Original research · October 1, 2026 to October 4, 2026

Who AI recommends in 2026, and which sources it cites

We asked Perplexity and Gemini 130 buyer questions across 13 reports in 6 industries, three times each: 780 answers and 9,376 citations, collected October 1, 2026 to October 4, 2026. For each report: who gets named, how often, on which AI tool, and which sites the answers cite. ChatGPT was asked each question once on 2 of the 13 pages (HVAC in Dallas and AI chatbots for websites), shown there in its own section and left out of every number here; the other 11 pages do not include ChatGPT.

By Matt Turley13 reports, 6 industries780 answers9,376 citations130 questionsChatGPT on 2 of 13 pages, 1 run

The reports

One report per industry and city

Each report has the frozen question list, who was named on each AI tool, the most-cited sites and every answer as JSON. The 12 local trade reports cover Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Austin and Tampa; where a trade is asked in more than one city, the questions are the same with only the city changed, so those reports compare like for like.

Local trade · Dallas

Who AI recommends for electrical work in Dallas

ElectricMan, Inc. was named most, on 13 of 20 question checks. 48 named in total. Most-cited site: consumeraffairs.com.

60answers
37.3%directories
1.8%best-of lists
Local trade · Dallas

Who AI recommends for HVAC in Dallas

Baker Brothers Plumbing, Air & Electrical was named most, on 11 of 20 question checks. 51 named in total. Most-cited site: bestpickreports.com.

60answers
28.4%directories
7.7%best-of lists
Local trade · Houston

Who AI recommends for HVAC in Houston

Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical was named most, on 10 of 20 question checks. 60 named in total. Most-cited site: consumeraffairs.com.

60answers
31.5%directories
11.1%best-of lists
Local trade · Las Vegas

Who AI recommends for HVAC in Las Vegas

Nevada Residential Services Air Conditioning & Heating was named most, on 12 of 20 question checks. 53 named in total. Most-cited site: consumeraffairs.com.

60answers
40.2%directories
2.1%best-of lists
Local trade · Phoenix

Who AI recommends for HVAC in Phoenix

Parker & Sons was named most, on 11 of 20 question checks. 67 named in total. Most-cited site: bestpickreports.com.

60answers
30.9%directories
9.8%best-of lists
Local trade · Dallas

Who AI recommends for plumbing in Dallas

Baker Brothers Plumbing, Air & Electric was named most, on 14 of 20 question checks. 47 named in total. Most-cited site: angi.com.

60answers
32.8%directories
4.9%best-of lists
Local trade · Houston

Who AI recommends for plumbing in Houston

Abacus Plumbing was named most, on 15 of 20 question checks. 60 named in total. Most-cited site: angi.com.

60answers
30.3%directories
12.0%best-of lists
Local trade · Las Vegas

Who AI recommends for plumbing in Las Vegas

Atlas Plumbing was named most, on 9 of 20 question checks. 69 named in total. Most-cited site: angi.com.

60answers
35.1%directories
0.9%best-of lists
Local trade · Phoenix

Who AI recommends for plumbing in Phoenix

Roto-Rooter was named most, on 9 of 20 question checks. 70 named in total. Most-cited site: angi.com.

60answers
34.2%directories
10.0%best-of lists
Local trade · Austin

Who AI recommends for real estate in Austin

Ross Speed was named most, on 12 of 20 question checks. 52 named in total. Most-cited site: fastexpert.com.

60answers
24.1%directories
29.7%best-of lists
Local trade · Tampa

Who AI recommends for real estate in Tampa

Keller Williams Tampa Properties was named most, on 14 of 20 question checks. 55 named in total. Most-cited site: fastexpert.com.

60answers
27.6%directories
29.3%best-of lists
Local trade · Dallas

Who AI recommends for roofing in Dallas

Arrington Roofing was named most, on 11 of 20 question checks. 59 named in total. Most-cited site: arringtonroofing.com.

60answers
15.8%directories
9.7%best-of lists
Software

Who AI recommends for AI chatbots for websites

Tidio was named most, on 15 of 20 question checks. 44 named in total. Most-cited site: tidio.com.

