We asked AI to recommend local businesses. It named 9 of 60 Google Maps leaders

01How we ran the study

We took 60 businesses: in each of 5 cities and 6 niches, the business in first place on Google Maps (in one case the second) and the business in sixth place. For each of them we already had a check of its Google results and its website from our free AI visibility check.

Then we asked Claude by Anthropic, with web search on, 30 questions in plain English, one per niche and city: "What is the best <niche> in <city>? Recommend a few." Each answer gave 3 to 8 businesses with their websites, 156 in total. We matched them with our 60 businesses by website address and by name.

This is one answer per question from one AI assistant on one day (3 November 2026). AI answers change between runs and between assistants, so read the numbers as a snapshot, not a ranking. The groups are small: 10 businesses per niche and 12 per city.

We publish only aggregate numbers, without business names. Download the aggregate table (CSV). You may reuse it with a link to this page (CC BY 4.0).

02The AI named 9 of 60 map leaders

Of the 60 businesses that Google Maps shows at the top for their niche and city, the AI named 9 (15%). The other 51 were not in its answer at all, although the question was about exactly their niche and their city.

The other 147 recommendations went elsewhere. In law and restaurants the answers listed large, well-known firms and fine-dining places, and not one of the 20 map leaders. In auto repair several answers named national service chains.

Being visible on the map and being recommended by AI are two different things. To see which of them your business has, run the free check: it shows whether an AI answer names you, your Google positions and the gaps on your site.

03First place on the map barely helped

The difference between first and sixth place is one business. The AI does not seem to copy the map. Its answer reflects what it finds about a business on the open web: search results, lists, articles and reviews.

Does AI know your business, whatever your place on the map? Check it for free.

04The niche changes everything

Gyms were the exception: 6 of 10 map leaders were named. Many of them are well-known clubs and brands with many mentions online. In law and restaurants the AI answered with the biggest and most famous names of the city, and none of the map leaders made it.

By city the spread was smaller: from 1 of 12 businesses in Sydney and Dublin to 3 of 12 in London.

How AI answers about your niche in your city: run the free check.

05Google results mattered more than the map

Businesses in Google's top ten for a plain query like "dentist Toronto" were named almost three times as often as the rest. That fits how AI assistants with web search work: they read search results and the pages behind them. More on this: where AI assistants get their answers.

All 60 businesses came first in Google for their own name. That was not enough: a customer asks AI about a niche, not about a name.

See your Google positions for these queries next to the AI answer: free check.

06A tidy website alone did not decide it

We also checked the 57 websites we could open on 17 basic points. The businesses the AI named had, on average, a lower site score than the rest: 54 against 67 out of 100. A good website helps a visitor who has already arrived, but on its own it did not make the AI recommend the business.

These gaps cost leads after the click. Most of them are fixed on the current site, see website improvement.

Which of these points your site misses: free check.

07Two AI assistants, two different lists

For 23 of the businesses we also had an answer from Gemini reading Google search results, the engine of our free check (2 November 2026). Gemini named 6 of the 23, Claude named 3, and not one business was named by both.

So a business can be recommended by one assistant and be missing in another. One AI answer seen once says little: it takes several assistants and several questions over time.

Start with one check today: is your business in AI answers.

08What this means for a local business

1. 01A top place on Google Maps does not put you into AI answers: only 9 of 60 map leaders were named. Check whether AI names you.
2. 02Google results for your niche and city matter: a place in the top ten made a mention almost three times as likely. See your positions in the free check.
3. 03The AI tends to name businesses the web talks about: lists, articles, reviews and mentions. That is the work of GEO, visibility in AI answers. Check your starting point.
4. 04Different assistants give different lists. Check your business more than once and in more than one assistant.

Veilvex works on visibility in AI answers (GEO, from $1,000 per month) and in Google (SEO, from $500 per month). You can start with the free check.

09Frequently asked questions