AI SEO Statistics: Spray Foam (2026-07 edition)

Reading the 120 answers model by model shows how differently the three assistants treat the same spray foam questions. On the most consequential behavior — whether to send the buyer to a professional at all — the rate ranged from 80% (ChatGPT) down to 12.5% (Gemini), a 68-point gap on an identical question set.

Across the 40 spray foam answers it produced, ChatGPT recommended hiring a professional in 80% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 20% of the time. It named a specific provider in 0% of answers (about 0 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 10% of the time. ChatGPT asked a clarifying question before answering in 75% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 12.5%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 22.5%, averaging 492 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 2.5%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 2.5%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 15%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 27.5% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 12.5%.

Across the 40 spray foam answers it produced, Claude recommended hiring a professional in 57.5% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 5% of the time. It named a specific provider in 5% of answers (about 0.1 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 10% of the time. Claude asked a clarifying question before answering in 62.5% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 10%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 10%, averaging 300 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 7.5%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 10% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 12.5%.

Across the 40 spray foam answers it produced, Gemini recommended hiring a professional in 12.5% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 7.5% of the time. It named a specific provider in 7.5% of answers (about 0.3 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 5% of the time. Gemini asked a clarifying question before answering in 0% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 5%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 7.5%, averaging 268 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 0%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 7.5% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 0%.

Taken together, ChatGPT is the assistant most likely to route a spray foam buyer to a professional (80%) and Gemini the least (12.5%). ChatGPT produced the longest answers, at 492 words on average. Specific providers were named most often by Gemini (7.5%) — even there, roughly one answer in 13 carried a name.

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

• Tells the buyer to check reviews: 0%–2.5% across all three (a 3-point spread).
• Mentions case studies or portfolio: 0%–2.5% across all three (a 3-point spread).
• Gives price or cost information: 5%–10% across all three (a 5-point spread).
• Names a specific provider: 0%–7.5% across all three (a 8-point spread).

Measured question by question, the three assistants coded a response the same way most consistently on "tells the buyer to check reviews" (identical coding in 97.5% of questions) and least consistently on "asks a clarifying question" (10%).

Beyond whether to hire, the rubric codes how carefully each assistant protects the spray foam buyer once a decision is made. Telling the buyer to check reviews or ratings appeared in 0.8% of answers on average. Verifying credentials or certifications appeared in 13.3%. Warning about red flags or scams appeared in 9.2%.

On structuring the decision, a selection-criteria checklist showed up in 15% of answers on average and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 8.3%. The single least-reproduced protective signal for spray foam is "tells the buyer to check reviews" at 0.8% on average — the clearest opening for content that supplies it, since the models are not yet reliably surfacing that guidance on their own.

The 40 questions behind every percentage on this page were drawn from real spray foam (home services; 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 spray foam 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.