Yext Research explainer · 1:47
What does AI check before it books?
Businesses with a cover photo on their profile were named by AI engines 2.8 times as often.
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Each finding below is said in the film. Select one to play from that moment.
What this film covers
Someone new to Phoenix asks an AI assistant to book a dentist, and the nearest practice never gets named. Across nearly half a million local questions asked of four AI engines, businesses with a cover photo were named 2.8 times as often, and those with a claimed profile or a business description 2.3 times. For healthcare and financial businesses, a claimed, complete profile was named about 3 times as often. Claim every profile, add the photo and the description, and fill in every field, including hours, services and the insurance plans you take.
The research behind it
Yext Research · 2026-09-04Four AIs, one question, four different answersRead the report →Yext Research newsletter · free
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Transcript
Select a time to play the film from that line.
- 0:13Say I moved to Phoenix last month, and I ask an AI assistant to book me a dentist.
- 0:18Before an assistant can book a practice, it has to name one.
- 0:21The dentist two streets from me isn't on the list.
- 0:24Its profile on maps and directories has no photo and no description, and nobody ever claimed it.
- 0:31At Yext Research, we asked four AI engines nearly half a million local questions.
- 0:36Then we compared the profiles of the businesses they named.
- 0:40Businesses with a claimed profile were named 2.3 times as often.
- 0:44A business description, also 2.3 times.
- 0:48Recent posts, 1.8 times.
- 0:51A cover photo, 2.8 times, the largest of these.
- 0:55Schema markup, the code that spells out your details for machines, 2.1 times.
- 1:00And ten or more attributes, like parking or wheelchair access, 1.5 times.
- 1:06A lift of 2.8 times means the profiles with a cover photo were named almost three times as often.
- 1:12We also measured healthcare and financial businesses as their own group.
- 1:16A claimed, complete profile was named about 3 times as often.
- 1:21For a dentist, that means hours, services and the insurance plans you take.
- 1:25Those are the details an assistant needs before it can book you.
- 1:30So claim every profile, add the photo and the description, and fill in every field.
- 1:35Then an assistant has what it needs to name you, and to book you.
