ChatGPT, Gemini use different location signals, study finds

A controlled audit asked ChatGPT 300 questions across 19 declared locations, and asked both ChatGPT and Gemini from five network locations, collecting 31,200 answers to measure run-to-run noise. ChatGPT follows the location an app declares down to the city — writing the place into its own searches and localizing results even for questions that don’t mention a place — while ignoring network location entirely. Gemini does the opposite: it ignores declared location and follows the country tied to the network, changing most of its cited sources even for location-agnostic questions. The businesses the answers recommend change along with the sources, per the authors.