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RESEARCH REPORTApril 2026

Florida Plumber AI Visibility Study

We tested 600 AI queries. 88% named a plumber. Zero appeared on all four platforms.

Last updated: April 2026

1,760

Businesses Analyzed

4

AI Platforms Tested

10

Florida Metros

600

AI Queries Tested

Study scope

600

AI queries tested

Across 5 plumbing specialties: general plumber, emergency plumber, drain cleaning, water heater repair, sewer line

10

Florida metro areas

Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Naples, Sarasota, Tallahassee, St. Pete

4

AI platforms tested

Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity

12

Queries per city/specialty

3 query types per specialty: best in city, who to call, find a reliable provider

Key findings

Executive summary from the full report. No email required.

  • AI does recommend plumbers by name. 88.2% of queries returned specific local plumbing business names with details. AI is not generic for plumbing.
  • But 95.4% appear on just one platform. Of the 1,760 plumbers named across all queries, almost none appeared on more than one AI tool. Worse fragmentation than dental (94.7%).
  • Zero plumbers made all four platforms. Not a single plumbing business appeared on Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. There is no dominant player in AI plumber recommendations.
  • Perplexity is the weak link at 53.3%. Perplexity only named specific plumbers in 80 of 150 queries, far below Claude and Gemini at 100%. It often provides directory links instead of naming businesses.
  • Franchise share is 4x higher than dental. Roto-Rooter and Mr. Rooter account for 12.2% of AI recommendations vs. just 3% for dental chains. National brands have stronger AI presence in plumbing.
  • ChatGPT agrees with nobody. ChatGPT had 0% overlap with every other platform. It recommends completely different plumbers than Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity.
  • Miami and Orlando lead at 90%. A-Response Rates range from 90% in Miami and Orlando to 86.7% in Jacksonville, St. Pete, and West Palm Beach. Geography matters less than specialty.
  • Angi is the #1 source AI cites for plumbers. Angi was cited in 185 of 600 queries (30%). Yelp had 135, BBB had 70. These directories are now AI inputs for plumber recommendations.

Platform comparison

How often each AI platform named specific local dental practices (A-response rate).

Claude100%

150/150 queries returned local practice names

Gemini100%

150/150 queries returned local practice names

ChatGPT99.3%

149/150 queries returned local practice names

Perplexity53.3%

80/150 queries returned local practice names

The bottom line

Every AI platform recommends completely different plumbers. ChatGPT has zero overlap with any other platform. If you only optimize for one AI tool, you are invisible on the other three where customers are already searching.

Cite this research

Valero, A. (April 2026). Florida Plumber AI Visibility Study. Local Vitals. getlocalvitals.com/research/florida-plumber-ai-visibility

This research is published under CC BY-NC 4.0. You may cite and reference this data with attribution.

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The complete study with city-by-city breakdowns, specialty analysis, platform deep dives, DSO vs. independent data, and the full cross-platform fragmentation analysis.

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About this study

600 queries were run across Claude (with web search), ChatGPT (GPT-4o with search), Gemini, and Perplexity during April 2026. Queries covered 10 Florida metro areas and 5 plumbing specialties. Every response was coded by type (local business named, general advice, franchise only, platform referral, or not triggered). No sponsored placements or paid tools were used. Full methodology is included in the report.

Questions about the data or methodology: hello@getlocalvitals.com

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