I asked ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode for the best accountants, solicitors, recruitment agencies, IT support firms, architects and estate agents in each of Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire, then in “East Anglia”. 3,600 answers in all, each matched against every firm Google Maps lists in the four counties. In their own county, 1,364 of 7,952 firms were ever named. Asked for the region, the engines named 690 of 7,631, and most of those were in Norfolk and Suffolk.
East Anglia AI search: the four counties side by side
Each county is its own study: the same six sectors, the same four questions with the county’s name in them, 10 runs each on each engine. Click through for the sector tables and the firms named.
| County | Firms | Ever named | Never named | Named by all three |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk | 1,253 | 291 | 77% | 86 |
| Norfolk | 1,317 | 304 | 77% | 81 |
| Essex | 3,556 | 441 | 88% | 74 |
| Cambridgeshire | 1,826 | 328 | 82% | 76 |
Sector by sector, county by county
The share of firms in each sector never named by any engine when asked about their own county.
| Sector | Suffolk | Norfolk | Essex | Cambridgeshire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accountants | 80% | 80% | 90% | 85% |
| Solicitors | 71% | 72% | 85% | 80% |
| Recruitment agencies | 82% | 76% | 87% | 82% |
| IT support companies | 72% | 73% | 87% | 81% |
| Architects | 68% | 68% | 81% | 78% |
| Estate agents | 79% | 83% | 90% | 83% |
Ask for East Anglia, and who answers
The same six sectors, asked about the region: “best X in East Anglia”, “recommend an X in East Anglia”, “X in East Anglia” and “who are the top X in East Anglia”. 720 answers. This table sets each county’s share of the region’s firms against its share of the names the engines gave. A firm with listings in more than one county is counted once, in its own row.
| Where the firm is | Share of firms | Share of names | Firms named |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk | 14% | 16% | 120 of 1,099 (11%) |
| Norfolk | 16% | 34% | 199 of 1,187 (17%) |
| Essex | 45% | 9% | 102 of 3,418 (3%) |
| Cambridgeshire | 22% | 9% | 150 of 1,690 (9%) |
| More than one county | 3% | 31% | 119 of 237 (50%) |
Two things are going on. The engines treat “East Anglia” as Norfolk and Suffolk; Cambridgeshire and Essex both get well under their share of the firms. And a firm with offices in two or three counties, the Birketts and Larking Gowens of the region, reads to an engine as a regional firm, so it is the safe answer to a regional question. A single-office firm in Chelmsford or Peterborough is not in that answer however good it is.
The sources behind the regional answers
Summed across all 6 sectors. Google’s own Maps links are left out. Asked about a region rather than a county, ChatGPT moves up a level, to national rankings such as Chambers and the Legal 500 for solicitors and the RIBA for architects.
| Engine | Most-cited sources, all sectors |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | chambers.com · 297riba.org · 181legal500.com · 179b3i.tech · 133getagent.co.uk · 124agencycentral.co.uk · 103 |
| Gemini | hudsonarchitects.co.uk · 104fosters-solicitors.co.uk · 97businessweekly.co.uk · 96norfolklivingguide.co.uk · 83cslngroup.com · 80agencycentral.co.uk · 71 |
| Google AI Mode | riba.org · 71workinnorwich.co.uk · 67businessweekly.co.uk · 65breakwaterit.co.uk · 61netmatters.co.uk · 54reed.com · 46 |
The six sectors, asked for East Anglia
Each block is 120 answers to the regional questions, measured against every firm listed in the four counties. The bars are the share of answers in which the firm was named.
Accountants
| Engine | Firms named | Top five’s share | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 87 of 1791 (5%) | 26% | bestinbritain.orgb3i.techfind.icaew.comlarking-gowen.co.uk |
| Gemini | 44 of 1791 (3%) | 49% | stephenson-smart.comlarking-gowen.co.ukmapartners.co.uklovewell-blake.co.uk |
| Google AI Mode | 44 of 1791 (3%) | 49% | revenuebase.ailarking-gowen.co.uklovewell-blake.co.ukukaccountingfirms.co.uk |
Who gets named
Share of answers in which the firm was named. Named accountants average 16 Google reviews; the rest average 6.
Solicitors
| Engine | Firms named | Top five’s share | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 92 of 872 (11%) | 25% | chambers.comlegal500.comfosters-solicitors.co.ukbizeast.co.uk |
| Gemini | 40 of 872 (5%) | 45% | fosters-solicitors.co.ukbusinessweekly.co.uknortonpeskett.co.ukellisons.com |
| Google AI Mode | 30 of 872 (3%) | 52% | businessweekly.co.ukchambers.comlegal500.comfosters-solicitors.co.uk |
Who gets named
Share of answers in which the firm was named. Named solicitors average 56 Google reviews; the rest average 28.
