What a customer sees when they ask an AI assistant for a plumber or a builder

A customer who wants a plumber can now ask an AI assistant instead of a neighbour. So we asked, the way a customer would, to see what comes back.

What came back was a shortlist, with more on it than names. Here’s what was there, and how to check your own trade tonight.

What did the AI assistants say when we asked for a plumber and a builder?

They named businesses. On 2 October 2026 we asked ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google two trade questions, logged out, in a fresh chat or search each time:1

1. “Who’s a good plumber in Penrith?”
2. “I need a builder in the Blue Mountains, who should I call?”

For the plumber, ChatGPT named seven businesses, Google’s AI Overview five and Perplexity three. For the builder, ChatGPT named five, Google four and Perplexity two. The answers gave names, not just tips on how to choose.

I’m not naming the businesses. This isn’t a ranking, and we didn’t judge their work.

The limits matter. Each question was asked once per service, from one browser, on one day. Copilot wanted a sign-in before it would answer, so it isn’t in the test, and Claude and Gemini weren’t part of it.

What was on the shortlist besides names?

Four things a tradie should know about.1

• Ratings and a call button. ChatGPT and Google showed star ratings and review counts on business cards, without saying where they came from. Google’s plumber cards had Call, Directions and Website buttons.
• Job-posting sites. Some of the links were to sites where customers post a job or leave a review. Asked for a builder, Perplexity named two, then pointed the customer to a job-posting site and a review site to find the rest.
• Your licence. ChatGPT’s builder answer gave licence numbers taken from two builders’ own websites, and added “NSW Government recommends checking the builder’s current licence before engaging them”, with a link to the licence check.
• A price that isn’t yours. Google’s plumber answer added a table of price ranges for the Sydney region, credited to one plumbing business, with no date. Its builder answer gave hourly rates with no source at all.

And one wrong turn: among Perplexity’s ten links for the Penrith plumber was a page for Penrith in England.

How do you check your own trade tonight?

Use the same two questions, with your trade and your suburb in them.

1. Open a private window, so the answer isn’t shaped by your own account. In Chrome, that’s New Incognito window.
2. Ask ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Gemini, one fresh chat each, plus a Google search: “Who’s a good [your trade] in [your suburb]?”, then “I need a [your trade] in [your area], who should I call?”
3. Ask about yourself by name: “What does [business name] in [suburb] do?” Check every detail it gives against the truth.
4. Write it down. The date, which AI assistant, whether you were named, who was, every link it listed, and any price it quoted.
5. Take a screenshot, and keep it with the notes.

One screenshot proves nothing on its own. The answer can change tomorrow, and a signed-in customer may see something else. Ask again next month with the same words, and set the two side by side.

What can you fix, and what can’t you?

You can’t make an AI assistant name you. Google says “There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary”.3 None of the companies publishes how its AI picks a business, so anyone who promises you a spot is guessing, me included.

What you can fix is what the shortlist is built from.

1. Your Google listing. The free Google listing that puts you on the map, with your trade, your area and your phone number right. If you’re not sure it’s working, start there.
2. Your licence number, in words, on your website. For plumbing, electrical and other specialist work of any value, and for home building work above a set value, NSW Fair Trading says your advertising must already show the licensee’s name, the “licence number with correct category of work” and a business phone number.2 Put it on the site as text, not only in a logo. This isn’t legal advice.
3. The suburbs you cover and how you price, on your website in plain words. If an AI answer hands your customer someone else’s price range, your own page should say how you work out yours.
4. Every link it listed for your trade. Open each one. If you’re on that site, check your details. If you’re not, that’s your call to make. I wouldn’t pay a job-posting site on the hope it gets you named, because nothing in our test shows why a business was picked.

Quick answers

Does ChatGPT recommend tradies by name? In our test, yes. Asked for a plumber in Penrith and a builder in the Blue Mountains, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI all named businesses.1

Do they all name the same tradies? Not in our test. For the plumber, ChatGPT and Google shared four names, and Perplexity’s three were in neither answer.1

How regularly should I check? Monthly, with the same two questions, so you can compare.

If you’d like it checked every month

On our menu this is the card Ask the AI about you: we ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot about you and your rivals, monthly. You see exactly what they say, and watch it change.

Start with one thing, or a bundle. If yours is different, we scope it.

Book a free hour, and bring your trade and your suburb. We’ll ask the AI assistants together, live.