Study
France: what AI assistants quote when they recommend a local business
We read 783 answers from ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini about 68 local businesses in this country, between 10.07.2026 and 12.10.2026. Here is where their sources come from.
86%
of answers quote web sources
46%
of what they quote is a directory or review site
27%
of answers quote the business's own website
4%
of what they quote is press
Where the quotes come from
Directories and review sites make up 46% of everything the AIs quote here. Other businesses' own websites 35%. Guides and rankings 6%, the business's own site 5%, press 4%.
- Directories & reviews46%
- Players in the market35%
- Guides, rankings & blogs6%
- The business's own site5%
- News & media4%
- Shops & marketplaces3%
- Social & forums1%
- Market studies1%
Each AI reads the web differently
Perplexity quotes 17 sources per answer, 53% of them directories. Gemini quotes 6. ChatGPT quotes 4 and Claude 3.
| AI | Sources per answer | What it quotes most |
|---|---|---|
| Perplexity | 17.1 | Directories & reviews 53% |
| Gemini | 6.4 | Players in the market 47% |
| ChatGPT | 4.1 | Players in the market 51% |
| Claude | 2.6 | Directories & reviews 54% |
The sites they quote most
- 1 Google Maps listings 489 quotes
- 2 pagesjaunes.fr 140 quotes
- 3 alexia.fr 140 quotes
- 4 petitfute.com 69 quotes
- 5 mariages.net 62 quotes
- 6 allovoisins.com 57 quotes
- 7 tripadvisor.fr 50 quotes
- 8 travaux.com 48 quotes
- 9 justifit.fr 45 quotes
- 10 lafabriquedunet.fr 41 quotes
See all 50 sites ›
- 11 generale-optique.com 41 quotes
- 12 fr.mappy.com 37 quotes
- 13 consultation.avocat.fr 37 quotes
- 14 threebestrated.fr 36 quotes
- 15 alentoor.fr 35 quotes
- 16 opticien.optic2000.com 33 quotes
- 17 juritravail.com 33 quotes
- 18 travaux.obat.fr 32 quotes
- 19 sortlist.fr 29 quotes
- 20 europages.fr 28 quotes
- 21 afflelou.com 25 quotes
- 22 buuyers.com 25 quotes
- 23 babilou.fr 25 quotes
- 24 villepratique.fr 24 quotes
- 25 fr.kompass.com 24 quotes
- 26 starofservice.com 23 quotes
- 27 rdvartisans.fr 23 quotes
- 28 opticien.optical-center.fr 22 quotes
- 29 reims-tourisme.com 21 quotes
- 30 houzz.fr 21 quotes
- 31 facebook.com 20 quotes
- 32 hellowatt.fr 20 quotes
- 33 legalrank.fr 19 quotes
- 34 entreprises.lefigaro.fr 19 quotes
- 35 planity.com 19 quotes
- 36 fr.trustpilot.com 18 quotes
- 37 doctolib.fr 18 quotes
- 38 meilleur-artisan.com 18 quotes
- 39 les10meilleurs.net 17 quotes
- 40 lapetitecreche.fr 16 quotes
- 41 1001salles.com 16 quotes
- 42 decapfonte.com 16 quotes
- 43 resalib.fr 16 quotes
- 44 optical-center.fr 15 quotes
- 45 fabriquons.fr 15 quotes
- 46 moklair.fr 14 quotes
- 47 le-sourire-de-reims.fr 14 quotes
- 48 auxdelicesdespapilles.fr 14 quotes
- 49 linkedin.com 14 quotes
- 50 cleanolia.fr 14 quotes
What to do with it
-
1
Complete every directory listing the AIs quote in your market: details, hours, photos, recent reviews. It is the biggest lever.
-
2
Get into the guides and "best of" lists of your city and trade.
-
3
Keep your own site clear and complete: it is quoted in 27% of answers, and that is where an AI checks what you do.
Method
Every answer comes from the AIs' official APIs with web search on, as they answer their own users, for the businesses tracked in kwerve and audits we ran. Each quoted site is sorted by type, by rules and a one-time AI label. A measurement of what the AIs answered, not a random sample of all businesses.
Numbers as of 12.10.2026: 783 answers, 5,134 quoted sites.
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