Ask ChatGPT for a roofer in Frisco and you get a short answer with a few names. Ask Google the same thing and you may see an AI summary above the map. For an owner, that raises two questions: what decides who gets named, and what can you do about it?
This guide answers both, with sources. It covers ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, and how they differ from the Google Maps results you already know. Where nobody knows the answer, we say so.
Where do AI answers about local companies come from?
Mostly from the business's own website and its listings. When you ask an assistant a local question, it often searches the web, reads a handful of pages and writes a summary that names a few companies.
Business websites supply 42% of the ~1.97M citations in local AI answers (ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews); Google Business Profile ~29%.
Source: BrightLocal local AI visibility study · (opens in a new tab)
86% of AI citations came from brands' own websites (44%) and managed listings (42%).
Source: Yext AI citations research · (opens in a new tab) · 6.8M citations across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, Jul–Aug 2025; Yext client/prospect locations
The two studies measured different things in different ways. Both found the same pattern: the company's own site and its listings supply most of what the assistant cites. Reviews and mentions on other sites supply less, but can back those pages up.
Each assistant gets there its own way. OpenAI says ChatGPT search uses its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot, and that sites which block it won't appear in those answers, though they can still show up as links.[1] Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode rely on its regular search index, and that no special file or markup is needed to appear in them.[2]
Think of an AI answer as a summary of what the assistant could find and confirm about you that day. Clear facts in several places make you easier to summarize.
How is that different from Google Maps?
The map gives a list you can scroll, while an AI answer names a few companies and stops. That difference shows up in how often a business gets named at all:
In BrightLocal's study of 200k+ localized AI searches, Google Maps named a tracked business in 66% of searches; ChatGPT, AI Mode and AI Overviews named it in only 32–38%.
Source: BrightLocal local AI visibility study · (opens in a new tab)
So the map still names local businesses more often than AI answers do. We treat a strong Google Business Profile as the base of AI search work, not a separate project.
Only about 8% of local-intent searches show an AI Overview, versus about 21% of all keywords.
Source: Ahrefs AI Overview triggers study · (opens in a new tab) · 146M desktop SERPs, Sept 2025
When someone searches for a service in a town, Google usually shows the map, and an AI Overview far less often. AI summaries turn up more on research questions, such as how a repair works or why a part fails.
| Where it answers | Where people see it | What it mostly reads | What you can do |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT search | The ChatGPT app and website | Pages its search crawler and search partners find: your site, listings, reviews and articles[3] | Let OAI-SearchBot in, and keep your facts the same everywhere |
| Google AI Overviews | A summary at the top of some Google results | Google's regular search index | The usual SEO basics; Google says nothing special is needed[2] |
| Google AI Mode | A separate conversation view in Google Search | Google's search index, across several related searches | The same basics, including pages that answer follow-up questions |
| Google Maps | The map in Search and the Maps app | Your Google Business Profile, your reviews and the distance to the searcher | A complete profile, real reviews and the right category |
How many people use AI to find a local business?
Far more than a year ago, though most still check other places before they call.
45% of US consumers now use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local business recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier.
Source: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey · (opens in a new tab)
Only 18% of consumers who use AI for local search felt ready to contact the business it recommended; the rest kept researching on Google and other channels.
Source: BrightLocal consumer search behavior study · (opens in a new tab)
AI is one step in a longer search, so Google, your website and your reviews still count. For an owner, that means one set of work does double duty: what helps you on Maps and on your own site also helps you in AI answers.
Which buyer questions should you care about?
The ones a customer asks right before choosing who to call. They come in three kinds, and each kind leans on different evidence:
- Shortlist questions, such as "Who are the best plumbers in Plano?" These lean on your Google profile, your reviews and mentions on other sites.
- Price and process questions, such as "How much does a water heater replacement cost in Plano?" These lean on service pages that give a range and explain the job.
- Check-up questions about you by name, such as "Is this company any good?" These lean on your reviews, your replies and whether your details match everywhere.
It's easy to test only the first kind. The other two matter too, because the people asking them are often close to picking up the phone.
What do AI assistants need before they name you?
A few facts they can confirm quickly, from more than one source. These are the six we check first:
1. What you do, in plain words
Each main page should name the service in the words customers use, and say who it's for. A homepage that says "Quality you can trust" and never mentions roofs gives an assistant nothing to repeat.
2. Where you work
Name the towns and areas you really serve, on your site and in your Google profile, and keep the two lists the same.
3. That you're the same business everywhere
Your name, phone and address should match on your website, Google, Apple, Bing, Yelp and the directories in your trade. When details differ, software has a harder time telling that all those pages describe one company.
4. That real customers rate you
Recent reviews on Google and on the sites your customers read, with your replies. Assistants often summarize reviews, so the words customers use count as much as the stars.
5. That other sites mention you
Dealer locators, trade associations, local news and editorial lists. Your website is your own claim; a mention on a site you don't control backs it up.
6. Pages the assistant can read
Make sure your robots.txt and any firewall rules don't block the crawlers AI search uses. Keep key facts in the page text, not only inside photos or PDFs.
We go through each of these step by step in how to get recommended by ChatGPT. You'll also hear this work called generative engine optimization (GEO). On our monthly AI search optimization plans, we run the same buyer questions every month across the AI assistants we test (currently ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity).
What nobody can control
Neither OpenAI nor Google publishes a formula for who gets named, and nobody outside those companies knows it. Answers change with the wording, the location, the day and the model version. The same question asked twice can name different companies.
Anyone who promises you a permanent place in ChatGPT's answers is guessing. What you can do is make the facts about your business easy to find and hard to doubt.
Check your own AI visibility in 15 minutes
You can run a rough check yourself, for free:
- Write five questions a customer might ask before calling you, with your town in them.
- Open a fresh chat in each assistant your customers use. A private window keeps your past chats from steering the answer.
- Ask each question once. Note the date, the exact wording, the companies named and any sources shown.
- Ask again the next day. Answers vary, so one run proves little.
- Compare what the assistant says about you with what your website and Google profile say. Anything wrong or missing goes on your to-do list.
Five questions for a roofer in Frisco
- "Who are the most trusted roofing companies in Frisco, Texas?"
- "Which roofers near Frisco install metal roofs?"
- "How much does a roof replacement cost in Frisco?"
- "Which Frisco roofers have the best reviews?"
- "Is Example Roofing Co. a good choice for a new roof in Frisco?" (use your own company name)
Illustrative example
If you'd rather have it done properly, our AI search visibility audit runs a fixed set of buyer questions and shows what to fix first. Our methodology is public, and the AI visibility benchmark lets you run a similar check for free. For what roofing buyers in particular ask, see roofing SEO.
What we never do
We don't sell fake reviews, paid spots in "best of" lists or Reddit posts that pretend to come from customers. We don't publish dozens of AI-written articles a month either. Most of these tactics break platform rules, and getting caught can cost more than they brought in.
What we do is slower and plainer: get the facts right on your site and your listings, earn real reviews and mentions, then ask the same questions again each month.