57% of US local markets had a different #1 AI recommendation this week.
we asked ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini 41,400 real customer
questions like "best hotels in New York" and "top HVAC in Phoenix" across
690 US markets. Then I asked the exact same questions 7 days later.
391 of 690 markets had a completely different #1 answer.
Volatility by industry:
▸ HVAC contractors: 69% of markets flipped #1
▸ Motels: 66%
▸ Personal-injury lawyers: 64.5%
▸ Dentists: 60%
▸ Hotels: 49.5%
▸ Med spas: 45%
▸ Wedding venues: 43%
Not one industry stayed below 40%.
Named-brand examples that were #1 last week and GONE this week:
▸ InterContinental Miami — was #1 with 20 citations, zero now
▸ Hotel Nikko San Francisco — from #1 to #15
▸ The Tinsmith (Madison, WI) wedding venue — from #1 to #27
▸ Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers (Virginia Beach) — from #1 to #18
None of these businesses closed. The AI just started naming other names.
If you're a local business owner: getting cited by ChatGPT ONCE ≠ being
cited next week. Multi-engine coverage matters way more than peak position in one engine.
Replies
WebCurate.co
Interesting data.
I think it also shows how early AI search still is. Rankings seem much more volatile than traditional SEO, so relying on a single AI engine probably isn't a good strategy. for local businesses, consistent visibility across multiple platforms feels more valuable than being #1 in one engine for a short time.