# Recrawled: 9 of 40 UK software firms absent from AI shortlists

Published: 2026-10-04T19:49:17.929Z · Source: PPC Land (https://ppc.land/chatgpt-gemini-and-google-never-name-9-of-40-uk-software-firms-in-shortlists/)
Source date: 2026-10-04
Entities: gemini, ai-overviews, chatgpt

UK answer-engine agency Recrawled tested ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode with 1,608 queries about 40 UK B2B software firms, and found 9 never appeared in any of 24 shortlist-style answers each company was eligible for, per PPC Land. All 40 firms were identified correctly when searched by name, but how a buyer question was worded swung results hard: a UK-specific shortlist question named 63% of firms, a market-leader-versus-rival question named none. The four platforms also disagreed with each other — Gemini excluded 42% of the firms named somewhere, Google AI Mode 35%, AI Overviews 19% and ChatGPT 16% — and Recrawled found no correlation between a firm's review-site volume and how often AI named it.

Why it matters: Being named when searched by brand and being named when a buyer asks for options are different wins, and this study is the first to measure the gap between them with a controlled question set rather than a single prompt.

## What this answers

**Do ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI tools recommend every known company in a sector?**

No — Recrawled tested 40 UK B2B software firms across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode and found 9 never appeared in any shortlist answer, even though all 40 were identified correctly when searched by name.

**Does the exact wording of a buyer question change which companies AI tools recommend?**

Yes, sharply — per Recrawled, 63% of the 40 firms appeared on a UK-specific shortlist question, but 0% appeared when the question asked the market leader against its nearest rival.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-10-04-recrawled-9-of-40-uk-software-firms-absent-from-ai-shortlists/
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