NAMEBEAM The dated record of who AI names

MARKET REPORT · COLUMBUS, OH · SEPTEMBER 2026 · DATED RECORD

Who AI Recommends in Columbus, OH

Window, corrected 2026-10-05: this report counts September 1 to 28, 2026 (28 run days). Our Perplexity collection method changed on September 28. The full-month record (30 run days) is the September panel: /panels/columbus-oh.html.

For 28 days we asked five AI engines the same buyer questions a Columbus, OH customer would ask, about tanning salons, and wrote down every business they named. This is the dated record of what they said.

Palm Beach Tan was named on 23 of 28 days. Most-named business in Columbus, OH, September 2026 · full table below

Key findings

Palm Beach Tan dominates Columbus on both engines.

Perplexity named Palm Beach Tan on 23 of 28 days, and palmbeachtan.com was cited in Google's results on 9 days, plus two location-named variants (‘Georgesville Palm Beach Tan’, ‘OSU Campus/Grandview Palm Beach Tan’) splitting extra votes.

Sun Studio Tan is the local challenger.

Named on 21 days, just behind Palm Beach Tan's 23. The independents aren't far behind the chain in Columbus.

Glo Tanning is the crossover.

Named by Perplexity on 8 days and cited at glotanning.com on 9 Google days, one of the few salons converting on both engines.

Anthropic named zero Columbus businesses; OpenAI named 7.

Across 28 run days each, the two engines barely participated, while Gemini named 31 distinct businesses.

Most named by Perplexity

Businesses Perplexity named most often when asked Columbus, OH buyer questions, 2026-09-01 to 2026-09-28.

BusinessNicheDays namedFirst to last
Palm Beach Tantanning salons232026-09-01 to 2026-09-26
Sun Studio Tantanning salons212026-09-01 to 2026-09-27
Tan Wolftanning salons92026-09-01 to 2026-09-28
Glo Tanningtanning salons82026-09-01 to 2026-09-26
Bronzed Bunnytanning salons22026-09-22 to 2026-09-26
Dolphin Beach Tantanning salons22026-09-23 to 2026-09-24
Finesse Spray Tanningtanning salons12026-09-25 to 2026-09-25
GLOW Airbrush Tanningtanning salons12026-09-28 to 2026-09-28
Georgesville Palm Beach Tantanning salons12026-09-25 to 2026-09-25
OSU Campus/Grandview Palm Beach Tantanning salons12026-09-25 to 2026-09-25

Most cited in Google results

Domains Google's results cited most often on the same questions.

BusinessDomainDays citedFirst to last
The Bronzing Barthebronzingbar.com102026-09-06 to 2026-09-28
Glo Tanningglotanning.com92026-09-06 to 2026-09-28
Palm Beach Tanpalmbeachtan.com92026-09-06 to 2026-09-28
Tan Wolftanwolf.com92026-09-06 to 2026-09-28
Sweetly Bronzedsweetlybronzed.com82026-09-06 to 2026-09-27

The engines disagree

Same questions, same days, different answers. That disagreement is the point: a check that skips an engine is guessing on your behalf.

EngineDays askedDistinct businesses
Anthropic280
Gemini2831
Google SERP2811
OpenAI287
Perplexity2812

Days asked counts the days each engine received the questions. Gemini returned no business names after September 26, so its answered days are fewer than its days asked.

Anthropic answered all 28 days and named zero businesses; it returned buying criteria and directories instead of names. Perplexity named 12 distinct businesses. If your customer asks Perplexity and you're invisible there, the other four engines don't save you.

What this means if you run a Columbus, OH business

If you run a Columbus, OH business, this page is your competition's report card and yours. The engines were asked the same questions your customers ask, every day for a month, and their answers are dated above. The free 5-engine check runs the same test on your business specifically, all five engines, one dated transcript, no card.

See where your business stands on all five engines.
Free. No card. Dated transcript by email.

Run my free 5-engine check

Method

Same buyer questions asked to each engine once a day, every answer stored with its date and file hash. Counts computed from the record; nothing estimated. Dated record 2026-09-01 to 2026-09-28, 28 run days, generated 2026-09-29 03:15:36 UTC from Namebeam_E1_Dataset_LATEST.csv. 58 distinct businesses tracked across 1 niches.

Full machine-generated panel: https://markets.namebeam.ai/panels/columbus-oh.html. NameBeam's own public record: proof.namebeam.ai. NameBeam is an educational/marketing service; AI answers change over time and no rankings, traffic, or revenue are promised.