AI search
Who ChatGPT recommends for a local business, and why: 40 answers studied
Daniel Stoychev
On 5 October 2026 we asked ChatGPT and Google's AI Mode the same 20 questions: "Can you recommend a good [trade] in [town]?" for ten trades in two towns. All 40 answers started from Google's map: a list of local businesses, each with a rating and review count. ChatGPT recommended no business under 4.5 stars, backed 18 of 20 answers with directories and review sites and used a business's own website once. Google's AI used businesses' own websites in 11 of 20 answers and quoted prices from them. The two towns are British, but the lessons apply to any Bulgarian business that wants the assistants to recommend it.
Everything starts from the map
Both ChatGPT and Google's AI opened every answer with the map: business name, rating, review count, often an address and hours. Whatever else they read, the list they choose from is the Google Business Profiles in the town. A business without a profile, or with one lacking a category and hours, is not on that list however good its site. That is the first thing a Bulgarian business should fix, and it is free.
Rating counts for more than the number
The lowest rating ChatGPT recommended across 96 rated businesses was 4.5, and the middle of the range was 4.9. The number of reviews that counts as enough depends on the trade: the typical builder ChatGPT named had 12 reviews, the typical dentist 218. The rule for your business: search your trade in your town, look at the three businesses on the map and their counts; that is the target, not a number from an article.
ChatGPT reads directories, Google's AI reads your site
ChatGPT backed 18 of 20 answers with directories, trade bodies and review sites, and used a business's own site in one answer. Google's AI did so in 11 of 20: it quoted what businesses say about themselves, accreditations, years trading, towns covered, guarantees, and in four answers quoted prices the businesses publish on their own pages. ChatGPT quoted no business's price, because it uses directories, which have none.
For a Bulgarian business that means two things. Be in the directories your trade uses, with the same name, address and phone as the Google profile. And say on your own site plainly what you do, where and for how much, in sentences an assistant can lift and quote.
What to do if you run a local business in Bulgaria
- The Google Business Profile first. The right category, a real address or service area, exact hours, photos. Without it you are not on the list every answer starts from.
- Reviews, steadily. Aim for the level of the businesses already on the map for your trade and town.
- Say on your site what, where and for how much. Services, towns, accreditations, years, a starting price, in sentences Google's AI can quote.
- Be in the directories. With the same name, address and phone. ChatGPT leans on them.
- Ask the questions yourself every month. In both assistants. The answer is the measurement.
Reviews put a business on the list. The website decides what the assistant says about it.
The limits of the study
One run of 20 questions in each assistant, on one evening, in two British towns. Answers change between runs and Google's AI was used signed in. Sources are counted only when the assistant shows them. We repeat the questions every month, and the first Bulgarian run is planned for the cities we work in.
Questions people ask
How does ChatGPT choose which local businesses to recommend?
In our 20 questions it always started from Google's map: businesses with a profile in the town, a high rating and a decent number of reviews. The lowest rating it recommended was 4.5. It then backed most answers with directories and review sites.
How many Google reviews do I need for AI to recommend me?
It depends on the trade. The builders ChatGPT named had about 12 reviews; the dentists 218. Look at the businesses already on the map for your trade in your town and aim for their level.
Does my website matter if AI uses the map?
For Google's AI, a great deal: it used businesses' own sites in 11 of 20 answers and quoted prices from them. ChatGPT rarely does. The site decides what the assistant says about you once you are on the list.
Should I publish my prices?
Yes, when you can give a real starting price. Google's AI quotes businesses' prices from their own pages; without a published price the assistant quotes someone else's.
Does this apply to Bulgaria?
The study was in two British towns, but the mechanics are the same: the map, the rating, the directories, the business's own site. We are planning a Bulgarian run for the cities we work in.