Where Does AI Get Its Recommendations When Someone Asks for a Plumber?

By Rob Warfield, founder of ReviiewCo, Greenville, SC

October 27, 2026 · About a 8-minute read

ReviiewCo runs Google review campaigns for home service businesses. This guide shows you how to do it yourself.

When someone asks an AI tool for a plumber, the answer doesn’t come out of thin air. Google’s AI tools lean on Google Maps data, including your reviews. ChatGPT searches the web live and reads what it finds, which often includes your Google Business Profile, directory listings and “best of” articles.

What nobody can tell you is the exact formula. No AI company publishes how it picks local businesses, and the research on ChatGPT’s sources doesn’t fully agree.

This post sticks to what’s known, flags what’s a guess, and ends with things you can do this week.

Why this is worth your attention now

In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults, the share of people using ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations jumped from 6% to 45% in one year. That makes AI the third most-used source for local recommendations, behind Google and Facebook.

Trust is mixed. In the same survey, 40% said they trust AI platforms for business recommendations, while 32% said they don’t.

Google’s AI: built on Google Maps data

This is the clearest part of the picture. Google’s AI features that touch local searches include:

Gemini in Google Maps, which adds AI review summaries to business listings.
AI Overviews and AI Mode in regular Google Search.
The Gemini app, which you can ask directly for recommendations.

In December 2025, the Gemini app started showing local results in a visual format, with business photos, star ratings and location details pulled from Google Maps. Tap a business and you can see AI-generated sections like “People talk most about” and “Tips from reviewers,” which are summaries of that business’s Google reviews.

There’s also a technical clue. Google’s developer documentation for a Gemini feature called Grounding with Google Maps says it pulls places, reviews, photos, addresses and hours from Maps, then answers from that data. As Cloutly points out, that’s about the clearest statement any AI company has made that review text gets read when an assistant answers questions about local businesses.

Bottom line: your Google Business Profile and reviews are the raw material for Google’s AI. (We cover the review summaries in detail in Google’s AI Is Summarizing Your Reviews.)

ChatGPT: it searches the web, then reads what it finds

ChatGPT works differently. It doesn’t have its own map of businesses. When you ask it a local question, it searches the web for current information and can use your approximate location to find nearby results. Web search has been available to all ChatGPT users, signed in or not, since February 5, 2025.

So the real question is: what does it find when it searches? Here’s what’s been reported:

Yelp has a direct data licensing relationship with OpenAI, according to Uberall.
Uberall also says ChatGPT and most AI tools start their searches through Google or Bing, and that Google Business Profile data is treated as an authoritative source for reviews, location, ratings, hours and photos.
An older Whitespark study looked at review sources in Bing Places, because of the Microsoft–OpenAI relationship. In that study, Facebook beat Yelp as the main review source in Bing Places in all but one city.

Honestly, these findings don’t line up perfectly. Different studies point to different sources, and AI tools change how they work often. Anyone claiming certainty about where ChatGPT gets its local data is guessing.

Does ChatGPT use Google reviews?

Possibly, indirectly. If ChatGPT’s web search turns up pages showing your Google reviews, it can read them. But OpenAI hasn’t said it pulls Google reviews directly, and the sources above suggest Yelp, Bing and other directories play a role too.

That’s one reason it pays to keep your info right on more than just Google.

What the experts think matters for AI visibility

Whitespark runs a well-known survey of local search experts. Its 2026 edition added a new section on what experts believe drives visibility in AI search. According to Cloutly’s analysis, three of the top five are citations, meaning places your business gets mentioned around the web. The top factors include:

Being included on expert-curated “best of” lists
Having a dedicated page on your website for each service you offer
Being prominent on key industry websites
The quality and authority of unstructured citations (mentions in articles, blogs and local news, not just directory listings)

This is expert opinion, not confirmation from OpenAI or Google. It’s a useful read from people who do this work daily, but it’s not a rulebook.

What Google says about gaming its AI

In May 2026, Google updated its Search Central documentation to make clear that its spam policies cover all of Google Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. According to PPC Land, this didn’t create new rules. It confirmed that existing ones, like those against scaled content abuse, link spam and cloaking, apply to AI answers too.

In plain terms: mass-producing fake “best plumber in town” articles to get picked up by AI is the same spam it always was.

Nobody can guarantee AI placement

Worth saying plainly, because people are selling it:

No AI assistant publishes a ranking formula for local recommendations.
OpenAI has started testing ads in ChatGPT, but says ads don’t influence the answers it gives.
Google states on its Business Profile help page that there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
OpenAI says placement in ChatGPT search results is not guaranteed.

