Ask ChatGPT and Google's AI Mode the same question about local businesses and you will often get two different lists. They read different sources. Google's AI leans on Google Business Profiles and Google's own index. ChatGPT searches the web through partners and leans on sites like Yelp, and hardly uses Google profiles. In our tests, only about 1 in 5 firms were named by both.
We checked by asking both platforms the same buyer questions, again and again, in six US markets. Between 13 and 18 October we asked each question up to five times on each platform and wrote down every firm named.
The short version
The two lists rarely match. Across six markets, 65 different firms were named. Only 14 of them were named by both platforms.
A large independent study found the same. BrightLocal's September 2026 study of about 200,000 local searches found ChatGPT's picks overlapped only 19% with AI Mode's.
The leader often survives. In half our markets, the firm named most often was the same on both platforms.
But not always. In two markets, Google named one firm in every answer and ChatGPT never named it once.
Sometimes one platform names nobody. For one Chicago-suburb question, ChatGPT named firms in 4 of 5 answers. Google's AI Mode named none in 5 of 5.
The cause is the sources. Google leans on Business Profiles. ChatGPT leans on Yelp, Bing and business websites. To be named on both, you need to show up in both sets.
What is the difference between ChatGPT and Google AI Mode?
Both answer a question in plain sentences instead of a list of links. Both search the web before they answer. The difference is where they search and what they trust.
Google AI Mode is part of Google Search. Google says AI Mode uses a "query fan-out technique, breaking down your question into subtopics," then runs many searches at once (Google, May 2025). Those searches run on Google's own index, which includes Google Business Profiles, reviews and Maps data.
ChatGPT is not a search engine, but it can search. OpenAI says ChatGPT "typically rewrites your query into one or more targeted queries" and sends them to search providers it partners with (OpenAI Help Center, checked 20 Oct 2026). For restaurant bookings, it says it may show availability from OpenTable, Resy or Yelp.
So both break your question into searches. They just run those searches on different parts of the web. That is why their answers about local businesses so often disagree.
Do ChatGPT and Google AI Mode recommend the same businesses?
Mostly not.
BrightLocal's study, published 16 September 2026, tracked about 200,000 local searches over 60 days on ChatGPT, AI Mode and AI Overviews. ChatGPT, in its words, "had a crossover of just 20% with AIO and 19% with AI Mode." Even Google's two AI tools agreed with each other on only 29.3% of businesses.
Our own tests came out almost the same. We asked real buyer questions, such as "I run a small accounting firm in South Florida, who should handle our IT?", in six markets. ChatGPT ran in temporary chats with no personalisation. AI Mode ran with US settings. Across the six markets, the two platforms named 65 different firms between them. Only 14 were named by both, about 1 in 5.
The split was different in each market:
Market | Firms named by either | Named by both |
|---|---|---|
Upstate New York | 9 | 5 |
Long Island | 5 | 2 |
South Florida | 9 | 2 |
Wisconsin | 13 | 2 |
Pittsburgh | 10 | 1 |
Texas metro | 19 | 2 |
Small markets overlapped more. In upstate New York, every firm Google named was also named by ChatGPT at least once. In the large Texas metro, the two platforms named 19 different firms and agreed on 2.
Where do they agree?
At the top, more often than you'd expect.
In three of the six markets, the firm named most often was the same on both platforms. In upstate New York, one firm was named in 4 of 5 ChatGPT answers and all 5 Google answers. In Pittsburgh, one firm led on both. On Long Island, the same two firms came up on both.
Our follow-up tests showed the same thing. For a construction-company IT question in the Chicago suburbs, the same two firms were named in all 9 answers across both platforms. North of Chicago, one firm was named in 3 of 4 ChatGPT answers and all 5 Google answers.
The firms that lead on both are not lucky. They are the ones that show up in both sets of sources. In upstate New York, the leader had more than 220 five-star reviews and sat first on the main IT-services directory for its city. Google could find it in its own data. ChatGPT could find it on the web.
Where do they split?
In the other three markets, the leaders were different, and sometimes completely so.
