Findy AI

Guide · 8 min read

Top AI-cited sources for local businesses

When ChatGPT and Perplexity recommend a plumber, a restaurant, or a clinic, they pull from a surprisingly small set of sources. Here's the shortlist we see cited most for UK local queries, and what to do about each one. For the full playbook on acting on these, see how to optimise for ChatGPT and Perplexity.

The core citation set

Every local recommendation we've seen from ChatGPT and Perplexity leans on the same handful of high-trust sources. Google Business Profile is the ground truth for hours, location, and phone. Yell and Yelp show up as fall-back structured listings for the UK. TripAdvisor owns anything a visitor might book or eat at. Trustpilot supplies the sentiment layer when the model wants to justify a pick.

  • Google Business Profile — the ground truth for name, address, phone, hours.
  • Yell.com — the UK directory both engines fall back to when Google data thins out.
  • Yelp — still cited for restaurants, salons, and trades in larger UK cities.
  • TripAdvisor — the default source for anything a visitor might book or eat at.
  • Trustpilot — quoted when the answer needs a reason, not just a name.

Vertical directories that punch above their weight

Once a query gets specific, the models reach for the same specialist directories a customer would. Getting listed here is often the fastest single way into an AI answer for your category.

  • Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Rated People — trades and home services.
  • Bark and Houzz — professional services and interiors.
  • OpenTable and SquareMeal — restaurants and bookings.
  • Booking.com and Hotels.com — accommodation.
  • Doctify and Top Doctors — private healthcare.

Editorial and 'best of' lists

The models weight round-ups from named publications heavily. One feature in one of these can flip your position in an AI answer, because the model treats the list as a shortcut for authority. (Reddit deserves a special mention - Perplexity in particular quotes it near-verbatim.)

  • Time Out and the Evening Standard for London.
  • The Guardian, The Times, and Condé Nast Traveller for national round-ups.
  • BBC Good Food for restaurants and cafés.
  • Local newspapers on Reach and Newsquest networks for towns and cities.
  • Reddit threads on subs like r/AskUK and city-specific subs, which Perplexity in particular quotes verbatim.

Earn a mention where the models look

  1. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile, then match name, address, and hours everywhere else. Nothing else on this list matters if this one is off.
  2. Pick the two or three vertical directories your customers actually use and get listed properly. Quality beats coverage, every time.
  3. Ask happy customers for a Trustpilot or Google review with one line of context (what they bought, where). One line makes it quotable.
  4. Pitch one local editor per quarter for a "best of" round-up in your category. One good feature can flip your position.
  5. Answer questions on Reddit and Quora under your real name when your expertise fits. Perplexity quotes it, and it keeps earning citations for years.

Want to know which of these sources already mention you and which don't? Run a Findy AI audit and we'll map your citation footprint against the sources ChatGPT and Perplexity actually use.