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How AI search works, and why it isn't Google

When someone asks an AI app to recommend a business, it doesn't hand them a list. It searches, reads, decides, and writes one answer. Here's what happens in between, in plain language.

A woman on her living room sofa asking her phone for a recommendation, a cup of tea beside her

First, what a Google search does

You type a few words, like "plumber orangeville". Google matches them against its index of the web and ranks the pages it thinks fit best. You get ads at the top, a map with three businesses, and then a page of links. You scan the list, open a few, and decide. These days Google often puts its own AI summary above all of that, and that summary works much like the AI apps described below.

For years the whole game was getting onto that first page. If you were there, the customer at least saw your name.

What happens when you ask an AI instead

Say someone asks ChatGPT, "Who should I call to sell my house in Orangeville?" Here's roughly what happens:

  1. It works out what you're really asking. The AI reads the whole question, including anything it remembers about you, and decides what kind of answer you need.
  2. It runs several searches at once. Instead of one search, it breaks your question into several smaller ones, like "top rated real estate agents Orangeville", "Orangeville realtor reviews" and "selling a house in Dufferin County". Google calls this a "query fan-out" and uses it in its own AI Mode.
  3. It reads a handful of pages. From those results it pulls a small set of pages to read: review sites, directories, local news, "best of" lists, Reddit threads, and business websites.
  4. It decides who to recommend. It weighs what those pages say: who comes up again and again, who has strong reviews, whose details match from site to site.
  5. It writes one answer. Usually two to five names, a sentence on each, and sometimes links to where it read about them. The customer often goes with what it says.

The short version: Google ranks pages and lets the customer choose. AI reads what the web says about businesses and chooses for them.

Five differences that matter for your business

1. There's no page two. There's barely a page one.

Google shows ten links, and the customer might scroll. An AI answer names a few businesses and stops. If you're not in those few names, the customer never sees you.

2. People ask full questions

Nobody types "realtor orangeville" into ChatGPT. They ask, "Who's good at selling older homes in Orangeville?" or "Which agent here is best for first-time buyers?" The AI looks for businesses that clearly match that kind of detail.

3. What others say about you counts more than what you say

Your own website still matters. But the AI leans heavily on other sources: review sites, directories, local articles and community discussions. In one Kestrel check of Orangeville real estate agents, the two websites the AI apps leaned on most were agent-rating sites, cited in most of the 36 answers.

4. Consistency builds trust

If your business name, address, phone number or services differ from one site to another, the AI is less sure who you are. A business described the same way everywhere is easier for the AI to recommend with confidence.

5. The answer changes every time

Ask the same question twice and you can get different names. Ask a different app and you'll get different names again. That's why a single screenshot tells you very little, and why Kestrel asks every question several times across four apps.

Do the four AI apps work the same way?

Broadly yes, but each gets its information from different places:

  • Gemini is Google's AI, and it searches with Google. A strong Google Business Profile helps most here.
  • ChatGPT uses a mix of OpenAI's own web index and outside search providers. The free version often answers from short snippets without opening pages, while the paid version reads more pages.
  • Perplexity searches the web live for almost every question and shows its sources, so changes to the web show up here fastest.
  • Claude searches the web when a question needs current information, and cites the pages it used.

The companies change how this works often, so treat it as a snapshot, not a rulebook.

What this means for you

  • Keep your Google Business Profile complete and current. It feeds Gemini directly and shows up in the others' research.
  • Get reviews on the sites the AI actually reads in your industry, not only on Google.
  • Describe your business the same way everywhere: name, phone, address, service area and what you specialize in.
  • Say clearly on your website who you help and where. A page that plainly says "selling rural properties in Dufferin County" is easier for the AI to match to a question than a vague one.
  • Measure it. You can't fix what you can't see, and you can't see it from one ask on your own phone.

Want to see where you stand? Kestrel's free check asks the four AI apps the questions your customers ask, 36 times, and shows you who they recommend.

Get your free check

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