrthodonticsBreeze Dental CareTomblyn Family OrthodonticsTwo of three
best pediatric dentist in AustinDentistsCentral Park Pediatric DentistryDentalsaurus Pediatric DentalJensen Pediatric DentistryAll different
affordable dental implants in AustinDentistsAspire DentalSouth Austin Dental AssociatesAffordable Dentures & ImplantsAll different
best dentist in North AustinDentistsTech Ridge DentalNorth Austin DentistryNorth Austin DentistryTwo of three
best personal injury lawyer in AustinInjury lawyersLoewy Law FirmLoewy Law FirmLoewy Law FirmAll three
best car accident lawyer in AustinInjury lawyersLoewy Law FirmBen Crump LawLoewy Law FirmTwo of three
best truck accident attorney in AustinInjury lawyersZinda Law GroupZinda Law GroupZinda Law GroupAll three
top rated injury attorney in AustinInjury lawyersLoewy Law FirmJoe Lopez LawLoewy Law FirmTwo of three
best motorcycle accident lawyer in AustinInjury lawyersFVF Law FirmGlen Larson LawGlen Larson LawTwo of three
best slip and fall lawyer in AustinInjury lawyersLoewy Law FirmLoewy Law FirmLoewy Law FirmAll three
personal injury lawyer in Austin with a free consultationInjury lawyersLoewy Law FirmLoewy Law FirmLoewy Law FirmAll three
best wrongful death attorney in AustinInjury lawyersHowry, Breen & HermanCofer & ConnellyHowry, Breen & HermanTwo of three
best plumber in AustinPlumbersBlue Dragon PlumbingAustin's Best PlumbingAustin's Best PlumbingTwo of three
emergency plumber in Austin open 24 hoursPlumbersAbacus PlumbingAbacus PlumbingAbacus PlumbingAll three
best water heater repair in AustinPlumbersGoettlStan's Heating, Air, Plumbing & ElectricalStan's Heating, Air, Plumbing & ElectricalTwo of three
best drain cleaning service in AustinPlumbersAbacus PlumbingRooterman PlumbingAbacus PlumbingTwo of three
best plumbing company in AustinPlumbersCold Is On The Right Plumbing & AirCold Is On The Right Plumbing & AirAustin Area PlumbingTwo of three
slab leak repair in AustinPlumbersAbacus PlumbingStan's Heating, Air, Plumbing & ElectricalAbacus PlumbingTwo of three
affordable plumber in AustinPlumbers1-800-Plumber + AirAffordable Plumbing AustinNo business namedAll different
best plumber in Round RockPlumbersBenjamin Franklin PlumbingBenjamin Franklin PlumbingGoettlTwo of three
best med spa in AustinMed spasViva Day Spa + Med SpaGlo Med SpaViva Day Spa + Med SpaTwo of three
best Botox in AustinMed spasWestlake DermatologyWestlake DermatologyWestlake DermatologyAll three
best laser hair removal in AustinMed spasWestlake DermatologyWestlake DermatologyBestLaser AustinTwo of three
best lip filler in AustinMed spasMaui MedSpaLips By SivanThe Injection RoomAll different
best HydraFacial in AustinMed spasViva Day Spa + Med SpaViva Day Spa + Med SpaViva Day Spa + Med SpaAll three
best med spa for skin tightening in AustinMed spasViva Day Spa + Med SpaSkin Envy AustinGrace MedSpaAll different
best CoolSculpting in AustinMed spasWestlake DermatologyWestlake DermatologyWestlake DermatologyAll three
top rated med spa in AustinMed spasRejuvenate AustinGlo Med SpaRejuvenate AustinTwo of three
best HVAC company in AustinHVACThe Chill BrothersGreg's Heating and AirThe Chill BrothersTwo of three
best AC repair in AustinHVACACSACATXRadiant Plumbing & Air ConditioningRadiant Plumbing & Air ConditioningTwo of three
emergency AC repair in AustinHVACAbacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & ElectricalEfficient TexasAbacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & ElectricalTwo of three
best furnace repair in AustinHVACThe Chill BrothersGreg's Heating and AirGreg's Heating and AirTwo of three
best HVAC installation in AustinHVACThe Chill BrothersThe Chill BrothersService WizardTwo of three
best air conditioning company in AustinHVACThe Chill BrothersThe Chill BrothersGreg's Heating and AirTwo of three
affordable AC repair in AustinHVACGoettlABA AustinA-Plus Air Conditioning & Home SolutionsAll different
best HVAC company in Round RockHVACAire Serv of Central and North AustinKoala Cooling & PlumbingKoala Cooling & PlumbingTwo of three

Each question asked once of each engine on September 25, 2026, in Austin, Texas.

Method

How we measured it

The questions

40 questions, 8 for each of 5 local markets in Austin, Texas: dentists, personal injury lawyers, plumbers, med spas and HVAC companies. Each is written the way people ask, such as “best dentist in Austin” or “emergency plumber in Austin open 24 hours”. Three name a part of the metro: North Austin, and Round Rock twice.

The engines

ChatGPT (OpenAI gpt-4o-mini), Claude (Anthropic claude-haiku-4-5) and Gemini (Google gemini-2.5-flash), each asked through its API with web search on, through Rank.ai’s own pipeline. All three used the same search tool (Google’s top 10 results, with the text of the top pages) and wrote their own searches, up to two per answer. These are the models behind the apps with search on; the consumer apps can answer differently, and answers vary by person and by day.

When

Once, on September 25, 2026 (03:11 UTC): one answer per engine per question, 120 answers in all. 119 of them named at least one business.

What we counted

  • Businesses named. Read from each answer’s text, then merged by name and by website, so “Viva Day Spa” and “Viva Day Spa + Med Spa” are one business.
  • Named first. The named business whose name appears earliest in the answer. All 120 answers were checked by hand.
  • Overlap. For each question, every business any engine named, counted by how many of the three engines named it.
  • Sources. Every page an answer cited, grouped by its site. Review sites and directories (Yelp, Angi, Zocdoc, Justia and others), Reddit and social media, and news and magazines are listed site by site in the sources CSV; every other site is a business’s own website.

Limits

One city, 40 questions and one answer per engine per question. Asked again, an engine can name a different business first, so read the shares as a picture of one day. A business an answer names two ways can count twice: Gemini named “Dr. John Baines”, a dentist Claude placed at Walton Family Dentistry.

Reuse

Cite or embed this report

Enter your website. In about two minutes, Rank.ai asks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini 12 questions your customers ask and grades how often they name you.

  • Your grade out of 100How often AI names you, cites your site, and how high it ranks you.
  • Who gets namedEvery competitor in the answers, most named first.
  • The pages AI readsThe sources behind each answer.
  • Three fixesWhat to fix first, with a brief for the first article.