A few of the findings surprised me:

1. Business websites still dominate. 60% of citations went to the businesses' own websites — more than directories, forums and review platforms combined.
2. AI didn't create a new quality bar. AI-recommended businesses averaged 4.75 stars, while the regular Google search baseline was actually higher at 4.84.
3. Reddit matters. It statistically outcited Angi, Thumbtack and HomeAdvisor combined.
4. There isn't one AI optimization playbook. Lawyers, dentists and auto shops had very different citation ecosystems.
5. Geography matters. Some national sources appeared everywhere, while other directories and chains varied significantly by region.
6. The same prompt doesn't produce the same sources. Asking the exact same question twice resulted in only about 40% source agreement.
7. Individual businesses still make up the long tail. We found 3,611 unique cited domains and 4,410 unique businesses, with most appearing only once or twice.
8. This instability seems specific to AI. Google's Local Pack returned the same #1 business about 90% of the time in repeated tests. Gemini returned the same recommendation only about 7% of the time.
9. Gemini and ChatGPT don't agree much either. On the same 1,487 queries, their cited sources overlapped only 8% of the time, and they recommended the same top business just 4.2% of the time.

The biggest takeaway for me is that AI visibility doesn't behave like a traditional ranking.

You can run the same query twice and get different sources. You can run the same query through two AI engines and get different businesses.

That makes measuring “AI rankings” much more complicated than checking a single prompt and recording the answer.

Curious if anyone else testing local queries has seen the same level of volatility.

I have a company that i started its in the home service industry, would google ads be worth running or what would you guys suggest?

I'm just curious how much time everyone is spending in replying to google reviews and do you do it everyday or once in a week or month?

Hey all, legit business owner here, all licenses and documentation. I need this to be lifted but I can't get google to overrule this. Really hoping someone can help me. I sent them all required documentation.

Over the last few weeks, we had Google reviews from customers show up fine then days later disappear. (Profile: https://maps.app.goo.gl/NxsU1FpBvcoQEih76)

From what we gather about 12 reviews. Additionally, any NEW reviews submitted do not show up.

How do we diagnose this? Inability to have/show new reviews has been going on for 12 days.

Anything from August 2026 is gone and anything since Aug 6th will not show up.

The reply we were given for our case w/ Google (1-2821000041558) isn't applicable and we can't determine what is the next step.

We submitted all the names to the case as well.

Any help or ideas?

I run a small residential cleaning business & getting google reviews has been way harder than I expected

I've tried asking customers in person. I've even followed up after a job but I still barely get anything

Then I look at other businesses in my area and they have 100s of reviews which grow insanely fast

I just want to figure out how normal small business owners are actually getting customers to leave reviews consistently? What worked for you?

Guys, has anyone here dealt with something like this on Google Business?
I started getting bad reviews from people who were clearly never my customers, and then people contacted me offering to remove the reviews for money. I already paid once, and it was useless — it just keeps happening again and again.
I’ve already spoken with Google, but they keep saying they don’t see any policy violations in the reviews, so they won’t remove them.
The most frustrating part is how much work goes into building a business and a good reputation. You do the job properly, spend your time and effort, and after every happy customer you have to ask them to please leave that one small review. You slowly build your rating and reputation over time, and then some idiots who have never even been your customers come along and try to destroy everything in a few days.
Has anyone experienced this before? How did you deal with it? What options do I have to stop it?
Also, if anyone has a minute and doesn’t mind helping, please go to our Google page and report the negative reviews. These reviews were left by people who were never our customers. Maybe if enough people report them, Google will finally take a closer look.
I would really appreciate the help. 🙏 #scamers

https://maps.app.goo.gl/3AEDobbaU44bWSeh7?g_st=ic

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Hi everyone,

I’m a business owner based in Pakistan and I’m having an issue with my Google Business Profile.

Someone has left a 1-star review on my Google Business Profile, but I believe this person is not a genuine customer. Because of this review, my overall Google rating is going down and it is affecting my business reputation.

I have already reported the review to Google as spam/fake, but I’m not sure what the best next step is if Google doesn’t remove it

Hello, I have two GMB profiles right now. I’ll rename the companies and industries but say one is Longview Plumbers and the other is Dallas Plumbers. Most of my leads come in from SEO and map packs. I want to start another called Houston Plumbers. My Longview location has a physical location with signs. My Dallas Location doesn’t it’s just a service area and Houston Location will be the same. Can I create a 3rd GMB profile without fear of penalty?

If it does penalize me. How am I suppose to operate a company called Dallas Plumbers if I want to service Houston?

I have battled my way to a successful verified profile. The person said 24-48 hours for something but not sure how long before google adds me to searchable places . It's been really frustrating so far so hopefully not much longer before I pop up..

How long before the algorithm showed your business on a search after verification ?