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Methodology · leaderboards

How we build the Who ChatGPT Recommends boards.

Last updated · By Chris Tabb, founder · Sources checked November 13, 2026

Each board answers one question: when people ask ChatGPT search who to hire for a local service, which businesses does it name, and which sites does it cite? Here is exactly how we collect and count those answers, and what the boards cannot tell you. See them all on Who ChatGPT recommends.
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§ 01

The questions

For roofers in Richmond, VA, for example, the five questions are:

  1. What are the best roofing companies in Richmond, VA?
  2. Who are the top-rated roofing companies near Richmond, VA?
  3. Who should I hire for a roof replacement in Richmond, VA?
  4. I need a roofer in Richmond, VA. Who should I call?
  5. Which roofing companies in Richmond, VA have the best reviews?

§ 02

How answers are collected

  • Each question is sent to ChatGPT search twice, through a third-party search data service (Apify’s Google Search Scraper with its ChatGPT search option), set to a US location.
  • We store each full answer text and the source links ChatGPT returned with it. The board shows how many requests returned an answer.
  • We don’t log in, personalize, or add memory, and we don’t mention any business in the questions.

§ 03

How businesses are counted and ranked

  • We extract every business ChatGPT named in each answer. Names appear as ChatGPT wrote them.
  • Obvious variants of one name are merged, for example a short form that is the tail of the full name (“DeShazo Roofing” within “DeShazo and Son Roofing”).
  • Share is the percentage of answers that named the business. Ties are broken by average position in ChatGPT’s numbered lists.
  • Site linked counts answers that linked or cited a website whose domain matches the business name.
  • Sites ChatGPT cited lists every source domain and how many answers cited it.

§ 04

Limits

  • ChatGPT answers vary between requests and over time. Ten answers is a sample, not a census.
  • Location matters. A different city setting or a signed-in user with memory may see different answers.
  • We count mentions, not quality. Being named often is not a recommendation by Appearly.
  • Name matching can miss a business that ChatGPT spelled very differently in different answers.

Our honest take

Treat a board as a weather report for one day, not a league table. That is why every board shows its date.

§ 05

Updates and corrections

We re-check boards periodically and change the date when we do. If you represent a listed business and think a name was merged or split wrongly, email hello@appearly.app and we will check the stored answers.

§ FAQ

Questions we hear

How are the Who ChatGPT Recommends boards ranked?

By the share of ChatGPT search answers that named each business, out of five buying questions asked twice each. Ties are broken by average position in ChatGPT’s numbered lists.

Is a board an endorsement?

No. Boards report what ChatGPT said on the date checked. They are not Appearly’s endorsement, review, or rating of any business.

Can I get my business added to a board?

Boards only reflect what ChatGPT names. You can see what ChatGPT says about your own business with the free audit.

Keep reading

Sources · checked November 13, 2026

  1. OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers (OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot, ChatGPT-User)

OpenAI figures are OpenAI’s, quoted as published on the date checked. Appearly is not affiliated with OpenAI. ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI.