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How HVAC companies get recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity

Short answer: In our test of 40 US cities, ChatGPT and Perplexity gave the same top HVAC pick only 9% of the time, and in 58% of those comparisons their lists shared no company at all. Because one assistant's list is a poor guide to the others, the $49 report tests all 5 leading AIs: ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity.

When the AC quits on a 95-degree afternoon or the furnace stops on a cold night, nobody wants to read ten search results. More and more people just ask an AI assistant who to call, and they call one of the few names it gives them. Here's what those AI tools look at when someone asks for an HVAC company, what we saw when we tested it, and why good heating and cooling companies often get left out.

Taken from our 960-answer study on October 25, 2026: 240 HVAC answers from ChatGPT and Perplexity, collected in 40 US cities.

How an assistant decides which HVAC company to name

ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity cannot ride along with a tech or time a truck. A customer who asks "who's the best HVAC company near me?" or "who can fix my AC today?" gets names based on what those assistants can read about local companies, usually the ones with the clearest information.

The shop with the best technicians is not automatically the one that appears. The name that appears is the one the assistant can find, read, and trust.

What people type when the heat or AC fails

HVAC questions usually come with a deadline. Wording we see includes:

• "Who can fix my AC today in [town]?"
• "24-hour furnace repair near me"
• "Best company to replace a central air system in [county]"
• "Heat pump installers near me"
• "Honest HVAC company that won't upsell me"

Each wording is its own opportunity. A company can appear for "AC repair" and still be missing for "heat pump installation," "furnace replacement" or "emergency service."

What the 240 HVAC answers showed

In the 960-answer study, ChatGPT and Perplexity were asked "Who is the best HVAC company in [city]?" in 40 US cities, three times each, which produced 240 HVAC answers. Here is what stood out:

• Customers still see only a handful of names. ChatGPT named 4.5 HVAC companies per answer on average, and Perplexity named 2.2. In a city with dozens or hundreds of HVAC companies, the customer sees a handful.
• The two AIs rarely agreed. For the same city, ChatGPT and Perplexity gave the same top pick only 9% of the time, and in 58% of cases their lists had no HVAC company in common. Being named by one AI doesn't mean you're named by the others.
• BBB came up a lot. Perplexity cited BBB in 80% of its HVAC answers. ChatGPT cited it in 26%.
• Review and "best of" sites mattered. Perplexity cited ConsumerAffairs in 65% of its HVAC answers, and "best of" list sites (pages that rank local companies) in 84%. ChatGPT's most-cited site for HVAC was Angi, in 28% of its answers.
• Company websites mattered too, for some AIs. Perplexity pulled up HVAC company websites in 84% of its answers. ChatGPT linked to a company's own website in only 5%, so for ChatGPT, what other sites say about you counted for more.
• Big brands didn't take over. Only about 8% of HVAC answers named a national chain or franchise (a rough count based on a short list of brand names). Most names were local companies.

Those HVAC figures come from two assistants and a single question. Gemini, Grok and Claude can use different sites, so every paid report covers all five.

Sources HVAC answers leaned on

When we test heating and cooling questions, these are the sources that keep appearing:

• A claimed, accurate BBB profile. Services listed should match the work you actually do.
• Review and local ranking pages. ConsumerAffairs, Angi, Yelp and "best of" lists came up often in the study.
• Google Business Profile. Category, services, service area, hours (including after-hours if you offer them) and photos.
• The company website. Plain wording about what you repair and install, brands you service, towns you cover, licensing, insurance, emergency calls and maintenance plans.
• The same contact details on every profile. Name, phone and address should match word for word.

Why a good HVAC company can still be left off the list

Read these as patterns from the HVAC study, not a diagnosis of your shop. Whether they apply depends on your website, your listings, and the other companies nearby.

• You are hard to find on the sites assistants used. If you have no presence on BBB or the review and "best of" pages used in your town, there is little for an assistant to read, no matter how good the work is.
• Heating and cooling share one generic page. Separate sections for AC repair, furnace repair, heat pumps, replacements and maintenance give an assistant more to match than "heating and air services."
• After-hours service is never mentioned. If you take night and weekend calls but your site and listings stay silent, an assistant cannot tell someone with a dead AC at 9 PM that you are available.
• The towns you cover are not written down. Without a service area in plain words, an assistant may not connect you with a customer there.
• A security screen can hide the site. The "checking your browser" page stops automated visitors. People never see it; the assistants may never reach your pages.

Claim and tidy your BBB listing this week

Look up your company on BBB.org. If the profile isn't claimed, claim it (a basic profile is free). Then make sure your business name, phone number, address, service area and services match what's on your website and Google Business Profile, word for word. It takes about half an hour, and BBB was one of the sites the AIs in our study cited most for HVAC.

Why two HVAC companies need different first steps

Two heating and cooling shops in the same city can be missing for unrelated reasons. One website may be closed to automated visitors. Another may appear for AC repair and never for furnaces or heat pumps. A third may show up in Perplexity and never in ChatGPT, because those assistants do not rely on the same sites. Starting with the wrong item costs time, and a guess will not tell you if the answers improved.

Use the AI Recommendation Report ($49) to see your own results. We put 15 real customer questions about HVAC companies in your area to ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity, twice each. The PDF shows how often you are named next to up to 3 local competitors, which websites each assistant used, and the Top 5 Fixes for your shop. The Report + Fix Kit ($99) includes ready-to-paste wording and step-by-step instructions.

Curious about the format? The sample report is an insurance-agency example of the same $49 layout: who was named, which sites were used, and what to fix first. No one can promise an assistant will name you, because answers change; the report shows where you stand now.

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

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

Questions HVAC owners ask