Recruitment agencies
| Engine | Firms named | Top five’s share | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 93 of 1419 (7%) | 26% | agencycentral.co.ukreed.comprsg.co.ukprs.uk.com |
| Gemini | 61 of 1419 (4%) | 40% | agencycentral.co.ukcompasspoint.co.ukhalesjobs.co.ukstaffright.co.uk |
| Google AI Mode | 53 of 1419 (4%) | 46% | workinnorwich.co.ukreed.comagencycentral.co.ukcompasspoint.co.uk |
Who gets named
Share of answers in which the firm was named. Named recruitment agencies average 108 Google reviews; the rest average 17.
IT support companies
| Engine | Firms named | Top five’s share | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 63 of 867 (7%) | 24% | b3i.techitsupport.directorynetmatters.co.ukplan-it.co.uk |
| Gemini | 33 of 867 (4%) | 48% | cslngroup.comionnetworks.co.ukbreakwaterit.co.ukosirisit.co.uk |
| Google AI Mode | 37 of 867 (4%) | 53% | breakwaterit.co.uknetmatters.co.ukcslngroup.comcomparethecloud.net |
Who gets named
Share of answers in which the firm was named. Named IT support companies average 18 Google reviews; the rest average 6.
Architects
| Engine | Firms named | Top five’s share | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 106 of 920 (12%) | 24% | riba.orgagoraarchitects.co.ukbeecharchitects.comhudsonarchitects.co.uk |
| Gemini | 35 of 920 (4%) | 52% | hudsonarchitects.co.ukre-thinkingthefuture.comloftusarchitects.co.ukarchitectsup.co.uk |
| Google AI Mode | 29 of 920 (3%) | 54% | riba.orgagoraarchitects.co.ukwk-architects.co.ukbeecharchitects.com |
Who gets named
Share of answers in which the firm was named. Named architects average 10 Google reviews; the rest average 3.
Estate agents
| Engine | Firms named | Top five’s share | Reads most |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 89 of 1762 (5%) | 29% | getagent.co.ukrightmove.co.ukabbotts.co.ukthetimes.com |
| Gemini | 49 of 1762 (3%) | 42% | norfolklivingguide.co.ukrightmove.co.ukpalmerpartners.comfineandcountry.co.uk |
| Google AI Mode | 57 of 1762 (3%) | 37% | getagent.co.ukstarkingsandwatson.co.uknorfolklivingguide.co.uksavills.co.uk |
Who gets named
Share of answers in which the firm was named. Named estate agents average 261 Google reviews; the rest average 50.
East Anglia AI search: common questions
How many East Anglia businesses does AI search recommend?
Asked about their own county, ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode named 1,364 of 7,952 firms with a Google listing across Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire, in six professional-service sectors. The rest never came up.
Which county does AI search favour when you ask about East Anglia?
Essex. It has 45% of the region's firms and gets 9% of the names when the question says East Anglia. Firms with offices in more than one county do better still: 3% of the firms, 31% of the names.
Does a bigger county mean more firms get recommended?
No. Essex has nearly three times Suffolk's firms, and the engines named 441 Essex firms against 291 in Suffolk. The shortlist stays about the same size, so each firm in a bigger county has a smaller chance.
Method
- The denominator. Every Google Maps listing in each sector’s categories, pulled through DataForSEO’s Business Listings data and filtered to each county’s postcodes. Essex is the ceremonial county, with Southend and Thurrock; Cambridgeshire includes Peterborough. Postcodes that straddle a border count only where the address names the county. Wrong categories and permanently closed listings are removed, and firms with more than one office are grouped by website. The regional denominator is the four county lists together.
- The prompts. Per county: “best X in [county]”, “recommend an X in [county]”, “X near [county town]” (Ipswich, Norwich, Chelmsford, Cambridge) and “who are the top X in [county]”. For the region, the four questions above. Each run 10 times per engine, logged out, UK location.
- The engines and dates. ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode, collected through DataForSEO’s scrapers with ChatGPT’s web search on. Suffolk on 18 September 2026; Norfolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and the regional questions on 27 September 2026.
- A mention is the firm’s name, or its website, in the answer. A firm whose only distinctive word is also part of another firm’s name, as in “Fosters”, is counted only when the answer does not name that other firm in full. Place names never count as distinctive, so “Essex Law” is not matched by every answer that says “in Essex”. Matching was automatic, then checked by hand at the top and bottom of every table.
- What it cannot tell you. It is a snapshot and the engines move. Firms without a Google listing are not in the count. The list of firms that were not named is deliberately not published.
The per-firm data is available to journalists and trade bodies on request: [email protected]. If you cite the study, link to this page. I will re-run it quarterly and keep the URLs.
The same study for plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers, landscapers and kitchen fitters across the four counties is East Anglia’s tradespeople in AI search.