Battle of Ontario
Same rules. Same question types. Same scoring.
Two cities. Thousands of AI answers. One question: which local businesses make the AI shortlist?
Toronto wins the Battle of Ontario.
Local businesses across two cities. Thousands of AI answers. Same methodology. Same scoring.
| Metric | Ottawa | Toronto |
|---|---|---|
| Mention Rate How many local businesses showed up at all. The percentage of local businesses ChatGPT named in at least one of the questions we tested. | 41% | 43% |
| Recommendation Rate How many local businesses ChatGPT actually recommended. The percentage of local businesses that appeared when ChatGPT was asked to recommend or help choose a business. | 29% | 29% |
| Local Shortlist Rate How often a local business made ChatGPT’s shortlist. The share of the citywide shopper answers that included at least one verified local Main Street business. | 57% | 19% |
Shut Out
Ottawa Shut Out
59%
Toronto Shut Out
57%
The share of local businesses we tested that never appeared in any of the relevant ChatGPT answers.
Missing the basics
Ottawa
26%
Toronto
20%
Businesses we reviewed that had no website in the public directory data or could not be confidently matched to a Google business listing.
More than 1 in 4 in Ottawa and 1 in 5 in Toronto were missing these basic digital foundations.
Round 1
| Category | Ottawa | Toronto |
|---|---|---|
| Food & Drink | 34% | 35% |
| Health & Wellness | 52% | 63% |
| Shopping | 31% | 33% |
| Professional Services | 41% | 53% |
Share of that category that ChatGPT named at least once.
Ottawa’s strongest category so far: Health & Wellness — 52%. Weakest: Shopping — 31%.
Toronto’s strongest category so far: Health & Wellness — 63%. Weakest: Shopping — 33%.
Round 2
Local Main Street business made the answer
Ottawa
57%
Toronto
19%
How often ChatGPT’s tested shopper answers included a verified local Main Street business.
Major chain or brand made the answer
Ottawa
71%
Toronto
33%
How often the same shopper answers included a major chain or well-known brand.
Big brands had the edge in both cities. Major brands appeared more often than local Main Street businesses in the shopper questions we tested.
An answer can include both a local business and a major brand, so these percentages do not add up to 100%.
Round 3
| Contest | Ottawa | Toronto | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visibility How many local businesses ChatGPT named at least once. | 41% | 43% | Toronto |
| Recommendations How many local businesses ChatGPT recommended. | 29% | 29% | Tie |
| Local Shortlist How often a local Main Street business made a citywide shopper answer. | 57% | 19% | Ottawa |
| Food & Drink How many food and drink businesses ChatGPT named at least once. | 34% | 35% | Toronto |
| Health & Wellness How many health and wellness businesses ChatGPT named at least once. | 52% | 63% | Toronto |
| Shopping How many shopping businesses ChatGPT named at least once. | 31% | 33% | Toronto |
| Professional Services How many professional services businesses ChatGPT named at least once. | 41% | 53% | Toronto |
Final score
Ottawa
1.5
Toronto
5.5
Toronto wins the Battle of Ontario
Each of the seven contests is worth 1 point. A tie is worth 0.5. The city with more points wins.
Bragging rights are fun. The economic story is bigger.
The bigger story isn’t which city won. It’s how many local businesses never appeared at all.
Check an individual business, or talk to us about a city-level ChatGPT visibility snapshot.
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Toronto wins the Battle of Ontario. The bigger question: are local businesses making the AI shortlist?
Point-in-time ChatGPT snapshot for 2026. Prepared by Clixera. Data collected 2026-09-10. clixera.ca
