Our own measurement, published so it can be checked
Which sites AI engines cite when asked who to hire in Cincinnati
We asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, through their APIs with web search on, questions a Cincinnati buyer might type: who to call about a 20-year-old furnace, which fertility clinic, which funeral home. We counted the domains each answer cited. yelp.com was cited in 1 of 168 answers.
yelp.com was cited in 1 of 168 answers.
The one was a Perplexity answer to a breast augmentation question on 24 August 2026. ChatGPT cited yelp.com in 0 of 68 answers and Gemini in 0 of 68.
ChatGPT cited bbb.org in 14 of its 68 answers. Gemini cited bbb.org in none and reddit.com in 14. Perplexity cited reddit.com in 13 of 32.
Source. 168 answers to 38 question wordings that name Cincinnati or say “near” · ChatGPT (gpt-5.4), Gemini (gemini-3.6-flash), Perplexity (sonar), each through its API with web search on, not the consumer apps · sampled 24 and 25 August and 16 September 2026 · no location set, the city is in the question only · 168 of 168 attempts answered · a domain counts once per answer.
Four review and discussion sites, by engine
Each cell is the number of answers that cited the domain at least once, out of that engine’s answers. The last column is the number of answers that cited no source at all; they stay in the denominator.
| Engine | Answers | yelp.com | bbb.org | reddit.com | angi.com | Cited nothing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (gpt-5.4) | 68 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Gemini (gemini-3.6-flash) | 68 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 2 |
| Perplexity (sonar) | 32 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| All three | 168 | 1 | 16 | 34 | 8 | 2 |
The full sample also holds 20 answers to 10 questions that name no city, such as “best executive outplacement firms”. With them included, yelp.com was cited in 1 of 188 answers, ChatGPT cited bbb.org in 14 of 78, and 10 of the 188 answers cited nothing. Those 20 are in the download and left out of the table above, because they are not local questions.
Source. 01_Intel/research/icp_test.json (128 answers) and 05_Engineering/work/runs/cinc_panel.json (60 answers), Vector Index’s own research runs · no client data · recomputed on 30 September 2026 from the stored raw API responses, not from summary fields.
The same HVAC question, a different referee on each engine
Two of the questions were about replacing a heating system: “best HVAC company in Cincinnati for a new system” and “my furnace is 20 years old and I need to replace it in Cincinnati. Who should I call?” ChatGPT and Gemini answered each one six times on 24 August 2026, 12 answers per engine.
| Engine | Answers | bbb.org | reddit.com | yelp.com | Most-cited domains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (gpt-5.4) | 12 | 11 | 4 | 0 | bbb.org 11, carrier.com 6, lennox.com 5 |
| Gemini (gemini-3.6-flash) | 12 | 0 | 10 | 0 | apollohome.com 12, consumeraffairs.com 11, thomasgalbraith.com 11, reddit.com 10 |
ChatGPT cited bbb.org in 11 of 12 answers and Gemini cited reddit.com in 10 of 12. Neither cited yelp.com in any of the 24. Perplexity answered each question once, 2 answers, and is left out of this comparison. A business that checks only one engine would see only one of these patterns. This is one day and 24 answers, not a rate.
Source. 20 answers from cinc_panel.json (five runs per question per engine) and 4 from icp_test.json (one run per question per engine) · all sampled 24 August 2026 · a domain counts once per answer.
What the Yelp and ChatGPT deal does and does not bear on
On 23 July 2026, Search Engine Land reported, citing Axios, that Yelp is licensing its reviews, ratings, photos and business information to OpenAI, and that Yelp branding and links will appear when OpenAI uses its content (Search Engine Land, 23 July 2026). Every answer above was taken after that report. All of them came through the API. They cannot show what the ChatGPT app displays, and the report does not say whether the arrangement reaches the API.
How we counted
- Engines. ChatGPT (gpt-5.4), Gemini (gemini-3.6-flash) and Perplexity (sonar), each called through its API with web search enabled. API answers are not consumer-app answers: the system prompt, retrieval and routing differ.
- Location. None was set. The city is in the wording of the question, which is not evidence of where a user is.
- A citation. A source the engine attached to its answer: links in ChatGPT’s answer text, and the source annotations Perplexity and Gemini return. Gemini’s source links are Google redirect addresses, so its publisher is read from the source title when the title is a bare domain. A domain mentioned in the text without a link is not counted.
- A domain. The host with any leading www. removed. For yelp.com, bbb.org, reddit.com and angi.com a subdomain counts with its parent, so m.yelp.com would count as yelp.com. Each domain counts once per answer, however many of its pages were cited.
- Attempts. The two files hold 188 attempts, and all 188 returned an answer. Neither file records a failed attempt. We cannot show from the files that no request failed before its response was stored.
- Cross-check. On the 168 local answers, the yelp.com and bbb.org counts from the raw responses match the URL lists stored with each answer. Gemini’s reddit.com count is 6 higher, and its angi.com count 1 higher, from the raw responses than from the stored URL list, because the stored list keeps Google redirect addresses and loses the publisher.
Limits
- One city. Every local question names Cincinnati. Nothing here says what happens in another metro.
- Small samples. 168 local answers across 38 wordings. Most wordings were asked once per engine; six were asked six times on ChatGPT and Gemini. These are readings on the days sampled, not rates.
- API, not the app. No consumer app was observed. Google AI Overviews, Claude and Microsoft Copilot were not sampled.
