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How insurance agents get recommended by AI: one real 150-answer test

Short answer: In our real test of an independent insurance agency in Rockford, IL, the 5 leading AIs named it in 10 of 150 answers, while the most-named local agency was named in 38. The AIs leaned on insurance companies' agent pages and on agencies' own websites, and every time an AI opened the agency's own website, it named the agency.

More people now ask an AI assistant to find an insurance agent, and they call one of the few names it gives them. We asked the 5 leading AIs, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity, 15 questions a Rockford-area homeowner might ask about home and auto insurance, twice each: 150 answers in all. This is the real test behind our sample report. Business names are changed (the agency is called Pellbrook Insurance Agency there), but every number here comes from the real answers.

Source: our real test of an independent insurance agency in Rockford, IL, October 30, 2026: 15 questions x 2 tries x 5 AIs = 150 answers. Business names are changed, as in the sample report.

What the Rockford insurance test showed

We asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity 15 everyday questions, such as "who do I call to bundle my home and car insurance in Rockford Illinois" and "honest insurance agent Loves Park IL", twice each, with the location set to Rockford. That gave us 150 answers.

• A few agencies got most of the mentions. The most-named local agency was named in 38 of 150 answers, the next in 29, and the agency in our sample report in 10. Gemini named each of the top two agencies 12 times, and the sample agency 3 times.
• Insurance companies' agent pages came up most. 114 of 150 answers cited an insurance company's "find an agent" or agent pages, from companies such as Farmers, Travelers, State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Allstate and Nationwide. Travelers' agent finder alone was cited 104 times across the answers.
• Agencies' own websites mattered. The AIs opened the most-named agency's website in 36 answers and the sample agency's in 5. In all 5 of those answers, the AI named the sample agency.
• How many names each assistant used varied widely. On average per answer, Gemini named 10.1 businesses, Grok 9.1, Claude 8.1, ChatGPT 5.0 and Perplexity 3.4. These counts include insurance companies and their local agents, not only independent agencies.
• Nearby towns were a different race. For the questions about Loves Park, Machesney Park and Belvidere, the sample agency was named in 0 of 30 answers. An agency the answers placed in Loves Park and Belvidere was named in 11 of the 20 answers about those two towns.
• Claims and flood questions went to official sources. For a home insurance claim after storm damage and for flood insurance near the Rock River, none of the four agencies we tracked was named in 20 answers. All 10 storm-claim answers cited the Illinois Department of Insurance, and all 10 flood answers cited a government website, such as FEMA's.
• The same question, asked a second time, often moved. When an AI got the same question twice, it put the same business first 21 of 74 times. The two answers had at least one name in common 63 of 74 times.
• Clear, everyday questions paid off. The sample agency's best question was "who should I call to switch my home and auto insurance in Winnebago County", with 4 of its 10 mentions. For "local insurance agent that compares several companies", the most-named agency was named in 9 of 10 answers and the sample agency in 1.
• Review and comparison sites played a smaller part. Sites such as BBB, NerdWallet and insurancequotes.com were cited in 35 of 150 answers, far fewer than insurance companies' agent pages.

The sites listed here are the ones the assistants cited, not the agencies they named. We grouped site types from each answer's web addresses. Business names were read from each answer by a small model, so the counts are close estimates, not a hand audit of every name.

This was a single Rockford-area test, on one day. A different town or a different day can look different, which is why the paid report tests your own agency in your own area.

What an insurance agency can take from the Rockford test

Treat the notes below as patterns from one 150-answer test, not a verdict on your agency. What is useful for you depends on your website, your company listings, and the other agencies nearby.

• Check your listing with every insurance company you represent. Their "find an agent" pages were the most-cited websites in our test. Each one should show the same agency name, address and phone, and say that you sell home and auto.
• Say which companies you can quote. A "Companies we work with" page tells AI that you shop several companies, which is what many of the questions asked for.
• Write a short page for each nearby town you truly serve. In our test, the AIs named different agencies for the nearby towns than for Rockford itself.
• Explain how you help with claims and flood coverage. For those questions, the AIs sent people to official sources instead of local agencies. Plain words about how you help a customer with a claim, and whether you can quote flood insurance, give AI something to match.
• Answer everyday questions in your customers' own words. A teen driver, insuring a house you're buying, or switching home and auto: each one is a question people ask AI.
• Confirm assistants can reach your site. A "checking your browser" screen can stop automated visitors. Clients never see it; ChatGPT and the others may never open your pages.

This week's check: the agent-finder pages that showed up 114 times

Look up your agency on the "find an agent" page of each insurance company you represent. Check that the agency name, address and phone number match your website, word for word, and that the listing says you sell home and auto. Update any that are out of date. In our test, these pages were cited in 114 of 150 answers.

Why two agencies in the same town need different fixes

Two agencies on the same street can be missing for unrelated reasons. One may be absent from the "find an agent" pages of the companies it represents. Another may never say which companies it can quote. A third may appear for its own city and never for the towns next door. Starting with the wrong item costs time, and a guess will not show whether the answers moved.

The AI Recommendation Report ($49) does this same kind of test for your agency. We put 15 real customer questions about insurance agents in your area to ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude and Perplexity, twice each. You see how often you are named next to up to 3 local competitors, which websites each assistant used, and the Top 5 Fixes for your agency. The Report + Fix Kit ($99) adds ready-to-paste wording and step-by-step instructions.

The sample report was built from this same Rockford insurance test, with the names changed, so you can see the $49 layout: who was named, which sites were used, and what to change first. We cannot promise an assistant will name you, because answers change, but this is how you see where you stand.

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

Other trade tests on the site: electricians · pest control · concrete contractors · dentists · plumbers · HVAC companies · roofers · flooring companies · painters · tree service · drain cleaners · window replacement · the full 960-answer study.

Questions insurance agencies ask