On 2 October 2026 I asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode for the best plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers, landscapers and kitchen fitters in Essex: four ways a homeowner phrases it, ten times each, per engine, then again for Chelmsford, Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. I matched every firm named against every trade firm Google Maps lists in the county. Of 4,544 firms, 261 were recommended at least once by the county prompts; 4,283, or 94%, were never named.
ChatGPT sends nine answers in ten to a directory. Gemini, fewer than one in three.
Every engine cites what it read, and for an Essex tradesperson that is mostly one site: ChatGPT cited checkatrade.com in 85% of its answers, Google AI Mode in 78%. Gemini spreads out, to MyBuilder, TrustATrader, Houzz and “three best rated” lists.
| Engine | Any of the six | Checkatrade |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 91% | 85% |
| Gemini | 29% | 24% |
| Google AI Mode | 79% | 78% |
What it means: if you are not on Checkatrade, you are not on the page two of the three engines read first.
For plumbers, roofers, landscapers and kitchen fitters, ChatGPT cites a directory in 39 answers out of 40. Gemini, for builders, in three.
| Trade | ChatGPT | Google AI Mode | Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbers | 98% | 93% | 25% |
| Electricians | 83% | 100% | 48% |
| Builders | 73% | 65% | 8% |
| Roofers | 98% | 93% | 35% |
| Landscapers | 98% | 78% | 28% |
| Kitchen fitters | 98% | 45% | 33% |
One Essex kitchen fitter in six is named. One builder in twenty-eight.
Essex has 4,544 trade firms, nearly as many as the other three counties together (5,215), and the engines still name only 37 to 52 per trade. The longer the list, the longer the tail of firms nobody is told about.
| Trade | Firms | Named | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen fitters | 231 | 37 | 16% |
| Roofers | 481 | 43 | 9% |
| Landscapers | 697 | 40 | 6% |
| Electricians | 945 | 52 | 6% |
| Plumbers | 1,063 | 48 | 5% |
| Builders | 1,127 | 41 | 4% |
Under ten reviews, one Essex trade firm in fifty is named. Past 150, not quite half.
I split the 4,544 firms by Google review count, and the naming rate rises with every band. Rating barely moves it: named firms average 4.9 stars, unnamed 4.6.
| Reviews | Firms | Named | Share named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1,638 | 12 | 1% |
| 1–9 | 1,911 | 54 | 3% |
| 10–49 | 761 | 108 | 14% |
| 50–149 | 186 | 65 | 35% |
| 150+ | 48 | 22 | 46% |
Website or not: 10% of the 2,449 firms with their own site were named, 1% of the 2,095 with none or only a Facebook or directory page. A site does not get you named on its own (the chart above says so); it is what the engine reads to check you, and where the customer lands. If you have none, that is a week’s work.
Ask by town and 45 of the 62 plumbers named are firms the county question never mentions.
The county question is not how a homeowner asks, so I asked for each trade in Chelmsford, Colchester and Southend-on-Sea, five times per engine. The town answers name more firms, mostly local ones, and a different set.
| Trade | County prompts | Town prompts | Only town prompts | In or near the town |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbers | 48 | 62 | 45 | 94% |
| Electricians | 52 | 50 | 26 | 90% |
| Builders | 41 | 52 | 29 | 89% |
| Roofers | 43 | 47 | 23 | 80% |
| Landscapers | 40 | 51 | 30 | 89% |
| Kitchen fitters | 37 | 31 | 12 | 88% |
In or near: 89% of the firms named for a town are listed in it or within 15 km of its centre. The town answer is a local answer.
Say the problem instead of the trade and builders go from one answer in three citing a directory to seven in ten.
“Builders in Chelmsford” and “builder for a house extension in Chelmsford” are the same job to a homeowner. To the engines they are different questions, answered from different sources.
| Trade | Plain | Problem-led | Overlap of firms named |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbers | 64% | 38% | 0.35 |
| Electricians | 40% | 64% | 0.60 |
| Builders | 33% | 71% | 0.44 |
| Roofers | 69% | 76% | 0.53 |
| Landscapers | 64% | 47% | 0.43 |
| Kitchen fitters | 62% | 64% | 0.71 |
The firms change too: For plumbers, only 36% of the firms named either way were named both ways (the overlap on each row). Put the problem in the question and you meet a different shortlist.
Three things separate the firms that come up. Size is not one of them.
I went through the top and bottom of every table by hand.
- Review volume, not rating. Named Essex trade firms have a median of 26 Google reviews; the rest, 1. Kitchen fitters show it plainly: 24 against 3.
- A listing on the directory that engine reads. For ChatGPT and Google AI Mode that is Checkatrade, cited in 85% and 78% of their Essex answers. For Gemini it is MyBuilder, TrustATrader, Houzz or the firm’s own site.
- A site the engine can check. 10% of Essex trade firms with their own website were named; 1% of those without one. A site that says the trade and the town in its first lines gives the engine something to match the question to.
Those three things are the job. Reviews, the right listing, and a site with the town in its first sentence are what a month of local SEO goes on, and none of them needs a bigger firm.
Trade by trade, and who gets named.
Each block is 120 answers: four phrasings, ten repeats, three engines. “Firms named” counts a firm once however many times it came up. The bars are the share of answers in which the firm was named; the dot marks the firms all three engines agree on.
Plumbers: 48 of 1,063 ever named.
ChatGPT cited a trade directory in 39 of its 40 answers. Named plumbers have a median of 63 Google reviews; the rest, 2.
| Engine | Firms named | Cite a directory | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 25 (2%) | 39 of 40 | checkatrade.comtrustatrader.commybuilder.com |
| Gemini | 16 (2%) | 10 of 40 | threebestrated.co.ukmybuilder.comcheckatrade.com |
| Google AI Mode | 29 (3%) | 37 of 40 | checkatrade.comtrustatrader.comtrustedtraders.which.co.uk |
Who gets named: the 10 plumbers named most often
Named by all three engines. The bars are the share of each engine’s answers that named the firm.
