Do AI Platforms Recommend the Same Ontario Businesses?
Pilot result
Usually not. Of the seven category-and-city tests in which Google AI Mode, Gemini, and Perplexity all returned an answer, only one test had any business common to all three platforms. This pilot found different source patterns, low cross-platform consensus, two non-business recommendations, and two Google AI Mode generation failures.
27
Planned platform, category, and city observations.
25
Completed answers, for 92.6% answer availability.
14.3%
Fully comparable prompt sets with any business common to all three platforms.
How Was the Pilot Run?
On September 16, 2026, the same recommendation prompt structure was tested across Google AI Mode, Gemini, and Perplexity for physiotherapy clinics, family law firms, and HVAC contractors in Vaughan, Toronto, and Mississauga. Each prompt asked for up to five options, an explanation, and cited sources, and told the platform not to use prior chat context.
Recommend up to five [category] in [city], Ontario. Explain why and cite sources. Do not use prior chat context.
Each test was run once. Location permission was not shared. Perplexity was signed out, Gemini was primarily tested through its public signed-out interface, and Google AI Mode visibly alternated between signed-out and an existing Google session during the set. The results are a dated pilot, not a stable ranking or a representative sample of all Ontario businesses.
What Did Each Platform Return?
Google AI Mode
7 of 9 answers completed
35 of 35 returned items were businesses
Completed answers often combined map or business-profile data with first-party pages. Two tests did not generate an AI answer.
Gemini
9 of 9 answers completed
44 of 44 returned items were businesses
Gemini frequently used Google Maps and business-profile signals for physiotherapy and HVAC. Legal answers relied more on first-party firm pages and ranking sources.
Perplexity
9 of 9 answers completed
43 of 45 returned items were businesses
Every answer used at least one directory, ranking, comparison, roundup, or public listing. Two recommendation slots returned a directory instead of a business.
Google AI Mode Results
- Physiotherapy · Vaughan: My Physio Sports & Rehab Centre; Rutherford Physiotherapy; Physiotherapy @ Woodbridge; Vaughan Physiotherapy Clinic; Sporting Edge Physiotherapy.
- Physiotherapy · Toronto: no AI answer generated.
- Physiotherapy · Mississauga: Triangle Physiotherapy; OAK Physio & Wellness; Churchill Physiotherapy Clinic; The Ability Clinic; Pro-Active Physiotherapy Clinic.
- Family law · Vaughan: Mazzeo Law; Hummingbird Lawyers; Douglas Law Firm; Nussbaum Law; Caspersz Chegini.
- Family law · Toronto: Battaglia Law; Frodis Family Law; Kelly D. Jordan Family Law; Ontario Family Law Solutions; Torkin Manes.
- Family law · Mississauga: Radley Family Law; Nathens, Siegel; Nanda & Associate Lawyers; Lexaltico; Nelson Family Law.
- HVAC · Vaughan: no AI answer generated.
- HVAC · Toronto: AccuServ; Belyea Bros.; Air Makers; Cozy World; GTA HVAC Services.
- HVAC · Mississauga: Aire One Peel; A1 Air Conditioning & Heating; HVAC Ontario; Cozy World; D.A.D. HVAC.
Gemini Results
- Physiotherapy · Vaughan: My Physio Sports & Rehab Centre; PhysioChiroWellness; Rutherford Physiotherapy; Premier Physiotherapy; Vaughan Physiotherapy Clinic.
- Physiotherapy · Toronto: Cornerstone Physiotherapy; Ace Physio; Physiomobility Don Mills; HealthOne Harbourfront Rehab; PhysioPlus Health Group.
- Physiotherapy · Mississauga: Square One Physio; The Ability Clinic; Mississauga Road Physiotherapy; Curezone Physiotherapy; OAK Physio & Wellness.
- Family law · Vaughan: Douglas Law Firm; Mazzeo Law; Bianchi Presta; Bortolussi Family Law; Caspersz Chegini.
- Family law · Toronto: Epstein Cole; McCarthy Hansen; MacDonald & Partners; Kelly D. Jordan Family Law; Gottlieb Family Law.
- Family law · Mississauga: Epstein & Associates; Nanda & Associate Lawyers; Radley Law; Rose Family Law; SMP Law.
- HVAC · Vaughan: Martino HVAC; Woodbridge GTA ClimateCare; Smile HVAC; LG Home Comfort; Maple Air.
- HVAC · Toronto: Dr HVAC and Plumbing; Downtown Toronto HVAC; SunnySide; Priority HVAC Solutions; SunCool HVAC.
- HVAC · Mississauga: Aire One Peel; Furnace & AC Experts; Expert Air Comfort; Coretemp Heating And Air.
