Original research · October 1, 2026

Who AI recommends in 2026, and which sources it cites

We asked Perplexity and Gemini 50 buyer questions across 5 industries, three times each: 300 answers and 3,781 citations, collected October 1, 2026. For each industry: 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 5 pages (HVAC in Dallas and AI chatbots for websites), shown there in its own section and left out of every number here; the other 3 pages do not include ChatGPT.

By Matt Turley5 industries300 answers3,781 citations50 questionsChatGPT on 2 of 5 pages, 1 run

The reports

One report per industry

Each report has the frozen question list, who was named on each AI tool, the most-cited sites and every answer as JSON. The four trades are all asked about Dallas, so they 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 · 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 · 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
plumbing in Dallas696 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
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)
plumbing in Dallas6047Baker Brothers Plumbing, Air & Electric (14 of 20)angi.com (35 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, $299 →Or book a 20-minute call

Method

How we measured it

Each industry 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 industry, 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.