Our Round Rock study

Which plumbers do ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini recommend in Round Rock, TX? Our 212-answer study

Each assistant had its own favourite, and Google Maps was a poor guide to who it would be. Perplexity named a shop sitting 53rd on Maps first in 43 of 50 water-heater answers, while the #2 plumber on Maps came up in none of the 151.

Updated 14 November 2026

We ran this test on 13 November 2026 to see what actually happens when a homeowner asks for a plumber. We withheld the real company names here so we can share the raw numbers plainly, using the same letters (Plumber A, Plumber B) as on our home page.

How we ran the test

We wrote down two questions a normal homeowner in Round Rock would ask:

• Question 1 (Water Heater): "I need a plumber in Round Rock, TX who can come out Thursday to look at a leaking water heater. Who should I call?"
• Question 2 (Clogged Drain): "Who is the best plumber in Round Rock, Texas? I want someone reliable and fairly priced for a clogged drain."

We asked these questions over and over in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini. Every single ask was in a fresh chat so the previous answer wouldn't taint the next one. When an answer listed multiple plumbers, we counted the first shop named as the pick.

We ended up with 212 usable answers:

• Question 1: 151 total answers (ChatGPT 51, Perplexity 50, Gemini 50).
• Question 2: 61 total answers (ChatGPT 20, Perplexity 20, Gemini 21).

Then we pulled the top 30 plumbers on Google Maps for "plumber Round Rock TX" to see if the Google Maps winners were also winning here.

Result 1: Leaking water heater (151 answers)

For the water heater question, the three tools couldn't agree on who to send the homeowner to.

Look closely at how strange those picks are compared to Google Maps:

• Plumber A has 4.1 stars and sits 53rd on Google Maps. Yet Perplexity named them first in 43 out of 50 answers. Meanwhile, Gemini put Plumber A first in 0 of 50 answers (and only mentioned them anywhere on the page in 3 of 50 answers).
• Plumber D isn't in the Google Maps top 30 at all. ChatGPT still put them first 12 times.
• The #2 plumber on Google Maps has 491 reviews. That shop came up in none of the 151 water-heater answers across all three tools. Not once.

Result 2: Clogged drain (61 answers)

When we asked for a "reliable and fairly priced" plumber for a clogged drain, the results shifted completely.

• Perplexity: Named the #1 plumber on Google Maps first in 20 of 20 answers.
• ChatGPT: Named that same #1 Google Maps plumber first in 14 of 20 answers.
• Gemini: Named that #1 Google Maps shop first only once in 21 answers. Gemini stuck with its favourite from the first question, picking Plumber B first in 9 of 21 answers.

Reviews and star ratings didn't separate the winners

It's easy to think a 4.9 on Google is all you need. We grouped the Round Rock plumbers into three buckets: picked shops, rarely-picked shops, and never-named shops.

Every group had a 4.9 median rating, so stars didn't separate anyone. The picked shops did have more reviews, so volume may help. But it didn't decide things on its own: Perplexity's favourite has 4.1 stars, and the #2 plumber on Maps, with 491 reviews, was shut out of the water-heater answers.

Where the answers got their information

When ChatGPT and Perplexity name a plumber, they often show links to the pages they read before answering. Gemini almost never showed a link.

In our Round Rock run, the links pointed to four main places:

1. The plumbing shops' own service pages.
2. Nextdoor (which showed up in 43 of Perplexity's 50 water-heater answers).
3. Yahoo Local (which showed up in 25 of Perplexity's 50 water-heater answers).
4. "Best plumbers" list sites like BestProsInTown.

What the winning websites had that the others didn't

Across our test, 11 shops were picked in at least 10% of one assistant's answers. We read their websites. Then we read the websites of 12 plumbers in the Google Maps top 30 who were never named once.

The shops getting recommended had clearer, plainer facts on their pages:

• The town name in the page title: 10 of 11 picked shops had it, vs 5 of 12 never-named shops.
• Plain words on how they charge: 8 of 11 picked shops explained how they bill, vs 4 of 12 never-named shops.
• An actual dollar price on the page: 5 of 11 picked shops showed a real dollar figure, vs 0 of 12 never-named shops.

We wrote a full breakdown of what these tools look for on a trade website, along with six fixes a plumbing owner can make on their own site.

Limits of our study

We want to be straight with you about what this test covers and what it doesn't:

• We ran all of these on one day (13 November 2026) from one network near Austin.
• We used ChatGPT logged out, and free accounts for Perplexity and Gemini.
• 27 runs failed or came back empty; we threw those out and did not count them in the 212 answers.
• Asking 50 times is enough to tell you who dominates a town, not enough to tell a 2% share from a 6% share.

What this means for your shop

If you own a plumbing company, there are four takeaways from Round Rock:

1. Each tool has its own favourite. Winning on Perplexity does not mean you are winning on Gemini or ChatGPT.
2. Google Maps rank and stars don't carry over. You can sit #2 on Maps with 491 reviews and get shut out on water heater calls, or sit 53rd on Maps and clean up.
3. One screenshot proves nothing. Because the answers change from chat to chat, typing a question into your phone once won't tell you the truth. (Here is how to check if ChatGPT recommends you the right way.)
4. The only honest measure is your share of many answers. You need to know how often you come up across dozens of asks, and what the shops beating you have on their pages.

If you want to see the real numbers for your shop without burning a weekend typing into three different sites, ask for our free check. We will ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini fifty times for your trade and town, see who gets named and why, and email you the report within 5 business days. If you want us to build the pages that fix it, you only ever pay per new customer who books through our tracked line or booking page.

Common questions

Why did you ask the same question so many times?

Because ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini change their minds from one chat to the next. If you only ask once, you might see your shop and think you are set, or miss your shop and panic. Asking 50 times shows who actually gets the bulk of the recommendations.

Do my Google reviews help me get picked?

Maybe the count does: picked shops had a median of 607 reviews, never-named shops 79. Stars didn't: all three groups had the same 4.9 median rating, and the #2 plumber on Google Maps, with 491 reviews, came up in none of the 151 water-heater answers.

How do I find out who gets picked in my town?

You can run a few searches yourself, or ask us for a free check. We ask all three tools 50 times for your trade and town and send you the tally by email within 5 business days. There is no cost and no credit card needed.