154 businesses · St. John's · October 2026
Point-in-time ChatGPT visibility research for Downtown St. John's BIA. 154 businesses analyzed, 33% mentioned at least once, 67% not visible in tested responses. Prepared by CLIXERA for BIA outreach and community workshops.
This research examines how Downtown St. John's BIA businesses appeared in ChatGPT responses when consumers asked for local recommendations.
154 eligible businesses were tested across 950 questions. Each business received category-matched prompts designed to reflect the kinds of queries a consumer might actually ask.
This is a point-in-time benchmark collected on October 5, 2026. ChatGPT answers can change. This study measures which businesses entered the AI-generated shortlist at that moment — not future guaranteed mentions.
154
Businesses analyzed
950
ChatGPT questions asked
33%
At least one mention
67%
Not visible in test
33% of Downtown St. John's businesses (51 of 154) were mentioned at least once.
21% had strong visibility (appeared in multiple relevant responses), 12% had limited visibility (appeared once), and 67% were not named in any tested response.
Discovery questions (like "best florist in St. John's") produced a 32% mention rate. Recommendation questions (like "Who should I see for a dentist?") produced a 18% mention rate.
33%
Mentioned at least once
21%
Strong visibility
12%
Limited visibility
67%
Not visible
Visibility varied by category. Food & Drink performed best at 39%, while financial & professional services businesses had the lowest visibility at 26%.
These category rates show which types of Downtown St. John's businesses entered ChatGPT's shortlist most consistently in this test.
| Category | Businesses | Mention Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Financial & Professional Services | 47 | 26% |
| Arts & Entertainment | 35 | 31% |
| Shopping | 34 | 38% |
| Food & Drink | 31 | 39% |
| Other | 7 | 43% |
Below are sample ChatGPT answers from the test. These examples show which Downtown St. John's businesses were named — and which questions returned no Downtown St. John's businesses at all.
Businesses were sourced from the Downtown St. John's BIA public directory. National chains, businesses without websites, and civic listings were excluded so the benchmark reflects local independent businesses.
This benchmark uses the 620 listings in the Downtown St. John's BIA directory extract on October 5, 2026.
950 ChatGPT questions were asked across 97 unique prompts. Questions were matched to each business's category and pinned to St. John's at the city level.
Each business received approximately 6 questions. Questions were not averaged across multiple runs. This study used ChatGPT (OpenAI) on October 5, 2026.
Of the 620 listings, 280 had no usable website: 273 had no website listed, and 7 listed only an agency homepage, Wikipedia, Linktree, or a Google link. Another 112 were not eligible: 53 national or multi-location chains, 49 civic or institutional listings, and 10 duplicate listings. Of the 228 eligible members, 74 could not be matched to a St. John's Google Business Profile and were not asked. Each question was asked in one run, pinned to St. John's at the city level. The Other row combines Stay (3 businesses) and Health (4 businesses), since each was under the five-business minimum for its own category. The directory had attached each business's subcategory to its name, and that suffix was removed once before scoring.
This is a point-in-time benchmark of the ChatGPT responses tested on October 5, 2026. This study uses the 620 listings in the Downtown St. John's BIA directory extract from that day. Scores are the share of scored members named in those answers. ChatGPT answers can change. This is not a guarantee of future mentions, and it does not mean an unnamed business can never appear.
If a customer's shortlist is built in ChatGPT, neighbourhood independents that never appear may never get considered.
This research does not claim that appearing in ChatGPT causes a purchase, nor does it prove that an unnamed business cannot succeed. It identifies an emerging layer of local discovery that BIA members may want to understand.
CLIXERA can walk BIA members through these findings in a short workshop or lunch-and-learn. This page is the leave-behind — contact CLIXERA if you want to schedule a community session.
