Where AI gets its local recommendations: 72 answers.

What we did

Between September 8 and 18, 2026, as part of free audits for 24 Greater Boston businesses, we asked Claude with web search three questions each, phrased the way a customer would (“What are the best boutique pilates studios in Boston, MA? Name specific businesses.”). That's 72 answers: 48 about fitness, wellness and personal care (pilates, barre, gyms, personal training, a barber shop, a posture clinic) and 24 about home services (roofing, HVAC, electrical, painting, plumbing, remodeling) across Boston, Everett, Norwood, Stoneham and Watertown.

For each answer we recorded the web domains it cited, counted once per answer, leaving out the audited business's own site.

Fitness, wellness & personal care

48 answers. Share of answers that cited each source:

Editorial “best of” lists and roundups (Boston Magazine, TrustAnalytica, Boston Insider, Boston Moms, Time Out, ThreeBestRated) were cited in 43 of the 48 answers. Booking platforms (ClassPass, Mindbody) mattered too, and so did individual studios' own websites.

Home services

24 answers. Share of answers that cited each source:

Only 5 of the 24 home-service answers cited an editorial “best of” list. Contractor marketplaces and review platforms carried almost all of it.

What this means for a local business

• Your Yelp page is probably being read. In this sample it was the single most-cited source in both industries. A complete, current Yelp profile with recent reviews is not optional.
• Know which kind of market you're in. A fitness studio's next step is usually getting onto the local lists the answers lean on. A contractor's is usually a complete, well-reviewed Angi, HomeAdvisor and Houzz presence.
• The answer is a short list. About five businesses get named. Being sixth looks the same as not existing.

For the step-by-step version, see how to get your local business recommended by AI. To see which sources the answers about your own business lean on, the free fix pack runs these questions for you.

Limits of this data

• One assistant (Claude with web search). Others, like Google's Gemini or ChatGPT, may lean on different sources. We're now checking Gemini too.
• One snapshot, September 2026. AI answers change from run to run and month to month.
• Greater Boston only, and only the categories our audits covered. The 24 businesses were chosen for audits, not at random.
• A citation means the answer linked the source, not that the source decided the answer.

Cite freely with a link to this page. Questions about the data: hello@askaims.com.

What does AI say about your business?

We'll ask Gemini and Claude your customers' questions and send you who gets named, which sources the answers cited, and what to fix. Free, by email, within two business days.

Get your free fix pack →