Google's favourite, missing from ChatGPT. In Wisconsin, Google's AI Mode named one firm in all 4 of its answers. ChatGPT never named it in 5 tries. In South Florida, Google named one firm in all 5 answers. ChatGPT never named it either. A business owner who only checked Google would think they had lost to that firm. One who only checked ChatGPT would never know it existed.
One platform with names, the other with none. For a small-business question in a western Chicago suburb, ChatGPT named firms in 4 of 5 answers. Google's AI Mode gave general advice and named no one, 5 times out of 5. For a law-firm question in Pittsburgh, it went the other way. Google named firms in all 3 of its answers, while ChatGPT named no one in 2 of 5.
Big markets scatter on both. In the Texas metro, ChatGPT's most frequent pick (4 of 5 answers) was not among the firms Google named. Google's own picks changed from answer to answer.
Why do the two platforms disagree?
Three reasons, all visible in the data.
1. They read different sources. BrightLocal found Google Business Profiles made up 28.5% of all citations across the three platforms. But, in its words, Google Business Profile "is hardly used by ChatGPT." ChatGPT leans on Yelp and Bing instead. All three platforms used Yelp. Business websites were the biggest source overall, at 42% of citations. We look at what that means for your reviews in does ChatGPT use Google reviews?
2. They draw the map differently. BrightLocal measured how far each platform reached for its answers. For ChatGPT, 90% of the businesses named were within 287 km, about 180 miles. For AI Mode it was 64 km, about 40 miles. ChatGPT is far more willing to recommend a firm that isn't close by.
3. They name a different number of businesses. On average ChatGPT named 4.1 businesses per answer and AI Mode 3.5, according to the same study. About 1 in 10 answers on each platform named no business at all.
Put those together and the split makes sense. A firm with a strong Google Business Profile but thin coverage elsewhere can win on Google and be invisible on ChatGPT. A firm with good directory and Yelp coverage but a weak profile can do the reverse.
Which one matters more for a small business?
You can't pick one, because you don't get to choose which one your customer uses.
BrightLocal's 2026 consumer survey found 45% of US consumers now use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier (BrightLocal, Feb 2026). Some of those people ask ChatGPT. Others type into Google and get AI Mode or an AI Overview without asking for it. Our data says the two groups may see different names.
The good news is that most of the work counts twice. Your website is the biggest single source for both. Reviews and directory listings help on both. Only the Google Business Profile is mostly a Google-side lever, and it is still the most important single source on that side.
How to get named on both
Finish your Google Business Profile. Right category, services, hours, photos and a steady stream of reviews. This is the main lever for AI Mode and AI Overviews. Our local SEO checklist covers it in detail.
Be present where ChatGPT looks. Yelp, the main directory for your industry, and your chamber or trade association. In our IT tests, the main IT-services directory kept appearing behind the firms ChatGPT named.
Write one page per service and place. A page that says exactly what you do and where, in the words a buyer would use. In South Florida, the firm Google named every time had a page about IT for accounting firms that named the region. Both platforms read websites more than anything else.
Test them separately. Ask the same questions on ChatGPT and on Google's AI Mode, and keep two scorecards. A single combined result hides exactly the gap this post is about.
Ask each question more than once. Answers change from run to run on both platforms. We explain why, and how many runs you need, in why ChatGPT gives a different answer every time.
If a firm is named on one platform but not the other, look at where it appears in the sources that platform uses. That is usually your answer.
Want to know where you stand on both?
Every AI Search Visibility engagement starts with this test. We run your buyer questions on ChatGPT and Google's AI Mode, several times each, and report how often you're named on each one, who is named instead, and which sources put them there. The first audit is free, and you get a written report rather than a sales call.
This article is written by
Founder & Lead Strategist at CognitiveAISEO. Marvin has spent 20+ years in search and 4 years as an account manager at Lenovo, managing a book of 500+ partner accounts: resellers, MSPs and integrators. His posts draw on CognitiveAISEO's own tests: the same buyer questions asked 10 times each on ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Claude.
