Short answer. It depends on which AI tool you ask. In our weekly check of 36 answers, Google’s own help pages and YouTube videos were cited most, and each tool leaned on different sources: YouTube showed up only in Google’s AI Overview, and Google’s developer pages only in ChatGPT. Local agency websites mostly appeared when the question named a place and asked for an agency. That is a small sample from one studio, not a ranking, but it shows what a local business can control: clear pages of its own, details that match everywhere, and a presence on the places the answers already read.
What we checked
Every Friday morning since 9 October 2026 we ask three tools the same 12 questions: ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Overview. The questions are the kind a business owner might ask about marketing help, several of them about Vancouver and North Vancouver. We run them from Canada and record two things: whether the answer names us, and which websites it lists as sources. We have five runs so far (9, 16, 23 and 30 October, and 6 November).
The run of 6 November produced 36 answers from 36 attempts. One caution: on 30 October only 32 of 36 came back, and on some Fridays Google does not show an AI Overview at all. We count that as no answer, not as a miss. So a sample of 36 is a snapshot, and it will move from week to week.
What the answers cited
Across all 36 answers on 6 November:
- support.google.com (Google’s help pages) was cited in 8 answers, across 5 different questions.
- youtube.com was cited in 7 answers, all of them in Google’s AI Overview.
- developers.google.com was cited in 4 answers, all of them in ChatGPT.
- facebook.com and linkedin.com were each cited in 3 answers, again only in the AI Overview.
We were named and cited in 1 of the 36: a ChatGPT answer about marketing studios in North Vancouver, where it listed us among two further options after six studios it described first, and linked to our home page. That is 1 of 12 for ChatGPT and none for Gemini or the AI Overview, and it has not changed since 23 October.
What the check found
Our weekly AI-answer check, 6 November 2026
36AI answers collected (12 questions, 3 tools)
1answer that names us (ChatGPT)
8answers citing Google's help pages
7answers citing YouTube (all in Google's AI Overview)
Source: Long Square Studio weekly check using OpenSEO, run 2026-11-06, asked from Canada. A sample from one studio, not a ranking.
Why the split matters
Asking three AI tools the same question is a bit like asking three neighbours where to get a decent coffee. Each one has a habit, and the habit shapes the answer. In our sample, Google’s AI Overview cited videos and social posts that the other two never did, and Google’s developer pages appeared only in ChatGPT. A page that helps in one place may never be read in another.
That is also why we do not trust a single number. If someone tells you exactly how to be cited by “AI”, ask which tool, which question and how many answers they looked at.
What a local business can do
None of this is a trick, and none of it guarantees a mention. Three plain things fit what we saw:
- Answer one question plainly on one page. Put the question in the title and the short answer first, in words a customer would use. An answer that can be quoted in a sentence is easier to use than one buried in a long page.
- Keep your details the same everywhere. Your name, services, service area and hours should match on your website and your Business Profile. If they disagree, a tool has to guess.
- Be where the answers already look. The same sources came up again and again: Google’s own pages, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn. A short video and an up-to-date company page are ordinary places to start. Your Business Profile is a Google page too, but none of our 36 answers showed one as a source, so treat it as good practice and not as a proven route.
Our article on [getting mentioned in Google AI Overviews](/insights/get-mentioned-in-google-ai-overviews-local-business/) covers the how-to in more detail. Pages that are not indexed cannot be read at all, so if a page is missing from Google, start with [why a new site is not showing up](/insights/new-website-not-showing-on-google/).
What changed on our side
The main thing that changed between the 9 October and 6 November runs is that more of our pages got into Google’s index: 17 of 62 pages on 12 October, 40 of 69 on 6 November, by Search Console’s URL inspection. We cannot point to anything else we changed on the site or our profiles in that time.
We make no claim that any change moved the numbers. Five runs and a count of one are not enough to say.
What we do not know
We do not know how often a tool changes its sources, whether our 12 questions match what your customers type, or whether a Business Profile is read by these tools at all: none of our 36 answers showed a profile as a source, so we cannot say. We will keep running the check and report what it shows, including when it shows nothing.
A few common questions
How do I get my local business mentioned in Google AI Overviews and AI answers?
No one can guarantee a mention. Write clear pages that answer real questions, keep your details the same everywhere and be present where the answers already look. Our [article on AI Overviews](/insights/get-mentioned-in-google-ai-overviews-local-business/) has the steps.
Do all AI tools use the same sources?
Not in our sample. On 6 November YouTube was cited only in Google’s AI Overview and Google’s developer pages only in ChatGPT, while Google’s help pages appeared across several questions.
Is 36 answers enough to draw a conclusion?
No. It is enough to see patterns worth watching, and not enough to rank sources or to say what will work for your business. That is why we state the method and repeat it every week.
