AI SEO Statistics: Pet Store (2026-07 edition)

Reading the 45 answers model by model shows how differently the three assistants treat the same pet store questions. On the most consequential behavior — whether to send the buyer to a professional at all — the rate ranged from 40% (Claude) down to 20% (Gemini), a 20-point gap on an identical question set.

Across the 15 pet store answers it produced, ChatGPT recommended hiring a professional in 33.3% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 13.3% of the time. It named a specific provider in 40% of answers (about 2.5 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 6.7% of the time. ChatGPT asked a clarifying question before answering in 53.3% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 13.3%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 20%, averaging 473 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 26.7%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 0%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 33.3%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 60% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 6.7%.

Across the 15 pet store answers it produced, Claude recommended hiring a professional in 40% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 13.3% of the time. It named a specific provider in 46.7% of answers (about 1.8 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 26.7% of the time. Claude asked a clarifying question before answering in 46.7% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 33.3%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 20%, averaging 276 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 26.7%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 0%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 33.3%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 53.3% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 13.3%.

Across the 15 pet store answers it produced, Gemini recommended hiring a professional in 20% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 0% of the time. It named a specific provider in 86.7% of answers (about 3.2 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 40% of the time. Gemini asked a clarifying question before answering in 0% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 20%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 6.7%, averaging 204 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 0%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 0%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 20%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 40% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 0%.

Taken together, Claude is the assistant most likely to route a pet store buyer to a professional (40%) and Gemini the least (20%). ChatGPT produced the longest answers, at 473 words on average. Specific providers were named most often by Gemini (86.7%) — even there, roughly one answer in 1 carried a name.

On other behaviors the three models move almost in lockstep — the points of near-consensus for pet store, where all three landed within a few points of each other:

• Mentions case studies or portfolio: 0% across all three models.
• Suggests a DIY approach first: 0%–13.3% across all three (a 13-point spread).
• Tells the buyer to verify credentials: 6.7%–20% across all three (a 13-point spread).
• Mentions local proximity: 20%–33.3% across all three (a 13-point spread).

Measured question by question, the three assistants coded a response the same way most consistently on "mentions case studies or portfolio" (identical coding in 100% of questions) and least consistently on "asks a clarifying question" (20%).

Beyond whether to hire, the rubric codes how carefully each assistant protects the pet store buyer once a decision is made. Telling the buyer to check reviews or ratings appeared in 17.8% of answers on average. Verifying credentials or certifications appeared in 15.6%. Warning about red flags or scams appeared in 22.2%.

On structuring the decision, a selection-criteria checklist showed up in 51.1% of answers on average and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 6.7%. The single least-reproduced protective signal for pet store is "recommends multiple quotes" at 6.7% on average — the clearest opening for content that supplies it, since the models are not yet reliably surfacing that guidance on their own.

The 15 questions behind every percentage on this page were drawn from real pet store (ecommerce / online retail; buyer hiring decisions for this specific service) buyer journeys. Each was put to all 3 models once, with identical wording, so the rates above describe how the assistants handled this exact pet store question set — not a general prior or a hand-picked subset. The full list is shown earlier on this page; the coded percentages are what those specific questions produced.