If someone guarantees you’ll show up when a homeowner asks ChatGPT for a roofer, ask them how.

What you can actually do

It’s mostly the same groundwork that helps you on Google Maps, so you’re not doing double the work.

1. Finish your Google Business Profile

Google’s AI reads from Google Maps. Make sure your categories, services, service area, hours, phone, website and photos are filled in and correct. Our Google Business Profile checklist walks through it.

2. Keep real reviews coming in steadily

AI review summaries are built from what your customers write. A steady flow of recent reviews gives the AI fresh, accurate material. The simple, policy-safe way to do this is to ask every customer, the same way, soon after the job, with a direct link. Don’t script what they say and don’t only ask the happy ones. (Our free Google Review Link Generator makes the link part easy.)

3. Make your business info match everywhere

If ChatGPT is pulling from Bing, Yelp, Facebook and Google, those places should all say the same thing: same business name, address, phone and hours. Mismatched info makes it harder for any system to be sure who you are. More on this in Your Google Profile, Website and Facebook Page Should Say the Same Thing.

4. Give each service its own page on your website

If you do water heater installs, drain cleaning and repiping, each one should have its own page explaining what you do, where you do it and what to expect. Experts in the Whitespark survey ranked this near the top for AI visibility, and it helps the humans who land on your site.

5. Get mentioned on real local and industry sites

Think local news, your chamber of commerce, manufacturer dealer pages, trade associations, sponsorships and legitimate “best of” lists put together by someone else. Don’t pay for fake ones or write your own “top 10” list with yourself at number one. That’s the kind of thing Google’s updated spam guidance is aimed at.

Test it yourself

You don’t need a tool for this. Set aside 15 minutes.

Open ChatGPT, the Gemini app, and Google’s AI Mode (in Google Search).
In each one, ask: “Who’s the best [your trade] in [your town]?” For example: “Who’s the best HVAC company in Greenville, SC?”
Write down which businesses come up in each.
Look at the sources each tool cites. Note whether they point to Google Maps, Yelp, Facebook, Angi, a local news article or a business website.
Check whether you’re mentioned, and if so, whether the details (phone, hours, services) are right.
Repeat with a few different wordings, like “emergency plumber near me.”

Results vary by person, location and time, so don’t read too much into one try. Patterns are what matter. If the same competitor keeps coming up and every tool cites the same directory or article, that tells you where the AI is looking in your market.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make AI recommend my business?

You can’t force it, and no one can guarantee it. What you can do is make sure the sources AI tools read are complete and accurate: a finished Google Business Profile, a steady flow of real reviews, matching business info across directories, a page for each service on your website, and genuine mentions on local and industry sites.

How do I get my business on ChatGPT?

There’s no sign-up or submission form for ChatGPT’s local answers. ChatGPT searches the web and reads what it finds, so you get there indirectly by showing up well on the sites it searches, including Google, Bing, Yelp and other directories.

Does ChatGPT use Google reviews?

OpenAI hasn’t said it pulls Google reviews directly. ChatGPT searches the web, and it can read pages that include Google review info, but reports also point to Yelp (which licenses data to OpenAI) and Bing as sources. Studies disagree on the exact mix.

Where does Google’s AI get its information about local businesses?

From Google Maps data, including Business Profiles and reviews. The Gemini app shows local results built on Maps data, and Google’s developer documentation describes Gemini answering place questions from Maps reviews, photos, addresses and hours.

Can I pay to show up in AI recommendations?

Not in the answers themselves. OpenAI says the ads it’s testing in ChatGPT don’t influence its answers, and Google says there’s no way to pay for a better local ranking. Be wary of anyone selling a guarantee.

The short version

Use of AI for local recommendations jumped from 6% to 45% in one year (BrightLocal 2026).
Google’s AI tools draw on Google Maps data, including your reviews. ChatGPT searches the web live and reads what it finds.
Nobody publishes an AI ranking formula, and studies disagree on exactly where ChatGPT’s local data comes from.
The practical moves are the basics: complete profile, steady real reviews, consistent info everywhere, a page per service, and real mentions on local and industry sites.
Test it yourself in ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Mode, and note which sources they cite in your market.

Rather not do this yourself? ReviiewCo handles steady, policy-safe Google review requests for home service businesses, done for you. See how it works.

Sources

About the author

Rob Warfield is the founder of ReviiewCo, based at 403 Woods Lake Rd Ste 100 in Greenville, SC. He has spent more than twenty years as an entrepreneur in real estate and in building businesses of his own. More about Rob.