UK Small Business AI Visibility Study 2026

By Zalan Khan, founder of Get AI Picked · Updated 29 October 2026

We asked four AI assistants "Who are the best [trade] in [town]?" for 414 independent UK businesses across 40 towns between 22 and 29 October 2026, and recorded whether each business was named.

Key statistics

65% of 414 independent UK businesses tested were not recommended by any of ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Claude.
Only 11 businesses (2.7%) were named by all four AI assistants.
Perplexity named the business 32% of the time; Gemini 8%; ChatGPT 5%; Claude 5%.
The average AI visibility score was 9.5 out of 100.

Results by trade

Trade	Businesses	Named by none	Named by Perplexity	Named by ChatGPT
opticians	52	77%	23%	0%
physiotherapists	40	40%	58%	12%
dog groomers	39	72%	26%	3%
florists	39	69%	28%	0%
dentists	36	64%	31%	3%
bakeries	30	80%	20%	0%
cafes	28	54%	43%	11%
restaurants	24	67%	33%	17%
delis	24	67%	29%	0%
osteopaths	24	62%	33%	0%
vets	23	70%	30%	4%
tea rooms	20	55%	45%	10%
butchers	13	62%	31%	8%
architects	10	60%	40%	10%

What this means

Most AI assistants recommend a handful of well-documented businesses (big chains, firms with many directory and review mentions) and skip independents whose websites lack clear service and location text, structured data and consistent listings. Perplexity, which searches the live web every time, is far more likely to find a small business than ChatGPT or Claude.

Method

Full method: how we test AI visibility. One answer per assistant per query, default settings, UK phrasing. AI answers vary between runs, so treat each figure as a snapshot.

Cite this research

Get AI Picked (2026). UK Small Business AI Visibility Study 2026. https://getaipicked.co.uk/research/uk-small-business-ai-visibility-2026. Free to quote with a link (CC BY 4.0).

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