Issue #1 · 2026-08-28 to 2026-09-25
We asked ChatGPT 473 real buying questions across 14 trades — the questions customers actually type — and filed every answer. Then we asked them again. This is what we found.
90%
of the businesses ChatGPT names change when you ask the same question again. Across 156 questions we asked more than once, the list changed completely 77 times — 46 of those to an entirely different set of names, and 31 where it named nobody at all. It stayed the same 0 times.
Who do you recommend for a burst pipe in Columbus, Ohio?
1 of 5 survived. Same question, same engine, 24 days apart.
ChatGPT named at least one business in 88% of all asks, and when it did it named 5.7 on average. That average hides a lot:
| Trade | Questions asked | Named nobody | Businesses named |
|---|---|---|---|
| electricians | 49 | 49% | 4.6 |
| dentists | 39 | 23% | 5.4 |
| plumbers | 37 | 19% | 4.3 |
| contractors | 34 | 15% | 6.1 |
| auto repair | 33 | 9% | 6.1 |
| medspas | 33 | 9% | 5.1 |
| roofers | 33 | 9% | 4.7 |
| wedding pros | 33 | 9% | 6.8 |
| salons | 31 | 3% | 5.1 |
| vets | 31 | 3% | 6.0 |
| hvac | 30 | 0% | 4.7 |
| landscapers | 30 | 0% | 5.3 |
| makers | 30 | 0% | 10.1 |
| restaurants | 30 | 0% | 5.8 |
Ask for an electrician and ChatGPT declines to name anyone 49% of the time. Ask for a restaurant and it always names someone. Same engine, same weeks, same style of question.
Published weekly. When our own numbers move against us, we publish that too.
Being named once is not a position you hold. On this evidence it is closer to weather. A check tells you where you stand today; three weeks later the answer has moved.