AI Picks Chart, week of 2026-09-21

Methodology

• Score is engine-days named: for each AI engine (OpenAI, Gemini, Perplexity, Anthropic), the number of distinct days that engine named the business in that market during the week, added across engines.
• Every count carries its denominator: the days that engine answered with at least one name in that market this week. A cell reads days named / days answered.
• Movement is compared with last week, engine by engine. NEW means the business was not in last week's ten.
• Our Perplexity collection method changed on 2026-09-28 (a different API path). Perplexity counts are not compared across that date and carry the flag "method change" when the comparison would cross it.
• Gemini returned no names after 2026-09-26. Where an engine returned no names in the week, the cell reads "no answers", which is not a zero.
• Platforms, directories, places and non-business phrases are removed before counting. Google search results are a separate book and are not in this chart.
• Most of each score comes from Perplexity. Our OpenAI and Anthropic calls run through their APIs without web search. Over 2026-09-01 to 2026-09-26, the OpenAI API named a local business on 50.8 percent of answered cell-days (289 of 569) and the Claude API on 15.4 percent (88 of 572). The apps people use can answer differently.
• Businesses do not pay to appear and cannot pay to change their position.