I keep getting emails from agencies telling small business owners they need "GEO" (generative engine optimisation) to show up in ChatGPT, usually priced as a separate monthly service on top of SEO. So I tested it. I ran 10 real local searches across Surrey and Hampshire through ChatGPT three times each, then compared who it recommended with who shows up in Google.
This article is part of my small business guide to SEO.
The short version: for local businesses, ChatGPT recommended the businesses that already rank in Google's map results, and it showed their Google star ratings and review counts to the exact number.
Here is everything I did, everything I found, and what it means if you run a local business.
Key findings at a glance
- 85% of the businesses in Google's map results (74 of 87 appearances, paid ads excluded) were also recommended by ChatGPT.
- 66 out of 67 times, the star rating and review count ChatGPT showed was identical to Google's. The single exception was 70 reviews on Google against 71 in ChatGPT, which looks like a count updating between checks.
- 9 of the 10 searches had a trade directory, trade body or review site cited as a source. Checkatrade was cited for 8 of them.
- Only 40% of the businesses ChatGPT recommended (81 of 201) appeared in all three runs of the same search. One search changed almost completely every time.
- Google showed no AI Overview for any of the 10 searches. The map results still dominated.
Why I ran this test
The pitch I keep seeing goes something like this: Google is losing ground to AI, AI tools pick businesses in a completely different way, and so you need a specialist GEO service alongside your SEO. I have seen agencies charge a four-figure monthly fee for SEO and then roughly the same again for GEO.
I have been doing SEO for local businesses since 2019, and before that I spent 16 years running a plumbers' merchants, so most of my clients are tradespeople and local service firms. My view has always been that GEO is mostly SEO with a new name. But a view is not evidence, so I wanted to see what ChatGPT actually does when someone asks it to find a local business.
How I ran the test
I kept the method simple so anyone can repeat it.
The searches. Ten local searches across the towns where many of my clients work, covering trades and professional services:
- best emergency plumber in Guildford
- boiler repair Woking
- electrician in Basingstoke
- roofer in Farnham
- builders in Winchester
- carpet cleaning Camberley
- heat pump installer Southampton
- locksmith Reigate
- accountant in Fleet
- conveyancing solicitor Portsmouth
ChatGPT. Each search went through ChatGPT three times using DataForSEO's ChatGPT scraper, set to the United Kingdom, with web search switched on. That gave 29 usable answers (one run failed to connect). I recorded every business ChatGPT recommended, the star ratings and review counts it showed, and the sources it cited.
Google. Each search also went through Google, located to the town itself, using DataForSEO's live results data. I recorded the map results (the "local pack"), the top 10 organic results, and whether an AI Overview appeared.
Bing. I wanted to compare Bing too, because ChatGPT has historically leaned on Bing's index. The automated Bing data came back unusable (results for the wrong cities, and in one case pages about a 1995 film called Heat), so I only spot checked Bing by hand. I have kept those observations separate below.
Matching. A business counted as "recommended" if ChatGPT named it, either in its map-style business list or in the written answer. I matched businesses by name and excluded paid adverts in Google's map results.
Finding 1: ChatGPT recommended Google's map businesses 85% of the time
Across the 10 searches, businesses in Google's map results appeared 87 times across the ChatGPT runs (three map businesses per search, three runs each, with one Portsmouth run missing). ChatGPT recommended them in 74 of those 87 appearances.
For half the searches, it was every single time.
| Search | Google map businesses ChatGPT recommended | Businesses in all 3 ChatGPT runs | Directories or trade bodies cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| best emergency plumber in Guildford | 6 of 9 | 7 of 19 | Checkatrade |
| boiler repair Woking | 7 of 9 | 1 of 30 | Checkatrade, Gas Safe Register |
| electrician in Basingstoke | 9 of 9 | 11 of 21 | Checkatrade, NICEIC, TrustMark, Electrical Safety First |
| roofer in Farnham | 7 of 9 | 12 of 19 | Checkatrade |
| builders in Winchester | 6 of 9 | 7 of 22 | Checkatrade, FMB |
| carpet cleaning Camberley | 6 of 9 | 10 of 17 | Checkatrade, Cylex |
| heat pump installer Southampton | 9 of 9 | 9 of 22 | Checkatrade, heat pump installer directories, GOV.UK |
| locksmith Reigate | 9 of 9 | 5 of 16 | Checkatrade, 01737.co.uk |
| accountant in Fleet | 9 of 9 | 14 of 19 | None (cited firms' own websites) |
| conveyancing solicitor Portsmouth | 6 of 6 (2 runs) | 5 of 16 | QualitySolicitors, Solicitors.com, The Good Solicitor Guide |
If you are in Google's top three map results for your service and town, the odds are very good that ChatGPT will name you too.
Finding 2: the star ratings were Google's, to the exact review
This was the result I did not expect.
When ChatGPT showed its map-style list of businesses, it included a star rating and review count for each one. For every business that also appeared in Google's map results, I compared the two. They matched exactly in 66 of 67 cases.
A few examples:
- Surrey Plumbing Ltd (Guildford): 4.9 stars from 132 reviews in Google, and 4.9 from 132 in ChatGPT.
- Oriental Rug Spa (Camberley): 5.0 from 321 in Google, and 5.0 from 321 in ChatGPT.
- Andrew & Andrew Solicitors (Portsmouth): 4.7 from 278 in Google, and 4.7 from 278 in ChatGPT.
