Why does my business show up in one AI but disappear in another?
We asked the same question to multiple AIs at the same time, 189 times. In most cases, whoever one AI recommended wasn't even mentioned by the others. The explanation is simple, and there's something you can do about it.
Aleff Costa·· 3 min
In short
Each AI looks for information in different places, so each one builds its own list. In our tests, 8 out of 10 businesses recommended by one AI didn't show up in any of the others. Appearing in ChatGPT doesn't guarantee anything in Gemini. The path forward is making sure you're well described in the various places these AIs look.
The test that fools a lot of people
Picture the owner of a med spa who, one evening, asks ChatGPT for the best spa in her neighborhood. Her business comes up second. She takes a screenshot, texts it to her family group chat, and figures she's all set.
The next day, a potential customer asks the exact same question on Gemini, from her phone. The spa doesn't appear. Not second, not tenth. And the owner will never know she lost that customer.
The scenario is made up, but what it reveals isn't. It's exactly what we found when we put the AIs side by side.
What our tests showed
We ran 189 tests. In each one, the same question, something like "best med spa in Austin" or "where to eat in Chicago," was sent to three or more AIs at the same moment. Then we compared the lists each one returned.
In almost every test, each AI recommended a completely different set of businesses. Only a small share of the recommended businesses showed up in two or more AIs. And in restaurants, the gap was even wider than in the beauty and wellness sector.
Why this happens: each AI reads from different places
An AI doesn't "know" your business by heart. When someone asks a question, it searches the internet and builds an answer from what it finds. The catch is that each AI looks in different places.
Think of it like asking three friends for a restaurant recommendation: one checks a neighborhood guide, one asks in a local Facebook group, one remembers a place they ate last week. Each one comes back with a different name, and none of them is wrong.
In our tests, Perplexity relied most heavily on "best businesses in the city" roundup lists and directories like Yelp and Tripadvisor: those sources showed up in 7 out of every 10 of its responses. In ChatGPT, it was 3 out of 10. Gemini, which is Google's AI, shows sources as Google links that hide the original website. And Meta AI didn't show where it got any of its answers.
In practice: a business that's well described only on its own website might show up in one AI and go completely unnoticed in another. See why mentions on other sites carry so much weight with AIs.
In almost every test, each AI recommended a completely different set of businesses.
What to do this week
You don't need an agency or a big budget. Three steps can make a real difference:
Our take
It can feel discouraging to realize that showing up in one AI isn't enough. We get it. But there's a real upside: nobody has a guaranteed spot, not even the big competitors. Small business owners who take the time to be well described in the right places get ahead, and that's work that's within reach for any small business.
See which AIs your business shows up in today, and which ones you're missing from.
See what AIs know about meFrequently asked questions
Which AI matters most for my business?
You can't bet on just one. Each customer uses whichever AI they prefer, and the lists vary a lot from one to another: in our tests, 8 out of 10 recommended businesses appeared in only one AI. Your safest move is to keep an eye on the main ones.
If I show up in ChatGPT, do I show up in Gemini?
Not necessarily. The two look for information in different places, so they can end up with very different lists. It's worth testing in both.
Do I need to pay to show up in AI answers?
There's no way to pay your way into an AI's response. OpenAI has stated that ChatGPT ads don't influence its answers. What matters is the information about your business that AIs find across the internet.
Keep reading
5 signs the AIs aren't recommending your business (and what to do about each one)
It's not a hunch: there are clear signals that ChatGPT, Gemini, and the major AIs are ignoring your business. Here's how to spot each one and what you can do today.
The Questions Your Customers Are Already Asking AIs About Your Industry (and How to Make Sure You Show Up in the Answers)
Before they walk through your door or give you a call, your customer has already asked ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity for advice. The question is: whose name came up?
5 signs the AIs are not recommending you (and what to do about each one)
These signs show up before you realize you are losing customers to whoever the AI does know.
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