How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT
More of your customers are asking AI who to call. We asked ChatGPT, Google’s AI and Gemini to recommend a plumber, an electrician and a roofer in Hertfordshire, and looked at what decided their answers. Here’s what we found, and what you can do about it.
Updated 2 November 2026
38% of UK consumers used an AI tool to find a local business in the past month, according to Yext’s Consumer Search Behaviors Report (May 2026, 600 UK adults).
What we asked
On 2 November 2026 we asked each one the same question, for example: “I need a reliable plumber in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Who would you recommend and why?” We did the same for an electrician in St Albans and a roofer in Watford. We weren’t signed in, and we asked each question once, so this is a snapshot of what came back, not a study of how AI ranks businesses.
ChatGPT’s answer, 2 November 2026. Business names hidden.
Five things decided their answers.
1. Your Google rating and how many reviews you have
ChatGPT and Google’s AI showed every business they picked with its Google rating and review count. Every first choice had 5.0 stars, and most had more than 60 reviews. The two tools also largely agreed: three of ChatGPT’s top four plumbers, and three of its top four electricians, appeared in Google’s own AI answer.
2. Your Google Business Profile
The details in the answers came straight from each firm’s Google Business Profile: address, phone number, opening hours, the services listed and labels like “family-run” or “open 24 hours”. If your profile is missing details or out of date, that’s what the AI repeats, or it picks someone whose profile is complete.
3. Trade accreditations
Answers named Gas Safe, NICEIC, Which? Trusted Traders and Trading Standards approval as reasons to choose a firm, and told customers to check them before booking. If you hold an accreditation, make sure it’s on your profile and your website, not just on your van.
4. Trade directories
Checkatrade and TrustATrader ratings were quoted alongside Google reviews, especially for roofers. A directory listing with recent, genuine reviews gives the AI a second source to trust.
5. Your own website
Gemini found businesses through their own websites and directory pages rather than ratings, and Google’s AI linked to each firm’s website. A clear site that says what you do, where you work and how to reach you gives the AI something to quote.
Google is still where most people start
AI is growing fast, but it hasn’t replaced Google. In a US survey, only 8% of people chose AI as their first place to look for a local business, and 43% of those went back to Google to check (BrightLocal consumer search behaviour research, July 2026, 1,227 US consumers). The good news: the same things that win on Google, real reviews, a complete profile and a clear website, are what the AI answers drew on.
What to do this week
- Ask your last ten customers for a Google review. Send a short message with your review link the day you finish the job.
- Reply to every review, good or bad, in a sentence or two.
- Check your Google Business Profile: services, area covered, opening hours, phone number and photos of real jobs.
- Add your accreditations to your profile and your website.
- Ask ChatGPT yourself who it recommends for your trade in your town, and see who it picks and why.
Also from Output Loop: Reputation management · Google Business Profile management · Websites
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