Home › Guides

How drain cleaners get recommended by AI: one real 20-answer test

By BeAIOptimized · November 10, 2026

Short answer: In Louisville, KY, a national drain brand's local office was named in 16 of 20 answers and a local heating, cooling and plumbing company in 12. A long-running family plumbing shop we tracked was named in none. Company websites were cited in 17 answers; directories in only 7.

When a basement drain backs up at night, few people browse a directory. They ask a phone assistant who can come now. We put four of those real questions about Louisville, KY to ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity, once each, and read all 20 replies. The companies stay unnamed here; every count is from that one run.

Source: our real test of drain cleaners in Louisville, KY, November 10, 2026: 4 questions × 1 try × 5 AIs = 20 answers.

What the Louisville drain test turned up

The four prompts: "best drain cleaning service in Louisville KY", "my kitchen sink is clogged and a plunger isn't working, who should I call in Louisville", "who does sewer line camera inspection and hydro jetting in Louisville Kentucky" and "24 hour emergency drain cleaner for a basement floor drain backup in Louisville KY". Each call had its location set to Louisville.

• A national brand's local office led, and its own site came with it. It was named in 16 of 20 answers, and its website was cited in the same 16. On the basement-backup question, all 5 AIs named it. Across the run, 18 of 20 answers named at least one national franchise.
• A local multi-trade shop held its own. A Louisville heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical company was named in 12 answers. Its site was cited in 12 answers, and every one of those 12 named it.
• The family shop we tracked never came up. It has drain and sewer pages, a camera service and 24-hour calls, yet 0 of 20 answers named it and none cited its site. Being good at the work and being visible to AI are not the same thing.
• Company sites mattered more than directories here. A company website was cited in 17 of 20 answers. A directory or review site was cited in only 7: BBB in 4, Thumbtack and Expertise in 3 each.
• The answers used the words in the question. All 5 sewer answers talked about camera inspection or hydro jetting, and all 5 emergency answers talked about 24/7 service. On the clogged-sink question, 3 of 5 answers gave a do-it-yourself step first, and ChatGPT named no company at all.
• Local know-how showed up. 4 answers told the reader that a backup from the public sewer is a job for Louisville's sewer district, not a plumber. Licensing came up in 9 answers, reviews or ratings in 10, upfront or flat-rate pricing in 3.
• List length varied a lot by assistant. Per answer, Grok named 7.2 businesses on average, Gemini 6.0, ChatGPT and Claude 3.8 each, and Perplexity 3.2.

Business names were pulled from each answer by a small model, then cleaned by hand: the same franchise under two labels counts once, and products, agencies and generic phrases ("licensed local plumber") were dropped. Website counts are unique sites per answer.

This is a 20-answer snapshot from one metro on one day. Another city, or a market without a big franchise office, can look quite different, which is why the paid report tests your own questions in your own area.

What a drain cleaning business can take from this

Treat these as clues from one Louisville test, not rules. What your business needs depends on your own site, your listings and the shops near you.

• Give each urgent job its own page. Clogged kitchen sinks, main sewer backups, floor drains, camera inspection and hydro jetting were all asked about in their own words. A short page for each gives an assistant a clean match.
• Say "24/7" in plain text if you mean it. Every emergency answer looked for round-the-clock service. Put your hours and after-hours policy on the page as words, not only in a banner image.
• Explain the city-or-you question. Some answers sorted public-sewer problems from private-line problems. A short note on when to call the sewer district and when to call you is useful to homeowners and to AI.
• Keep your own website open to assistants. Here, company sites carried most of the citing. A "checking your browser" wall that only bots see can hide a site entirely.
• Don't skip the basics on BBB and similar sites. Directories played a smaller part in this test, but they still appeared. Use the same name, phone and service list everywhere.

AI search is still new, which is an opening. Businesses that make their information clear for AI now are easier to find when a customer asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude or Perplexity who to call.

One thing to do this week

Write one plain page titled for your most urgent job, such as "Emergency drain and sewer backup service in [your city], 24/7". List the neighborhoods you reach, how fast you can come, and whether you run a camera. In this test, all 5 backup answers talked about 24/7 service, and the company that led was cited from its own site in 16 answers.

Why the right fix is different for each shop

One drain company may be missing because its site never mentions sewer cameras. Another may have a site assistants cannot open. A third may be well known for plumbing but never tied to emergency calls. The family shop in this test had good pages and still went unnamed, so a guess about the cause is not enough. You need to see the answers about your own business.

Our AI Recommendation Report ($49) does that. We ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity 15 real customer questions about drain cleaners in your area, twice each, for 150 answers. You see how often you're named next to up to 3 local competitors, which websites each assistant used, and your Top 5 Fixes. The Report + Fix Kit ($99) adds ready-to-paste wording and step-by-step instructions.

To see the layout first, open the sample report, built for an insurance agency in the same $49 format. Nobody can promise an assistant will name you, because answers change, but the report shows where you stand today and what to change first.

Questions about the drain test or the report? Email Christine at hello@beaioptimized.com.

Results for other trades: window replacement · painters · tree service · flooring companies · electricians · pest control · concrete contractors · insurance agents · dentists · plumbers · HVAC companies · roofers · the full 960-answer study.

Common questions