The one mismatch was a heat pump installer showing 70 reviews in Google and 71 in ChatGPT, which is what you would expect if a new review landed between checks.
Now compare Bing. When I checked "roofer in Farnham" on Bing by hand, its own map listing showed Moran Roofing Specialists with 5 stars from 3 reviews. ChatGPT showed the same business with 4.9 stars from 40 reviews, which is exactly Google's figure.
I want to be careful here. OpenAI has not published where its local business data comes from, and it has a separate data licensing deal with Yelp that was disclosed in February 2026. I cannot prove the source from the outside. What I can say is that, for UK local businesses in this test, the ratings and review counts ChatGPT displayed were Google's numbers, not Bing's.
What that means for you: your Google Business Profile, and the reviews on it, are doing the work in ChatGPT as well as in Google. There is no separate AI version of your reputation to optimise.
Finding 3: directories and trade bodies were ChatGPT's sources
Alongside its business list, ChatGPT writes a short answer and cites sources. For 9 of the 10 searches, those sources included a directory, trade body or review site:
- Checkatrade was cited for 8 of the 10 searches.
- Trade bodies appeared where they matter: NICEIC and TrustMark for electricians, Gas Safe Register for boiler repair, the FMB for builders.
- Sector review sites appeared for professional services, such as solicitor review and comparison sites for conveyancing.
- The only exception was accountants in Fleet, where ChatGPT cited the firms' own websites.
These are the same places a good local SEO campaign has always focused on: accurate directory listings, trade body memberships shown clearly on your site, and reviews on the platforms your customers trust. I covered the trade side of this in my guide to the best directory sites for plumbers.
Finding 4: ChatGPT's answers were unstable
Run the same search three times and you often get different businesses. Across all 10 searches, only 81 of the 201 businesses ChatGPT recommended appeared in all three runs of their search. That is 40%.
The extreme case was boiler repair Woking. Across three runs, ChatGPT named 30 different businesses, and only one appeared every time. In one of those runs, most of the businesses it listed were based in Nantwich and Crewe in Cheshire, well over 100 miles from Woking.
This matters because a lot of GEO services sell "AI visibility tracking": a monthly score showing how often ChatGPT mentions you. If the same search gives a different answer each time you run it, a single monthly score is measuring a lot of noise. I go into this further in what GEO agencies are really selling you.
Finding 5: Google showed no AI Overviews for these searches
None of the 10 searches triggered a Google AI Overview. Every one showed the map results near the top, and the organic results were heavily populated by directories: Checkatrade, TrustATrader, MyBuilder, Yell, the FMB, NICEIC and others took roughly three of every ten top-10 positions.
For local service searches, Google's map results are still the main event, and the directories sit right behind them.
What about Bing?
Because the automated Bing data failed, I only have hand checks, run from London rather than the individual towns, so treat these as observations rather than results.
- Bing's first page for local trade searches was dominated by adverts and directories, with very few organic results for local firms.
- Where Bing did show its own map listings (for example locksmiths in Reigate), the businesses overlapped with Google's map results.
- Bing's review data was different from Google's (the Moran Roofing example above), and ChatGPT's figures matched Google.
So for local searches in this test, ChatGPT's recommendations looked much more like Google's map results than Bing's.
The limits of this test
I would rather tell you what this test cannot show than have someone else point it out.
- It is small. Ten searches, one day, one region.
- It used a data tool, not a logged-in ChatGPT account. Personalised accounts with location settings and chat history may see different results.
- It is local only. National and ecommerce searches work differently, and research on those shows much lower overlap with Google's top 10. Ahrefs' March 2026 analysis found 38% of AI Overview citations came from Google's top 10 results.
- Matching by business name is imperfect. A few businesses trade under slightly different names in different places.
If you want to check it yourself, type a couple of these searches into your own ChatGPT and compare the answer with Google Maps for the same search. I would like to hear if you see something different.
What this means if you run a local business
The practical takeaway is reassuringly boring. The businesses ChatGPT recommended were the ones doing the fundamentals well:
- A complete, active Google Business Profile in the right category, in the right location.
- Plenty of genuine, recent reviews, because ChatGPT displayed Google's rating and review count directly.
- Accurate listings on the directories and trade bodies that matter for your trade, because those were ChatGPT's cited sources.
- A website that clearly states what you do and where, so every system that reads it (Google, Bing or ChatGPT) gets the same clear answer.
That is local SEO. It is not a separate discipline, and it does not need a separate invoice. If you want the step-by-step version for trades specifically, read how ChatGPT finds local tradespeople. If you are weighing up a quote for GEO right now, read what a GEO add-on actually buys first.
Every SoNick SEO package includes Google Business Profile management, technical SEO, Bing Webmaster Tools set-up and monthly reporting as standard, with ChatGPT visibility tracking available too, because that is the work that gets you found, whether the person searching is using Google or ChatGPT.
Conclusion
I set out to test whether local businesses need something different to be recommended by ChatGPT. For the 10 searches I tested, the answer was no. ChatGPT recommended Google's map businesses 85% of the time, showed their Google ratings to the exact review, and cited the same directories that local SEO has always prioritised. Where it differed, it was mostly by being inconsistent.
If you would like to know how your business currently shows up in Google's map results (and so, by the look of this, in ChatGPT too), run a free SEO audit. It takes under a minute. Or if you would rather talk it through, get in touch and I will tell you honestly what your business needs.
