September 1 to 28, 2026 (28 run days): the same buyer questions, asked daily in 22 local US markets. Every answer dated. Every claim linked to its receipt.
Count of distinct raw name strings (includes non-business phrases) each engine returned per market, summed across markets, September 1 to 28:
| Engine | Raw name strings (includes non-business phrases) |
|---|---|
| OpenAI (ChatGPT) | 880 |
| Gemini | 870 |
| Perplexity | 663 |
| Google SERP (baseline) | 526 |
| Anthropic (Claude) | 114 |
With non-business phrases removed, about 1,870 of the 3,053 remain (upper bound; 2026-10-06 audit).
Corrected 2026-10-06: counts recomputed with non-business phrases removed. The first version labeled 3,053 as "namings counted" and the table column as "Businesses named".
Correction, published 2026-10-01: the totals above are raw sums, and they mislead, Pleasanton tracks 8 niches while Los Angeles tracks 1, so markets with more niches contribute more namings. Normalized per niche-market, the ranking reverses: Gemini 21.2 · OpenAI 18.7 · Perplexity 17.8 · Google SERP 13.7 · Anthropic 1.5. Which engine names the most per niche-market depends on the method: counting every name, Gemini is highest; counting only names that are businesses, it is not (our recount of 2026-10-04, second check in progress). Gemini returned names on 25 September dates and none after September 26. We re-ran our own numbers and corrected them, because every claim owes the future a receipt, including ours. OpenAI's answers often named directories rather than local firms (for example Yelp and Super Lawyers in Pleasanton on September 22), so its raw count overstates local businesses. Full analysis: There are two phone books now.
It named zero businesses in 7 of 9 local markets where it was asked about roofers, HVAC techs or lawyers (Sept 1 to 28). Denver and Liberty, MO were the exceptions. In Dallas it named 0 while Gemini named 66 and Perplexity 41. Its only chatty showing was the generic “US nationwide” query set (76). If you only measure ChatGPT, you are missing how quiet Claude is on local.
Gemini named 314 distinct businesses in Pleasanton, CA, and literally 0 in Los Angeles and Maryland. Same engines, same questions, different city, different universe. Which engine you measure changes the answer completely.
Businesses named in the September corpus can embed the free AI-Named badge, dated, verified, linked to the public report.
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