SurgeLab research ยท September 2026

How often does AI change its mind about who to recommend?

SurgeLab asks AI assistants the same customer questions every day. Over 30 days in September 2026 we looked at 57 questions on each of four assistants and counted how often the answer changed from one day to the next.

33%
Perplexity changed its answer on 33% of questions
28%
Claude changed its answer on 28%
26%
ChatGPT changed its answer on 26%
23%
Gemini changed its answer on 23%

Of the questions where an assistant recommended a business at least once, 59% did not recommend it every day. A business that looks recommended on Monday can be missing on Tuesday.

That is why SurgeLab asks each question more than once before telling you whether AI recommends you. One check can be wrong about roughly one question in four.

Method: 57 tracked questions per assistant, each asked at least 5 times between late August and late September 2026. A question counts as changed if the same business was named on some days and not others. Failed checks are left out. Over 30 days the web itself also changes, so some changes are real news rather than chance.

Check if AI recommends your business