We Asked 4 AI Platforms to Recommend a Florida Plumber. They All Said Someone Different.

Ask Claude for the best plumber in Miami and you get one answer. Ask ChatGPT the same question and you get a completely different list. Ask Gemini, different again. Ask Perplexity, and half the time it won't even give you a name.

We tested this 600 times across 10 Florida metros, 5 plumbing specialties, and 4 AI platforms. The result: every platform recommends different plumbers, and not a single plumbing business in Florida appeared on all four.

What we tested

We ran the same types of queries a homeowner would type: "best plumber in Tampa," "I need an emergency plumber in Jacksonville," "top rated drain cleaning service near Miami." Five specialties: general plumber, emergency plumber, drain cleaning, water heater repair, and sewer line. Three query variations per specialty, across all 10 metros, on each of the four platforms. That's 600 data points.

For every response, we recorded whether the AI named specific local businesses (an "A-response"), gave generic advice, referred to a directory, or just didn't answer. Then we compared what each platform said.

AI does recommend plumbers. That's not the problem.

88.2% of the time, AI named specific plumbing businesses. Claude and Gemini did it on every single query. ChatGPT missed once out of 150. The old concern that AI just gives vague advice doesn't hold up for plumbing. When someone asks for a plumber, AI almost always answers with names, addresses, and review counts.

That number is worse than dental. When we ran the same study for Florida dentists, 94.7% appeared on one platform and at least one dentist made all five platforms we tested. For plumbers, nobody made all four. The AI recommendations for plumbing are more scattered than any other industry we've studied.

ChatGPT is on its own island

The most striking finding: ChatGPT had zero overlap with every other platform. Not low overlap. Zero. When ChatGPT recommends a plumber in Orlando, that plumber does not appear in Claude's answer, Gemini's answer, or Perplexity's answer for the same query. It's pulling from entirely different sources and arriving at entirely different conclusions.

The highest agreement we found was between Perplexity and Claude at 17.5%. That means even the two platforms that agree most still recommend different plumbers more than 80% of the time. Gemini and Claude agreed 3.3%. Every other pair was below 4%.

Perplexity barely answers for plumbing

Perplexity only named specific plumbers 53.3% of the time. The other 46.7%, it sent users to Angi, Yelp, or HomeAdvisor instead of recommending anyone. Compare that to Claude and Gemini at 100%, and ChatGPT at 99.3%. For dental queries, Perplexity answered with names 100% of the time. Something about plumbing queries makes Perplexity default to directory referrals instead of making a recommendation.

Franchises show up more than you'd think

12.2% of AI plumber recommendations were franchise brands like Roto-Rooter and Mr. Rooter. That's four times higher than dental, where Aspen Dental and Coast Dental combined for just 3%. National plumbing brands have standardized websites, massive review volume across hundreds of locations, and consistent directory listings. That gives them exactly the kind of signals AI platforms look for.

That said, 87.8% of recommendations still went to independent plumbers. The franchises have an edge, but they don't dominate. An independent plumber who gets their directory listings and website right can absolutely compete.

Where AI gets its plumber data

We tracked which sources AI platforms cited when recommending plumbers. The top three: Angi (cited in 185 of 600 queries), Yelp (135), and BBB (70). Google Reviews showed up 58 times, Thumbtack 37, HomeAdvisor 33. These directories are not just for homeowners anymore. They are the raw material AI uses to decide who to recommend.

If you're a plumber and you're not on Angi with a complete, optimized profile, you're missing the single biggest input into how AI platforms find and recommend plumbing businesses in Florida.

What this means if you run a plumbing business

Three things are clear from this data. First, AI is already recommending plumbers by name in nearly 9 out of 10 queries. This is happening now, not in the future. Second, every platform recommends someone different, so optimizing for just one AI tool leaves you invisible on the other three. Third, the businesses showing up tend to have strong directory profiles (especially Angi and Yelp), consistent business information across the web, and detailed service pages on their websites.

The fragmentation is actually the opportunity. Because no plumber has figured out multi-platform visibility yet, the first ones to get it right will have the field to themselves. Right now, zero plumbers in Florida appear on all four AI platforms. That gap won't last.