velopers
More homeowners now ask ChatGPT who to call before they search Google. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey found that 45% of consumers have used AI tools to find a local business. When they ask, the answer usually names two or three companies. If yours is not one of them, that customer never sees you, however good your reviews are.
We wanted to know what decides those names, so we tested it on a real contractor.
What we found when we tested it
On October 22, 2026, we asked an AI assistant with live web search, the way ChatGPT answers local questions, three things a homeowner might ask about driveway paving in south-central Pennsylvania. The contractor we were checking for has 116 Google reviews at 4.8 stars, more than most of the pavers that beat it on Google Maps.
| What we asked | Businesses named | Our contractor named? |
|---|---|---|
| Who is the best company to pave an asphalt driveway in [the county seat]? | 2 | No |
| I need my driveway repaved in [a nearby town]. Who should I call? | 3 | No |
| Can you recommend a good paving contractor near [the nearest city]? | 3 | No |
Eight pavers named across three answers, and not once the one with the most reviews. Town names are hidden here to keep the business anonymous.
The answers showed which sites the assistant read before it decided. They were review and directory sites (Birdeye, the BBB, HomeAdvisor, a county “trusted pros” directory, Trustindex), a Reddit thread, and the winning pavers’ own websites. Google reviews were only part of the picture.
Why a business with great reviews gets left out
Nobody outside OpenAI knows exactly how ChatGPT weighs each source, and the answers change from one day to the next. But comparing who was named with what our contractor had, four things stood out.
1. It reads far more than your Google profile
The assistant built its answers from a handful of review sites, directories and local lists. A business that is strong on Google but thin or missing on those sites gives it less to go on. The pavers it named were each described on several of them.
2. Details that don’t match make you harder to trust
Our contractor’s website showed one phone number, while its Google profile, BBB and Yelp listings showed another. Its HomeAdvisor page sat at an address with a different company’s name in it, with different opening hours. To a person, that is a small mess. To a tool piecing together who is who from many sites, it is a reason to doubt that these listings are the same business, and to name someone clearer instead.
3. Being named by others counts
Several of the named pavers appeared in “best of” lists, local directories and a Reddit discussion where someone recommended them by name. The assistant repeated those recommendations. A business that nobody else mentions has to rely on its own pages alone.
4. Your website has to say what you do, and where
The winners’ own sites were among the sources the assistant read. Pages that plainly say which services you offer, which towns you cover and what customers say give it something to quote. A site with no clear headings, or town pages that are copies of each other, gives it very little.
What to fix first
- Use one name, address and phone number everywhere. Check your website, Google profile, BBB, Yelp, Angi, HomeAdvisor, Facebook and any trade directories, and make them match exactly.
- Fix or remove listings under the wrong name. An old profile from a previous business name, or a directory page filed under someone else, splits your reputation.
- Get reviews on more than one site. Keep Google first, but ask some customers to review you on the BBB, Yelp or your trade’s directory too, so other sources have something to say about you.
- Keep new reviews coming. Our contractor’s pace had slowed from 45 new reviews in one year to 14 in the next. Recent reviews show you are busy now.
- Make your website clear. One page for each main service and each main town, with your own job photos and what customers there said. Put your phone number on every page.
- Get mentioned. Local news, a sponsorship, your suppliers’ “find an installer” pages, a chamber of commerce listing. Each one is another place that says you exist and do good work.
Most of this is the same work that helps you on Google Maps. The Google Business Profile checklist covers your profile, and how to get more Google reviews covers the reviews.
How to check what ChatGPT says about you
- Ask the questions your customers ask, with your trade and town: “Who is the best roofer in Plano, TX?”, “I need a new fence in Frisco. Who should I call?”
- Ask three or four versions, for your main town and the towns around it.
- Write down who it names, and which sites it links to. Those sites are where you need to be.
- Check again every month. Answers change, so one result is a snapshot, not a verdict.
Our free Google report runs this test for you, alongside where you show up on Google Maps in each town you serve.