Electricians: 52 of 945 ever named.
ChatGPT cited a trade directory in 33 of its 40 answers. Named electricians have a median of 28 Google reviews; the rest, 1.
| Engine | Firms named | Cite a directory | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 32 (3%) | 33 of 40 | checkatrade.comniceic.comcgelectricalessex.co.uk |
| Gemini | 14 (2%) | 19 of 40 | mybuilder.comcheckatrade.comessexelectricalsolutions.co.uk |
| Google AI Mode | 25 (3%) | 40 of 40 | checkatrade.comtrustatrader.comyell.com |
Who gets named: the 10 electricians named most often
Named by all three engines. The bars are the share of each engine’s answers that named the firm.
Builders: 41 of 1,127 ever named.
ChatGPT cited a trade directory in 29 of its 40 answers. Named builders have a median of 12 Google reviews; the rest, 1.
| Engine | Firms named | Cite a directory | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 24 (2%) | 29 of 40 | checkatrade.comfmb.org.uktopratedbuilders.co.uk |
| Gemini | 12 (1%) | 3 of 40 | houzz.co.ukglenigan.comrosebuilders.co.uk |
| Google AI Mode | 23 (2%) | 26 of 40 | checkatrade.comhouzz.co.ukmybuilder.com |
Who gets named: the 10 builders named most often
Named by all three engines. The bars are the share of each engine’s answers that named the firm.
Roofers: 43 of 481 ever named.
ChatGPT cited a trade directory in 39 of its 40 answers. Named roofers have a median of 41 Google reviews; the rest, 1.
| Engine | Firms named | Cite a directory | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 28 (6%) | 39 of 40 | checkatrade.comtrustatrader.comuk.trustpilot.com |
| Gemini | 22 (5%) | 14 of 40 | trustatrader.comcheckatrade.comtopratedroofers.co.uk |
| Google AI Mode | 24 (5%) | 37 of 40 | checkatrade.comtrustatrader.comcorc.co.uk |
Who gets named: the 10 roofers named most often
Named by all three engines. The bars are the share of each engine’s answers that named the firm.
Landscapers: 40 of 697 ever named.
ChatGPT cited a trade directory in 39 of its 40 answers. Named landscapers have a median of 18 Google reviews; the rest, 1.
| Engine | Firms named | Cite a directory | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 21 (3%) | 39 of 40 | checkatrade.comyell.comtheessexgarden.co |
| Gemini | 21 (3%) | 11 of 40 | theessexgarden.cocheckatrade.comthelandscapingcompanyessexltd.co.uk |
| Google AI Mode | 20 (3%) | 31 of 40 | checkatrade.comtrustatrader.comtheessexgarden.co |
Who gets named: the 10 landscapers named most often
Named by all three engines. The bars are the share of each engine’s answers that named the firm.
Kitchen fitters: 37 of 231 ever named.
ChatGPT cited a trade directory in 39 of its 40 answers. Named kitchen fitters have a median of 24 Google reviews; the rest, 3.
| Engine | Firms named | Cite a directory | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 22 (10%) | 39 of 40 | checkatrade.comtrustatrader.comtrustedtraders.which.co.uk |
| Gemini | 23 (10%) | 13 of 40 | checkatrade.commybuilder.comjohnclarkservices.co.uk |
| Google AI Mode | 19 (8%) | 18 of 40 | checkatrade.comyell.comtrustatrader.com |
Who gets named: the 10 kitchen fitters named most often
Named by all three engines. The bars are the share of each engine’s answers that named the firm.
How I counted, and what it cannot tell you.
- The denominatorEvery Google Maps listing in each trade’s categories within Essex, pulled through DataForSEO’s Business Listings data and filtered to the county’s postcodes. A listing counts on its primary Google label: drainage firms only if Google also lists them as a plumber, “Construction Company” only when the name says builder, kitchen shops only when the name says kitchen. Merchants, DIY chains and volume housebuilders are dropped by name; closed listings are removed and firms with more than one listing are grouped.
- The county prompts“Best X in Essex”, “recommend an X in Essex”, “X near Chelmsford” and “who are the top X in Essex”, each run 10 times per engine, logged out, UK location: 720 answers.
- The town promptsFor Chelmsford, Colchester and Southend-on-Sea: a plain question (“plumber in Chelmsford”) and a problem-led one (“emergency plumber Chelmsford boiler not working”), each run 5 times per engine: 540 answers. “In or near” means a listing in that postal town or within 15 km of its centre.
- The enginesChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode, collected through DataForSEO’s scrapers on 2 October 2026. ChatGPT with web search on.
- A mentionThe firm’s name, or its website, in the answer. Trade names are generic, so place words and trade words never match on their own; matching was automatic, then checked by hand at the top and bottom of every table. Being cited as a source is counted separately. The directory measure is the share of answers whose cited sources or links include Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Rated People, TrustATrader, Yell or Bark.
- What it cannot tell youIt is one day’s snapshot and the engines move. Trade firms with no Google listing at all, and sole traders listed only on Checkatrade, are not in the count. That is also the point. The list of firms that were not named is deliberately not published.
The per-firm data is available to journalists and trade bodies on request: hello@1weeksites.com. If you cite the study, link to this page. I will re-run it quarterly and keep the URL.
The same trades study for Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and East Anglia as a whole. The same study for solicitors, accountants, estate agents, recruiters, architects and IT firms in Essex.