60answers
2.6%directories
54.3%best-of lists

Chart · Source types by industry

Where to be listed depends on what you sell

Every site an answer cited, counted once per answer, sorted with the same rules as our September study of AI answer sources.

electrical work in Dallas681 citations · 60 answers
HVAC in Dallas757 citations · 60 answers
HVAC in Houston704 citations · 60 answers
HVAC in Las Vegas731 citations · 60 answers
HVAC in Phoenix768 citations · 60 answers
plumbing in Dallas696 citations · 60 answers
plumbing in Houston736 citations · 60 answers
plumbing in Las Vegas681 citations · 60 answers
plumbing in Phoenix660 citations · 60 answers
real estate in Austin688 citations · 60 answers
real estate in Tampa627 citations · 60 answers
roofing in Dallas886 citations · 60 answers
AI chatbots for websites761 citations · 60 answers
Company websites Directories and review sites Best-of lists and comparisons Reddit, forums, social and video News, docs and reference

At a glance

The headline numbers

A check is one question on one AI tool, asked three times; a name counts when it shows up in at least 2 of the runs.

Per industry, October 1, 2026 to October 4, 2026
IndustryAnswersNamed at least onceNamed mostMost-cited site
electrical work in Dallas6048ElectricMan, Inc. (13 of 20)consumeraffairs.com (40 of 60)
HVAC in Dallas6051Baker Brothers Plumbing, Air & Electrical (11 of 20)bestpickreports.com (48 of 60)
HVAC in Houston6060Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical (10 of 20)consumeraffairs.com (34 of 60)
HVAC in Las Vegas6053Nevada Residential Services Air Conditioning & Heating (12 of 20)consumeraffairs.com (38 of 60)
HVAC in Phoenix6067Parker & Sons (11 of 20)bestpickreports.com (42 of 60)
plumbing in Dallas6047Baker Brothers Plumbing, Air & Electric (14 of 20)angi.com (35 of 60)
plumbing in Houston6060Abacus Plumbing (15 of 20)angi.com (36 of 60)
plumbing in Las Vegas6069Atlas Plumbing (9 of 20)angi.com (35 of 60)
plumbing in Phoenix6070Roto-Rooter (9 of 20)angi.com (45 of 60)
real estate in Austin6052Ross Speed (12 of 20)fastexpert.com (46 of 60)
real estate in Tampa6055Keller Williams Tampa Properties (14 of 20)fastexpert.com (51 of 60)
roofing in Dallas6059Arrington Roofing (11 of 20)arringtonroofing.com (31 of 60)
AI chatbots for websites6044Tidio (15 of 20)tidio.com (34 of 60)

See your own business

Are you one of the businesses AI names?

This page covers the whole city. The AI Answer Check runs the same test on your own business: the questions your customers ask, three runs each on ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, whether you are named, who is named instead, and the three fixes worth the most. I read every report before it goes out.

AI Answer Check, $99 →Or book a 20-minute call

Method

How we measured it

Each report has 10 questions written the way a buyer types them, frozen for this edition and printed on its page. Each question went to Perplexity and Gemini through their APIs three times, logged out, with no system prompt. A business counts as named on a question when its name is in the answer text (not just a link) in at least 2 of the three runs. Spelling variants such as curly apostrophes and hyphens count as the same name.

ChatGPT (OpenAI API, web search on) was asked each question once, on HVAC in Dallas and AI chatbots for websites only. One run is noisier than three, so those pages show ChatGPT in its own section and never fold it into the majority counts. On the other pages: Not measured in this edition: our OpenAI API credit was at $0 when the answers were collected, so no ChatGPT number is shown or estimated.

The samples are small: 60 answers or so per report, one point in time. Read them as a dated snapshot, not a ranking of anyone's work. The JSON file on each page holds every answer and citation so anyone can recount.

The same data, answered as the questions owners ask: Does ChatGPT recommend HVAC companies? and How do plumbers show up in ChatGPT answers?. What an audit of your own business covers is in AI visibility audit for small business.