What restaurants businesses that ChatGPT names have in common
Across 171 measured ChatGPT answers to 73 distinct questions in 4 cities (Jun 14, 2026 – Sep 1, 2026), 60 restaurants businesses were named at least once. It isn't that most don't appear — it's that within a city the same ones do: in Cabo San Lucas, El Farallon showed up in 7 of 82 answers (8.5%); across the 2 cities with enough sample, the most-named takes a median 5.2% of its city's answers.
What the ones that appear have
Profile of the businesses the AI named vs those it didn't, measured IN THIS vertical and these cities (not pooled with others — signals flip by vertical).
| Signal | Appears (n=60) | Doesn't appear (n=441) |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews (median) · n=60/441 | 2393 | 1044 |
| Has a website | 88.3% | 75.5% |
| Substantive description | 68.3% | 53.7% |
What does NOT set them apart
Signals that do NOT separate the two groups in this vertical. We publish them because they are the honest part: if you're sold that this makes you appear, here is the data that says it doesn't.
| Signal | Appears | Doesn't appear |
|---|---|---|
| Rating (average) · n=58/410 | 4.51 | 4.52 |
| Hours published | 100% | 99.5% |
What you can review on your listing
What the owner controls on their listing, among the signals that do separate. It's correlation, not a promise: reviewing it does not guarantee appearing.
- ·Have your website linked on your listing.
- ·Have a description with enough information (not one line).
The signal that separates most is REVIEW volume, and that doesn't live on your listing: those are your Google reviews. No technical layer (schema, llms.txt) replaces it.
How it was measured, and its limits
measured over 171 answers of ChatGPT. Concentration: in Cabo San Lucas, El Farallon appeared in 7 of 82 answers (8.5%); across 2 cities with enough sample, a median 5.2%.
Answers by city: Cabo San Lucas 82 · Cancún 55 · Ciudad de México 24 · Tuxtla Gutiérrez 10.
An AI answer is a snapshot of one wave, not a fixed number: it can change between runs without your business changing anything. That's why we publish the date range and the number of answers, not a lone score. If it changes because of a bug on our side, that's a bug, not volatility.
FAQ
What do restaurants businesses that ChatGPT names have in common?
Across 171 measured ChatGPT answers to 73 distinct questions in 4 cities (Jun 14, 2026 – Sep 1, 2026), 60 restaurants businesses were named at least once. It isn't that most don't appear — it's that within a city the same ones do: in Cabo San Lucas, El Farallon showed up in 7 of 82 answers (8.5%); across the 2 cities with enough sample, the most-named takes a median 5.2% of its city's answers.
Does a higher rating make ChatGPT name my business?
In this data, no. Rating barely separates the two groups. What separates most is review volume.
How many reviews do the businesses that appear have?
Median of 2393 reviews among those named vs 1044 among those not named — measured in this vertical, not pooled.
Before optimizing, measure
This is what separates the ones that appear, measured. What it doesn't tell you is where you stand. Your listing report tells you what yours is missing, in terms of your listing, not promises.
See my listing