Where AIs most recommend hiring a pro (ARI)
- 1Legal71.7%
- 2Healthcare63.3%
- 3Automotive62.5%
- 4Beauty60.8%
- 5Home Services60.8%
Original research · 2026-07 edition · refreshed quarterly
AI SEO Statistics 2026
We asked ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini 547 real buyer questions across 14 industries — same wording, same day, one response per model — then coded every answer against a fixed 12-behavior rubric. This is how AI actually advises your customers.
Cross-industry rankings
Where AI behavior diverges the most.
Where AIs name specific brands the most
- 1Hospitality53.1%
- 2Ecommerce49.2%
- 3Education49.2%
- 4Fitness40%
- 5Technology38.3%
Where AIs give price information the most
- 1Automotive45%
- 2Home Services38.3%
- 3Legal31.7%
- 4Education30%
- 5Financial Services30%
Where AIs demand credentials the most
- 1Fitness26.7%
- 2Education20%
- 3Home Services17.5%
- 4Beauty13.3%
- 5Manufacturing13.3%
Where the 3 models disagree the most (divergence)
- 1Fitness25.1 pts
- 2Real Estate24.2 pts
- 3Home Services22.1 pts
- 4Education21.5 pts
- 5Automotive21.4 pts
Where AIs warn about scams the most
- 1Fitness22.5%
- 2Professional Services17.5%
- 3Real Estate15.8%
- 4Beauty15%
- 5Technology15%
Service-level · 413 services measured
The services AI is most (and least) likely to send to a professional.
We ran the same measurement on 413 individual services. The spread is enormous: some services see AI recommend a professional almost every time, others almost never. Each links to its own measured study.
| # | Service | Industry | Hire-a-pro rate | Model gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Charity Nonprofitstudy → | professional | 88.9% | 23.7 pts |
| 02 | Counselorstudy → | health | 86.7% | 20.4 pts |
| 03 | Dui Lawyerstudy → | legal | 86.7% | 21.1 pts |
| 04 | Restoration Companystudy → | home | 86.6% | 18.5 pts |
| 05 | Personal Trainerstudy → | fitness | 84.5% | 22.2 pts |
| 06 | Tailorsstudy → | home | 82.5% | 17.8 pts |
| 07 | Amusement Parksstudy → | professional | 82.5% | 26.8 pts |
| 08 | Dermatologiststudy → | health | 82.2% | 17.4 pts |
| 09 | Locksmithstudy → | home | 82.2% | 25.6 pts |
| 10 | Yacht Brokerstudy → | hospitality | 82.2% | 25.2 pts |
| 11 | Gas Engineersstudy → | home | 81.7% | 19.9 pts |
| 12 | Real Estate Lawstudy → | legal | 81.7% | 21.7 pts |
Measured across ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini · standardized buyer questions per service × 3 models · Authority Specialist AI Study. Free to cite with attribution.
Where AI least often recommends a professional.
| # | Service | Industry | Hire-a-pro rate | Model gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Vocational Schoolstudy → | education | 2.2% | 29.3 pts |
| 02 | Expert SEO Saasstudy → | technology | 2.5% | 15 pts |
| 03 | Fast Food Restaurantsstudy → | hospitality | 4.2% | 18.2 pts |
| 04 | Hotelstudy → | hospitality | 6.7% | 24.4 pts |
| 05 | Cafestudy → | hospitality | 6.7% | 17.4 pts |
| 06 | Brewerystudy → | hospitality | 6.7% | 17 pts |
| 07 | Private Schoolstudy → | education | 6.7% | 19.6 pts |
| 08 | Toy Storesstudy → | ecommerce | 6.7% | 23.7 pts |
| 09 | Community Banksstudy → | financial | 8.9% | 23.7 pts |
| 10 | Best SEO for Travel Nursing Companystudy → | health | 10% | 14 pts |
| 11 | Internet Cafesstudy → | hospitality | 10.8% | 17.8 pts |
| 12 | Winerystudy → | hospitality | 11.1% | 24.1 pts |
Measured across ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini · standardized buyer questions per service × 3 models · Authority Specialist AI Study. Free to cite with attribution.
The 14 industry studies
Every industry, measured with the same protocol.
AutomotiveChatGPT tells car owners to hire a professional 77% of the time, more than double Gemini's 38%Beauty2% of AI responses name specific beauty providers, indicating models act as educational advisors rather than local directories.Ecommerce65% of Gemini responses name specific ecommerce providers, nearly double the 33% rate seen in ChatGPT.EducationGemini names specific education providers in 58% of answers, versus 0% asking clarifying questions firstFinancial Services65% of Claude responses ask users clarifying questions about their financial situation, compared to 0% from Gemini.FitnessGemini names specific fitness providers 2.3x more often than ChatGPT — 58% of responses versus 25%HealthcareAI models rarely name specific healthcare providers, doing so in only 17% of responses on average.Home ServicesAI models almost never name a specific home services provider, even though a named-provider answer would occur 97.5% of the time under pure consensus modelingHospitalityGemini names specific hospitality providers in 63% of answers, more than triple ChatGPT's rate the model doesn't consistently matchLegalChatGPT tells users to hire a lawyer 92.5% of the time, while Gemini does so just 35% of the time — a 58-point gap on the same legal questionsManufacturingAI models name a specific manufacturing provider in only 0.1 to 0.2 responses per answer on averageProfessional ServicesAI models name a specific professional services provider in only 7% of answers on averageReal EstateChatGPT tells buyers to hire a real estate professional 78% of the time, while Gemini does so just 25% of the timeTechnologyClaude names specific tech providers in 48% of answers, nearly double ChatGPT's 28%
This benchmark is researched and maintained in-house. For the underlying data, methodology detail, or an on-record comment for your story, reach the research lead directly.