We opened the Google Business Profiles of 182 Jersey businesses, the top 20 on Google Maps in 10 everyday categories, on 12 November 2026, and compared the 65 that ChatGPT or Google's AI Mode had recommended with the 117 that they had not. Of the 35 profiles missing a website, a phone number or opening hours, only two were recommended: 6%, against 43% of the profiles that had all three. Recommended businesses were also more likely to have claimed their profile, added their own photos and replied to reviews.
The headline numbers
- 97% v 72%: the share with a website, a phone number and opening hours all on the profile, among businesses the AI recommended and the rest of the top 20. Only one of the 24 profiles without a website was recommended, and none of the 14 without opening hours.
- 86% v 76%: the share claimed by the business. 37 of the 182 profiles (20%) still showed Google's “Claim this business” link, so nobody at the business was managing them.
- 77% v 62%: the share with photos added by the owner.
- 48% v 28%: the share where the owner had replied to at least one of the 10 newest reviews.
- 57% v 47%: the share with a new review in the last three months.
- 27 v 14: the median number of Google reviews.
Results by category
| Category | Recommended by AI | All three basics | Owner replies to reviews | Reviewed in last 3 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbers | 6 | 100% v 50% | 67% v 21% | 67% v 21% |
| Electricians | 8 | 100% v 67% | 50% v 8% | 62% v 17% |
| Dentists | 6 | 100% v 93% | 100% v 64% | 67% v 93% |
| Physiotherapists | 9 | 100% v 100% | 33% v 40% | 44% v 40% |
| Accountants | 8 | 88% v 75% | 25% v 8% | 25% v 0% |
| Hairdressers | 4 | 100% v 44% | 50% v 12% | 75% v 50% |
| Gyms | 5 | 100% v 80% | 40% v 47% | 60% v 73% |
| Car garages | 7 | 86% v 69% | 14% v 31% | 43% v 69% |
| Florists | 7 | 100% v 71% | 43% v 29% | 57% v 43% |
| Vets | 5 | 100% v 100% | 80% v 0% | 100% v 50% |
| All | 65 | 97% v 72% | 48% v 28% | 57% v 47% |
What stood out
The basics work like an entry ticket. A business missing its website, phone number or opening hours on Google was very rarely recommended in our sample. Google's AI answers often repeat a business's rating and review count straight from its Maps listing, so the profile is part of what the assistant reads, and a profile with gaps gives it less to go on.
Being looked after showed. Recommended businesses were more likely to have claimed their profile, added their own photos and replied to reviews. None of these is hard, but together they mark a profile someone is running, and they go with the steady flow of new reviews that our study of AI recommendations found mattered most.
Complete is not enough on its own. 111 of the 182 profiles had every basic, were claimed and had owner photos, and 58% of those were still not recommended. Among complete profiles, the assistants mostly picked those near the top of Google Maps with more reviews (the recommended businesses had a median of 27 reviews, against 14 for the rest), as our earlier study found. The order matters: first be complete, then be visibly active, then build the number of reviews over time.
Professional services were different again. Reviews were rare for accountants (17 of the 20 firms had fewer than five), so the gaps between the firms the assistants recommended and the rest were small. Where customers rarely leave reviews, the profile basics and your own website carry more of the weight.
What a Jersey business can do this week
- Search for your business on Google. If you see “Claim this business”, claim it: until you do, you cannot fix your details, add photos or reply to reviews yourself.
- Check the three basics are on the profile: your website, a phone number that is answered, and opening hours, including holiday hours.
- Add a handful of your own photos: the premises, the team and the work.
- Reply to your recent reviews, good and bad, and ask happy customers for new ones. Our guide shows how to get more Google reviews without breaking Google's rules.
- Make sure the website on your profile answers the obvious questions on a phone. Our study of 392 Jersey homepages found only 1 in 5 had four basics.
How we did the study
On 12 November 2026 we searched Google Maps for “[category] Jersey Channel Islands” in 10 categories (plumbers, electricians, dentists, physiotherapists, accountants, hairdressers, gyms, garages, florists and vets) and opened the Google Business Profile of each business in the top 20, leaving out sponsored listings and repeats. Google Maps listed only 14 florists and 9 vets, so those categories are smaller. For each we recorded whether the profile showed a website, a phone number and opening hours; whether it still showed Google's “Claim this business” link; whether it had photos added by the owner; and, from its 10 newest reviews, how recently it had been reviewed and whether the owner had replied to any of them.
We then compared the businesses that Google AI Mode or ChatGPT had recommended in our test of 11 November 2026 with the rest of each top 20. Businesses were matched by name.
This is a snapshot of one day. Maps lists and AI answers vary by device, location and time, review ages are as Google shows them (“3 weeks ago”), and with 65 recommended businesses the groups are small. The figures show what goes together, not what causes what: a complete profile may simply be a sign of a well-run business. We publish totals only and do not name any business. Arctic Media helps businesses get found on Google and in AI answers, so we have an interest in the subject; the counts are shown so they can be checked. Journalists and researchers are welcome to quote the figures with a link to this page; email kai@arctic-media.com for more detail on the method.
Want to know where you stand?
Our free website, SEO and ads check includes your Google Business Profile and what ChatGPT and Google's AI Mode say about businesses like yours in Jersey, with the three changes we would make first. For the ongoing work, see SEO, AEO and GEO in Jersey.
Sources
Arctic Media's own checks of Google Maps business profiles, 12 November 2026, and of Google AI Mode and ChatGPT, 11 November 2026.
Questions people ask
Does a complete Google Business Profile help you get recommended by ChatGPT or Google AI?
In our check of 182 Jersey profiles on 12 November 2026, it went with it. Profiles showing a website, phone number and opening hours were recommended 43% of the time; those missing one of them, 6%. It is an association, not proof of cause, and complete profiles still needed reviews to stand out.
What do I need on my Google Business Profile to be recommended by AI?
At least a website, a phone number and opening hours. In our study, of the 35 Jersey profiles missing one of those, 2 were recommended by ChatGPT or Google AI Mode. Then claim the profile, add your own photos, reply to reviews and keep new reviews coming.
How many Jersey businesses have not claimed their Google profile?
In our sample of 182 businesses in the Google Maps top 20 for 10 everyday categories, 37 (20%) still showed Google’s “Claim this business” link on 12 November 2026.
Does replying to Google reviews help with AI recommendations?
It went together with being recommended in our study: owners had replied to at least one of their 10 newest reviews on 48% of the profiles ChatGPT or Google AI Mode recommended, against 28% of the rest of the top 20.
Related: Arctic Media, digital marketing agency in Jersey · SEO, AEO and GEO in Jersey · See the results behind our numbers · Terms explained in the glossary