A new study has found that ChatGPT is frequently leaving out small Canadian businesses from relevant search results.
According to Ottawa-based AI-powered analytics firm Clixera, more than half of the independent main-street businesses it tested across the country never appeared when asking ChatGPT on suggestions on where to eat or shop or who to hire.
More than half of the independent main-street businesses we tested across Canada never appeared when consumers asked ChatGPT (OpenAI) where to eat, shop or who to hire. Clixera recently shared similar data for Ontario businesses with Ottawa Business Journal, and now, it’s looking at the rest of Canada.
In its latest testing of thousands of main-street businesses drawn from the public member directories of main-street business districts in almost every province, Clixera found that ChatGPT only named less than half of them (44 per cent) on average. What’s more, the range was quite significant. Results for independent businesses in PEI actually rose to 54 per cent, while Newfoundland and Labrador only got 33 per cent.
What the study found, more often than not, was that bigger chains or non-member business would come up in ChatGPT searches. For instance, asking for the best gym in Ontario would get you recommendations for the likes of Goodlife Fitness and YMCA. Similarly, asking for auto repairs in the province would net you such results as Canadian Tire or Mr. Lube.
Interestingly, Clixera notes that salons, clinics and gyms did best overall when it came to naming smaller businesses, while shops fared worse.
All in all, it’s pretty interesting, if disheartening, data, showing how search can be skewed, especially with AI. At a time when people are trying to support smaller, Canadian-owned businesses, it’s a good reminder that you might want to do a bit more of your own research instead of just relying on AI-powered search results.
Check out Clixera’s studies on its website.
Image credit: Shutterstock
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