AI search in the GCC 2026: who ChatGPT and Claude recommend, and why
AI search in the GCC already picks winners. In our test of 80 ChatGPT and Claude answers to real buyer questions in Dubai and Riyadh, every answer named specific businesses, 7.5 on average, after pulling in about 30 web pages. Directories, Wikipedia and Reddit shape those answers far more than brand websites alone.
- 80 answers, 10 sectors, Dubai and Riyadh
- English and Arabic, live web search on
- Collected 9 November 2026
Share of answers that used each source
All 80 answers
- Business websites97.5%
- Directories and review sites92.5%
- Wikipedia and reference70%
- "Best of" lists and blogs72.5%
- Forums and social71.3%
- News and magazines56.3%
Key findings
- Every one of the 80 answers named specific businesses, 7.5 on average. Buyers get a shortlist, not ten blue links.
- Directories and review sites were used in 92.5% of answers. For agency questions, Clutch appeared in 14 of 16.
- ChatGPT pulled pages from Reddit in all 40 of its answers. Claude did not use Reddit once.
- Wikipedia fed 70% of answers, more than news sites (56.3%).
- ChatGPT and Claude barely agree: only 11.5% of the businesses they name overlap, and in 25% of questions they share none.
- Asking in Arabic changes the shortlist: the same assistant's Arabic and English answers overlap by only 24.4%.
- Riyadh answers named fewer businesses than Dubai (6.6 vs 8.5) and leaned less on "best of" lists (65% vs 80%). There is simply less third-party content about Riyadh businesses.
of AI answers named specific businesses
80 answers, Nov 2026
web pages pulled in per answer, on average
ChatGPT 34, Claude 27
of agency answers used Clutch (14 of 16)
Marketing and SEO questions
overlap between ChatGPT's and Claude's picks
Average per question
Where AI answers come from
Share of answers that used at least one page of each type, by assistant. Business websites are almost always there, but directories, Wikipedia and Reddit decide which businesses make the shortlist.
ChatGPT
- Business websites100%
- Directories and review sites90%
- Wikipedia and reference80%
- "Best of" lists and blogs75%
- Forums and social100%
- News and magazines62.5%
- Government sources70%
- Award sites25%
Claude
- Business websites95%
- Directories and review sites95%
- Wikipedia and reference60%
- "Best of" lists and blogs70%
- Forums and social42.5%
- News and magazines50%
- Government sources15%
- Award sites0%
Reddit, Wikipedia and Clutch
Reddit: ChatGPT only
Wikipedia: the fact checker
Clutch: the agency shortlist
Asking in Arabic gets you a different shortlist
The same assistant, asked the same question in Arabic and English, named overlapping businesses only 24.4% of the time.
| Page type used in the answer | English | Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| Business websites | 97.5% | 97.5% |
| Directories and review sites | 97.5% | 87.5% |
| Wikipedia and reference | 70% | 70% |
| "Best of" lists and blogs | 72.5% | 72.5% |
| Forums and social | 70% | 72.5% |
| News and magazines | 50% | 62.5% |
| Government sources | 45% | 40% |
| Award sites | 15% | 10% |
Scroll sideways to see the full table.
Arabic answers named about as many businesses (7.3 vs 7.7) but leaned more on news sites and less on directories. Brands that only optimise in English are missing half the race.
Riyadh has less for AI to work with
Dubai
Riyadh
The assistants searched harder for Riyadh and still found fewer businesses to name. Less third-party content exists about Riyadh businesses, which makes it the easier market to win in AI answers.
How each sector is answered
| Sector | Businesses named | Used directories | Used "best of" lists | Used news |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital marketing agency | 8.8 | 100% | 100% | 75% |
| SEO company | 7.8 | 100% | 100% | 50% |
| Off-plan real estate developer | 10.1 | 100% | 75% | 62.5% |
| Family-friendly hotel | 9 | 100% | 87.5% | 62.5% |
| Accounting and tax firm | 7.6 | 87.5% | 50% | 37.5% |
| Dental clinic | 7.1 | 100% | 37.5% | 25% |
| Car dealership | 7.1 | 87.5% | 62.5% | 75% |
| International school | 6.3 | 100% | 87.5% | 25% |
| CRM software | 6.3 | 62.5% | 87.5% | 75% |
| Furniture store | 5 | 87.5% | 37.5% | 75% |
Scroll sideways to see the full table.
8 answers per sector (2 assistants × 2 cities × 2 languages). Businesses named is the average per answer.
What this means for brands in the UAE and Saudi Arabia
1. Own your directory profiles
2. Get into the lists AI reads
3. Answer in Arabic
4. Measure per assistant
See how this works in practice in our guide to GEO for UAE and Saudi brands, or check whether ChatGPT names your brand.
How we ran the study
On 9 November 2026 we asked ChatGPT (OpenAI Responses API with web search) and Claude (Anthropic Messages API with web search) 40 buyer questions: 10 sectors, Dubai and Riyadh, English and Arabic, each phrased as "What is the best [sector] in [city]? Recommend specific options and say why." That gives 80 answers.
For each answer we recorded the businesses it named (extracted by a separate model and checked by hand on a sample) and every web page the assistant pulled in while searching, whether cited or consulted. Each page was classified by its domain: business website, directory or review site, "best of" list or blog, news, forum or social, government, Wikipedia or reference, or award site.
Limits: answers vary with wording, time and the person asking, and API answers can differ from the consumer apps. Gemini and Perplexity were not included in this round. This is a snapshot, not a ranking of businesses, so we do not publish which businesses were named.
Download the per-answer data (CSV) · Free to reuse with credit to Hovi Digital Lab (CC BY 4.0).
Questions about the study
Which sources do ChatGPT and Claude use to recommend businesses in the GCC?
In our panel of 80 answers, nearly every answer drew on business websites (97.5%) and directories or review sites (92.5%). Wikipedia fed 70% of answers and "best of" lists 72.5%. ChatGPT also used Reddit in every answer, while Claude never did.
Do ChatGPT and Claude recommend the same businesses?
Rarely. For the same question, only 11.5% of the businesses they named overlapped on average, and in 25% of questions they named no business in common. Visibility has to be measured per assistant.
Does asking in Arabic change AI recommendations?
Yes. The same assistant asked the same question in Arabic and English named overlapping businesses only 24.4% of the time, and in 22.5% of cases none at all. Arabic answers used directories less (87.5% vs 97.5%) and news sites more (62.5% vs 50%).
How can a business get recommended by ChatGPT in Dubai or Riyadh?
Be present where the answers come from: a complete, reviewed profile on the directories for your category, accurate Wikipedia-grade facts about your company, mentions in third-party "best of" lists and local press, and pages on your own site that answer buyer questions directly. Then test the questions your buyers ask, in Arabic and English, every month.
How was this study done?
On 9 November 2026 we asked ChatGPT and Claude, through their APIs with live web search on, 40 buyer questions: 10 sectors, Dubai and Riyadh, English and Arabic. We recorded the businesses each answer named and every web page it pulled in, and classified each page by type. The per-answer counts are published as a CSV.
Is your brand in the answer?
Run the same test on your business in 60 seconds: we ask ChatGPT and Claude your buyers' questions and show who gets named instead.
ChatGPT, OpenAI, Claude and Anthropic are trademarks of their owners. Reddit, Wikipedia and Clutch are named as sources only; this study is not affiliated with them.