3,468 AI Queries, 5 Industries, 1 Pattern: Every Platform Recommends Someone Different

We ran 3,468 queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. We asked each one to recommend dentists, plumbers, HVAC contractors, roofers, and eye doctors in 10 Florida metro areas.

Simple questions. The kind your customers are already asking: "Who's the best plumber in Tampa?" "I need an HVAC contractor in Orlando." "Find me a dentist near me."

Every query followed the same format: a service need plus a Florida city. No tricks, no prompt engineering. Just the questions real people type. Here's what came back.

AI is already naming names

This is not vague advice. AI platforms are telling people exactly which business to call.

Across all five industries, AI named a specific local business between 70% and 89% of the time. Dental and plumbing were the highest at 89% and 88%. HVAC and roofing came in around 74%. Eye care trailed at 70%.

If you are a dentist or plumber in Florida, AI is handing out recommendations right now. The question is whether those recommendations include your business or only your competitors.

But every platform recommends someone different

This was the biggest surprise, and it held true across all five industries.

In plumbing, ChatGPT had zero overlap with every other platform. Not low overlap. Zero. It recommends entirely different plumbers than Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity.

In eye care, ChatGPT and Gemini also agreed on zero recommendations. The two biggest AI platforms, asked the same question about the same city, gave completely different answers.

The highest agreement we found anywhere was Claude and Perplexity agreeing 56% of the time for dental. That was the exception. In roofing, the best match between any two platforms was 16%. In HVAC, 12%.

Almost nobody shows up on more than one

Here's the number that matters most: across every industry, at least 95% of the businesses AI recommended appeared on only one platform.

Eye care was the worst at 97.8%. Roofing, 97.2%. HVAC, 96.9%. Plumbing, 95.4%. Dental, 94.7%.

In four out of five industries, zero businesses appeared on all five platforms. Dental had exactly one. One dentist out of 2,548 businesses recommended.

That means if a customer uses ChatGPT and you only show up on Gemini, they will never see your name. They will see someone else's.

Google's AI answers are rare for local searches

Most business owners hear "AI search" and think Google. But Google AI Overviews, the AI-generated answer box that sometimes appears at the top of search results, rarely triggers for local service queries.

For dental, it showed up 45% of the time. For roofing, 14%. HVAC, 12%. Eye care, just 4%.

If you run an HVAC company, Google gives a traditional list of blue links for 88 out of every 100 searches. The AI recommendations are happening on ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. That is where the shift is happening.

Franchises are mostly invisible

National brands do not dominate AI results. In most industries, independent businesses own 95% or more of AI recommendations.

Plumbing was the one exception, where Roto-Rooter and Mr. Rooter captured about 12% of mentions. In dental, Aspen Dental and Coast Dental totaled 3%. In eye care, LensCrafters and Pearle Vision combined for 1.3%.

Independent businesses already have the edge here. But only if AI can find them.

The directories that matter depend on your trade

This is where it gets practical.

AI does not search the internet the same way Google does. Each platform leans on specific directories, and which ones matter depends on your industry.

For plumbers and HVAC contractors, Angi is the top source, followed by Yelp and BBB. For roofers, BBB comes first, likely because roofing carries more consumer trust concerns. For eye doctors, Healthgrades and Zocdoc account for nearly 60% of all citations.

Your Google Business Profile helps with Google. But ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude are pulling from these directories first. A complete, accurate profile with strong reviews on the right directories is the fastest path to showing up in AI recommendations.

Three things are clear

AI is already sending customers to specific businesses. Between 70% and 89% of the time, it names someone. If that someone is not you, the call goes to your competitor.

Showing up on one platform is not enough. Over 95% of businesses only appear on one. Your customers use different AI tools. If you only show up on Gemini, the customer asking ChatGPT will never see you.

The right directories are your biggest lever. Complete profiles, accurate information, and strong reviews on the directories that matter for your trade are what AI uses to decide who gets recommended.

Want to do it yourself?

Start with the directories that matter for your trade. Plumbers and HVAC contractors: Angi, Yelp, and BBB. Roofers: BBB first. Dentists and eye doctors: Healthgrades and Zocdoc. Make sure your profile is complete, your phone number and address are correct, and your reviews are recent.

Then search for yourself on ChatGPT and Perplexity. Type "best [your trade] in [your city]." See what comes back. If your business is not in the answer, that is what your customers are seeing too.