If your local business is not showing up in ChatGPT results, there may be a structural reason: a researcher analyzing ChatGPT's actual network traffic found that the system has a hard limit of just two local results per query.
New research published this week by Search Engine Journal reverse-engineered how ChatGPT picks which sources it actually cites, and the findings have real implications for local businesses. The researcher found a configuration setting called local_results_limit: 2, meaning ChatGPT can only surface two local businesses for any given local search. Either you are in those two spots, or you are invisible.
That is a narrower bottleneck than Google's local pack, which shows three businesses by default. And the signals that get you into ChatGPT's two spots are not the same as what works in Google Maps.
What ChatGPT actually looks for
The research found ChatGPT pulls content from multiple source tiers, including licensed publishers like Reuters and Wikipedia, commercial web scrapers focused on regional and local content, and the broader open web. Third-party sites get prioritized. Your own website, while still important, matters less than what others say about you across the web.
A few specific findings stood out:
Pages built on JavaScript are often abandoned by ChatGPT's scrapers. If your hours, pricing, or services only appear after a page loads dynamically, ChatGPT may not see them at all.
Third-party sources, such as review sites, local news coverage, and community forums, get cited far more often than business websites directly.
Not every query triggers a web search at all. Some questions get answered from training data only, meaning no amount of optimization will help for those searches.
What this means for your local business
The path to ChatGPT visibility looks more like PR than traditional SEO. Getting your business name and accurate information into review sites, local directories, community forums, and local press coverage matters a lot. So does making sure your own website has clean, plain HTML with key details like hours, services, and pricing written directly into page text, not loaded dynamically by a script.
Practical steps to take now:
Audit your website for JavaScript-heavy elements that hide key business info; move hours, services, and contact details into plain HTML text
Claim and actively manage your listings on review platforms: Google, Yelp, and any industry-specific directories relevant to your trade
Pursue local press coverage and community mentions; these third-party signals carry significant weight with AI search systems
Respond to reviews regularly to keep your profiles active and filled with natural language describing your business and services
Confirm your NAP (name, address, phone) is consistent everywhere it appears online
AI search is still new and the signals change frequently.
However, what is consistent is that the businesses that start building third-party authority and cleaning up their web presence now will have a head start as these systems mature.
PeaksLocal is a specialized online identity firm dedicated to helping local businesses navigate and dominate the optimization process, serving Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs and businesses nationwide.
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