Method

How we test

The numbers in our posts and reports come from our own testing of AI tools and from our audits of New Zealand businesses. This page explains how we got them and what they can and can't tell you. Last updated .

What we test

We ask AI tools the questions real customers ask, such as “best electrician in Takapuna” or “who can replace a hot water cylinder in Hamilton”. We record which businesses each tool names, match them to their Google Business Profiles, then audit each business’s public presence: its Google profile and reviews, its listings and mentions, and its website.

We ask from New Zealand, and we ask each question more than once, because AI answers change from one asking to the next.

Our first test, October 2026

  • 16 questions about electricians and plumbers in Takapuna, Henderson, Hamilton and Christchurch
  • Each question asked 3 times in five AI tools: the ChatGPT app, OpenAI’s API with web search, Claude with web search, and Gemini with Google Search and with Google Maps. 240 answers in all.
  • 31 of the businesses named, or not named, in those answers audited in full

What we found

  • ChatGPT shows business cards built on Google data. ChatGPT showed business cards in 37 of its 48 answers. Of the 349 cards we could match to a Google listing, 342 (98%) showed a review count within 5% of the business’s Google profile.
  • Google reviews were the clearest difference. Of everything we checked, the number of Google reviews best separated the businesses ChatGPT named from the ones it didn’t. The businesses it named were also bigger, so this shows a pattern, not proof that reviews alone get a business named.
  • FAQ-style content didn’t separate them. 27 of the 31 businesses we audited (nearly 9 in 10) scored zero for FAQ-style answers, whether ChatGPT named them or not.
  • ChatGPT reads business websites. 36 of ChatGPT’s 48 answers (3 in 4) cited at least one local business’s own website, and 21 cited a directory such as top5.nz or NoCowboys.
  • No Foursquare or Yelp in ChatGPT’s sources. None of ChatGPT’s source lists in this test included Foursquare or Yelp.

Limits

This was a small first test: two trades, four places and one month. Other kinds of business, other questions and other months may show something different. We don’t claim any change will get a business named by an AI tool. What we can show is where AI tools look, and whether a business is ready for them.

We add to this page as our testing grows. When a new result changes what we say, we update the page and the date above.

Rounding

In social posts we round figures to keep them readable, for example “nearly 9 in 10” for 27 of 31. We never round up past the real figure. The exact numbers are on this page.