Perplexity Results
- Physiotherapy · Vaughan: Vaughan Physiotherapy Clinic; MedRehab Group; PhysioChiroWellness; My Physio; and a FiveBest comparison list instead of a fifth clinic.
- Physiotherapy · Toronto: Toronto Physiotherapy; Cleveland Clinic Canada; Rebuild Physiotherapy; Access Alliance; Achieva Health.
- Physiotherapy · Mississauga: Focus Physiotherapy; Delta Physiotherapy; Triangle Physiotherapy; Body Science Therapy; IHG Physiotherapy.
- Family law · Vaughan: Legal Solutions; Sage Law Group; Hummingbird Lawyers; Miller Thomson; Sabharwal Law.
- Family law · Toronto: Beard Winter; Thomson Rogers; Barriston Law; Battaglia Law; Gene C. Colman Family Law Centre.
- Family law · Mississauga: KMB Law; Stanchieri Family Law; Dhillon Murthi Law; Iqbal Law; and a LegalCounselNearMe directory instead of a fifth firm.
- HVAC · Vaughan: Smile HVAC; Bison Air; Air Leaders; Air Point Heating & Cooling; Complete Air Solutions.
- HVAC · Toronto: City Home Comfort; Cozy World; Dupont Heating; Laird & Son; Enercare.
- HVAC · Mississauga: HVAC-GROUP; Peel Heating & Air Conditioning; Applewood Air; Home Comfort Canada; ACS Heating and Cooling.
Where Did the Platforms Agree?
Vaughan physiotherapy was the only fully completed prompt set with a business appearing in all three answers. My Physio Sports & Rehab Centre and Vaughan Physiotherapy Clinic were common to Google AI Mode, Gemini, and Perplexity. No other fully completed category-and-city test had a business common to all three platforms.
Pairwise overlap was also limited. Google and Gemini shared three businesses for Vaughan physiotherapy and three for Vaughan family law, but most other platform pairs shared zero, one, or two businesses. A business can therefore look visible on one platform while remaining absent from another.
Which Source Types Appeared?
Map-led and first-party signals
Google AI Mode and Gemini frequently surfaced addresses, categories, ratings, review counts, hours, and details from official business websites. Accurate local profiles and clear location and service pages were common ingredients, although this pilot cannot prove that one signal caused a recommendation.
Independent-source signals
Every Perplexity answer used at least one directory, comparison, ranking, roundup, or public listing. That pattern shows why an official website alone may be insufficient for recommendation visibility: independent sources also need to connect the business to its category and city.
Observed source examples included FiveBest, Sports Clinic Finder, Rehabilitative Care Alliance, Syncara, Lawyers.com, Best Law Firms, Canadian Lawyer Magazine, HomeStars, UrbanTasker, FurnacePrices.ca. These links document sources that appeared in the tested answers; inclusion is not an endorsement of each source's ranking method.
What Should an Ontario Service Business Do?
- Maintain a crawlable official website with the same business name, category, location, phone, and service facts used on public profiles.
- Keep Google Business Profile and other eligible local profiles accurate and collect genuine reviews without scripting or incentives.
- Publish clear first-party service and location pages with verifiable expertise, proof, and useful answers.
- Earn accurate independent mentions from relevant associations, publications, directories, and expert sources.
- Measure a fixed prompt panel across multiple platforms and dates instead of treating one screenshot as a ranking.
- Track factual accuracy and candidate validity in addition to whether the brand was mentioned.
What Are the Limitations?
Evidence boundary
Each prompt was tested once across three categories and three cities. Models, retrieval systems, account state, location, and public-web data can change. The pilot does not verify service quality, licensing, price, availability, or every statement made by the platforms. It supports a repeatable monitoring method and an initial source-pattern finding, not a province-wide market-share claim. This page does not make unmeasured performance claims for AI Search Ready or any listed business.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a ranking of the best Ontario businesses?
No. It is a dated observation of businesses named by three AI platforms for a fixed prompt set. Inclusion does not verify service quality, licensing, price, availability, or a permanent AI ranking.
Why did the same prompt produce different businesses?
Each platform retrieves, weighs, and presents sources differently. Results can also vary by model, location, account state, time, and changes in the public web.
What does the 14.3% consensus result mean?
Seven category-and-city prompt sets produced an answer on all three platforms. Only one of those seven had any business common to all three answers. It is a pilot finding, not an estimate for all Ontario searches.
Can a business guarantee inclusion in an AI answer?
No. Businesses can improve crawlability, entity consistency, local profiles, useful first-party content, genuine reviews, and independent corroboration, but the platforms control their recommendations.
Published and maintained by AI Search Ready. Fieldwork and last review: September 16, 2026.
