You did the work. Your Google Business Profile is filled out, the reviews are coming in, and when someone in Mooresville searches for your trade, you show up in the Maps “top 3.” Then a customer tells you they asked ChatGPT for a recommendation and it named a competitor you’ve never heard of.
That isn’t bad luck. A study published last week suggests it’s the normal state of things right now, and it included Charlotte.
What the study found
Awkward Media, a marketing agency (so read this as one firm’s study, not peer-reviewed research), asked four AI assistants (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google’s AI Mode) to recommend local businesses across 10 trades in 20 U.S. cities, Charlotte among them. That was 1,600 questions in all, run on November 2 and 3, 2026, and each answer was compared with the real Google Maps rankings for the same search.
The headline numbers:
- Only 7% of the assistants’ first picks were in the Google Maps top 3 (53 of 792).
- 68% of first picks weren’t even in the Maps top 20 (541 of 792).
- In 102 of 200 searches, no two assistants picked the same business. All four agreed only 6 times.
- Ask again the next day and the same first pick came back only 42% of the time. ChatGPT kept its pick just 28% of the time; Perplexity, 65%.
In other words, ranking well on Maps and being recommended by an AI assistant are, for now, mostly separate things. And the AI answer itself is a moving target.
Why AI assistants pick different businesses
They read the web, not just the map
Maps rankings lean heavily on your Business Profile, proximity and reviews. AI assistants build answers from pages they can find and read. Awkward Media looked at which websites the assistants cited. Perplexity most often cited prosgrade.com (61 times), consumeraffairs.com (60), forbes.com (48) and thumbtack.com (47). ChatGPT leaned on angi.com (22), bestinhood.com (21) and healthgrades.com (16).
So if your business isn’t on the directories, review sites and “best of” lists an assistant trusts, it may never come up, however well you rank on the map.
They favor businesses with a big, visible track record
The median AI first pick had 710 Google reviews, compared with 128 for businesses in the Maps top 3. The study also noted that the Maps top 3 included 148 listings (out of 600 slots) with the city and trade stuffed into the business name, 130 with fewer than 20 reviews, and 74 with no website at all. Tactics that can move a map pin don’t seem to impress the assistants.
Google’s own AI sits closest to Maps
Not every assistant behaves the same. Google’s AI Mode had its first pick in the Maps top 20 in 39% of answers, versus 26% for ChatGPT. ChatGPT’s first pick was in the Maps top 3 in only 9 of 200 answers. If your customers use Google, your Maps work still carries further there.
What Google says about its own AI results
Google is clear that there’s no secret formula for its AI features. Its documentation says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special optimizations needed. A page has to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet in regular search. Google also says you don’t need new AI text files or special schema.
Google does explain one thing worth knowing. Its AI features may use “query fan-out,” running several related searches across subtopics to build one answer. A question like “best plumber near Lake Norman for a water heater” can turn into separate searches about water heaters, service areas and reviews. A site with a clear page for each service and each area gives those searches something to land on.
Google’s listed best practices are refreshingly normal: let Google crawl your site, link your pages together, make the site easy to use, put important information in text rather than images, keep structured data matching what’s visible on the page, and keep your Business Profile up to date.
What local businesses can actually do
None of this means you should drop your Maps work. It means Maps is one channel, and the AI assistants are reading a wider set of signals. Here’s where we’d focus.
Keep doing the Maps basics
The study’s own advice starts here: keep up your Maps work. Google’s AI Mode in particular still overlaps with Maps more than the others do.
Check what the assistants say, on more than one day
Ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Mode the questions your customers would ask. Because answers change so much day to day, the study suggests asking on three different days before you draw conclusions. Write down who gets named and which sites get cited.
Get listed where the assistants look
Look at the sources the assistants cite for your trade and town. Get your business on the legitimate ones, with the same business name, address and phone number everywhere. Consistency helps both people and machines confirm you’re the same business.
Earn real local mentions
Local news coverage, chamber of commerce listings, sponsorships, and partner businesses linking to you are the kind of independent mentions that show up in the pages AI assistants read. The study lists earning local mentions among its recommended steps.
Give every service and area its own clear page
A single “Services” page that lists ten things in a paragraph is hard for anyone to use. A page for each core service, and pages for the areas you actually serve (Statesville, Mooresville, Cornelius, Davidson, Hickory), written in plain language with real details, gives both Google and AI assistants a clear answer to point to.
Keep collecting reviews, honestly
Review volume clearly travels with AI picks in this data. That’s a correlation, not proof that reviews cause recommendations, but steady, genuine reviews help on every channel. Don’t buy them or gate them.
Takeaways
- Ranking in the Google Maps top 3 doesn’t mean AI assistants will recommend you. In one new study, that happened just 7% of the time.
- AI answers change a lot from day to day and between assistants. Don’t panic over one answer.
- Google says there are no special tricks for its AI results. Normal good SEO and an up-to-date Business Profile are the foundation.
- The assistants draw on directories, review sites and other pages. Being listed accurately on the ones that matter for your trade helps.
- Clear service and area pages on your own site give AI-driven searches something to cite.
FAQ
Can I pay to get recommended by ChatGPT? The study doesn’t cover paid placement, and we’re not aware of a way to buy organic recommendations from these assistants. Be wary of anyone promising guaranteed AI rankings.
Do I need an “llms.txt” file or special AI schema? For Google’s AI features, Google says no: there’s no special AI text file or markup required. Other assistants haven’t published equivalent guidance that we’re aware of.
Should I stop working on my Google Business Profile? No. It’s still the core of local search on Google, and Google’s own AI Mode overlaps with Maps more than the other assistants.
How often should I check AI answers for my business? Every month or so is reasonable for most businesses. Check over several days each time, since single answers vary a lot.
Want a second set of eyes?
If you’d like to know what ChatGPT and Google’s AI say about your business, and what your website could do better, systemsevendesigns can run a quick check with you and walk through what we find. Plain answers, no scare tactics.