What the study found
Omnipresence’s study “The Credibility Layer” ran ChatGPT (with live web search) on June 16–17, 2026, across 10 locally hired service industries in 10 US states, and logged every search and citation behind the answers. Each answer named about eight businesses.
The headline findings:
- Google rank barely predicted a recommendation. 80.1% of recommended businesses didn’t appear in Google’s top 50 for the same search, and 98.7% weren’t in Bing’s top 50. Only 5% ranked in the top 10 on either engine.
- Every recommendation came with a credibility check. All 196 sessions that produced a recommendation also ran verification searches, about 17 per recommendation.
- Licences got checked. In regulated industries such as plumbing, ChatGPT checked credentials in 74% to 96% of sessions (87% on average), and 90% of sessions touched a government or regulator source.
- The BBB mattered. Better Business Bureau pages made up 13% of all 1,982 citations. Plumber sessions cited the BBB 81 times.
- Paid lead sites barely showed up. Yelp, Angi, Avvo, Thumbtack and HomeAdvisor added up to 8 citations out of 1,982.
- Trade associations counted. Directories from associations such as NARI (home remodeling) and ISA/TCIA (tree care) were cited, and for tree care the association directories outranked the firms themselves.
The study has limits worth knowing: it covers ChatGPT only, US businesses only, and a two-day window, and results vary from run to run and change as the model is updated. Still, the pattern is consistent across all 10 industries. ChatGPT looks for proof that a business is real, in good standing and, in licensed trades, properly licensed before it names it.
What this means for a contractor
Ranking on Google still matters for Google. ChatGPT has roughly 900 million weekly users, and when one of them asks it for a contractor, it’s effectively running a background check. If your licence isn’t easy to find, your BBB profile is empty, and your memberships aren’t listed anywhere, you’re harder to verify than the contractor down the road who did those things.
The good news: fixing it is mostly an afternoon of admin, and it costs nothing in ad spend.
Fix 01: Put your licence number on your website
- Show your licence number and the issuing board on your site, exactly as it appears in the state’s public lookup.
- Put it somewhere it appears on every page, like the footer, as well as on your About page.
- Use the same business name everywhere. If your licence is under “Smith Plumbing LLC” and your site says “Smith’s Plumbing & Drains,” a checker may not connect the two.
Fix 02: Claim and complete your BBB profile
- Claim your Better Business Bureau profile if you haven’t already.
- Fill it in completely: services, service area, hours, licence details, website.
- Make the name, address and phone number match your Google Business Profile and your website.
The BBB was cited heavily for plumbers (81 times), insurance agents, mortgage brokers and home renovation firms.
Fix 03: List your trade association memberships
- List every trade association you belong to on your website, with a link to your listing in their member directory where they have one.
- Add the same memberships to your Google Business Profile description and other profiles.
- If an association runs a “find a member” directory, make sure your listing there is current.
Test it yourself
Ask ChatGPT: “Who’s the best [your trade] in [your town]?” Look at which businesses it names and, where it shows them, which sources it checked. Run it again each quarter. The study found the leading business in a city came up 78% of the time across different phrasings, so consistent presence is achievable.
A note for businesses outside the US: the study was US-only, and the BBB is a US organisation. The same logic likely points to your state or national licence register and your trade association, but that wasn’t tested.
Common questions
Do I still need SEO if ChatGPT ignores Google rank?Yes. Google still sends most local searches, and the study found the basics (a clear homepage, service pages and location pages) make you eligible to be considered. They just don’t get you recommended on their own.
Do paid lead sites help with AI recommendations?In this study, hardly at all: 8 citations out of 1,982.
How often should I check?Quarterly is reasonable. Answers vary between runs and change with new model versions.
How Goanna Digital handles this
Every Goanna Digital plan includes a website on our proprietary Goanna Edge platform, on your own domain, with pages for every service and area you cover and unlimited small edits. Putting your licence, issuing board and memberships where checkers look is part of that. We set up and manage your Google Business Profile so your name, address and phone number on Google match your website, and every finished job gets a review request.
Sources
- Omnipresence, “The Credibility Layer” (ChatGPT runs June 16–17, 2026; 10 industries, 10 US states; 1,982 citations): https://getomnipresence.com/research/the-credibility-layer
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Sources
- Omnipresence, “The Credibility Layer” (ChatGPT runs June 16–17, 2026; 10 industries, 10 US states; 1,982 citations): https://getomnipresence.com/research/the-credibility-layer