- Dated. 24 and 25 August and 16 September 2026. Engines and models change; a later sample may differ.
- Cited, not mentioned. We counted domains the engine attached as sources. An answer can mention Yelp or a star rating without citing yelp.com, and we did not count mentions.
- Not measured. Why an engine cites one site over another, whether a citation changed any business’s sales, and how many people use these engines to choose a local business. Nothing on this page is a causal result.
- The questions were ours. We wrote them for our own research. They were not drawn from real search logs, and they are not a sample of what buyers ask.
The questions
All 48 wordings, with the number of answers per engine. The 38 marked local name Cincinnati or say “near” and make up the 168-answer population above.
| Question, as sent | Local | ChatGPT | Gemini | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| best career coach in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| best divorce attorney in Cincinnati | yes | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| best fee-only financial advisor in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| best fertility clinic in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| best flight school in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| best funeral home in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| best HVAC company in Cincinnati for a new system | yes | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| best in-home senior care agency in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| best plastic surgeon in Cincinnati | yes | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| best plastic surgeon in Cincinnati for a tummy tuck | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| how do I find a financial advisor near me in Cincinnati who doesn't sell products | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| how do I find an estate planning attorney in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| how do I get my private pilot license in Cincinnati and what does it cost? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| how much do full mouth dental implants cost in Cincinnati and who should I see? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| how much does a cremation cost in Cincinnati and who should I use? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| how much does an in-home caregiver cost in Cincinnati and which agency should I use? | yes | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| I have water in my basement in Cincinnati, who fixes that? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| I need dental implants in Cincinnati, who does the best work? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| I need help managing my retirement savings in Cincinnati. Who should I talk to? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| I need to plan a funeral in Cincinnati, where do I start? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| I think I need a divorce and I live in Cincinnati. Who should I talk to? | yes | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| I want a breast augmentation in Cincinnati, how do I pick a surgeon? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| I want to learn to fly in Cincinnati, which flight school should I go to? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| I'm a 45-year-old manager in Cincinnati who just got laid off. Is there someone local who can help me figure out my next move? | yes | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| I'm considering a cosmetic procedure in Cincinnati. Where should I go? | yes | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| I'm losing my hair and want a transplant in Cincinnati. Where should I go? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| I'm thinking about becoming a commercial pilot, where do I train near Cincinnati? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| I'm thinking about IVF and I live in Cincinnati. Which clinic should I go to? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| looking for a concierge doctor in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| looking for a custom home builder in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| low testosterone clinic in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| my dad wants to stay in his house in Cincinnati but can't live alone anymore, where do I start? | yes | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| my father died and I need help with his estate in Cincinnati, who do I call? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| my father just died in Cincinnati and we need to arrange a cremation, who do I call? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| my furnace is 20 years old and I need to replace it in Cincinnati. Who should I call? | yes | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| my mom needs help at home with meals and bathing in Cincinnati, who should I call? | yes | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| my parents need someone to manage their investments in Cincinnati, any recommendations? | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| where can I get dental implants in Cincinnati | yes | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| best executive outplacement firms | no | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| best flight schools for a career pilot | no | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| how do I choose a flight school? | no | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| how do I figure out what career I should switch to at 45? | no | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| how do I write a resume that gets past applicant tracking systems? | no | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| I got laid off and I don't know what to do next | no | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| I need to update my resume for a career change, what should I do? | no | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| I want to become an airline pilot, which flight academy should I go to? | no | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| what is the best flight school in the country? | no | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| who are the top career transition coaching firms for executives? | no | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Check the count yourself
Download every answer as CSV (188 rows, one per answer). Each row carries an answer id built from the source file, question, engine and model, geography, date and run; the engine, model and date; whether it answered; one column each for yelp.com, bbb.org, reddit.com and angi.com; and the full list of domains cited. It carries no answer text.
- Open the CSV and keep the rows whose question names Cincinnati or contains the word “near”. There are 168.
- Count the rows with a 1 in
cites_yelp_com. There is 1. - Filter to ChatGPT and count
cites_bbb_org: 14 of 68. Filter to Gemini and countcites_reddit_com: 14 of 68. - Keep the two HVAC questions and filter to ChatGPT, then to Gemini, and count bbb.org and reddit.com: 11 of 12 and 10 of 12.
For how we measure client audits, see how we measure AI citations. Vector Index sells AI search measurement to businesses. This page is our own research.
Questions about these counts.
Does ChatGPT cite Yelp for local recommendations?
Not in our sample. Through its API with web search on, ChatGPT (gpt-5.4) cited yelp.com in 0 of 68 answers to Cincinnati buying questions sampled in August and September 2026. The ChatGPT app was not observed.
Which sites does ChatGPT cite for local businesses instead?
In the same 68 answers, ChatGPT cited bbb.org in 14, more than any other single domain. On two HVAC-replacement questions it cited bbb.org in 11 of 12 answers.
Does Gemini cite the same sources as ChatGPT?
Not on these questions. Gemini (gemini-3.6-flash) cited bbb.org in 0 of 68 local answers and reddit.com in 14. On the two HVAC-replacement questions it cited reddit.com in 10 of 12 answers, where ChatGPT cited bbb.org in 11 of 12.
How large is the sample?
168 answers to 38 Cincinnati questions from three engines, sampled on three days in August and September 2026, plus 20 answers to questions that name no city. Every row is in the CSV on this page.