394 businesses · Winnipeg · October 2026
Point-in-time ChatGPT visibility research for Exchange District BIZ. 394 businesses analyzed, 38% mentioned at least once, 62% not visible in tested responses. Prepared by CLIXERA for BIZ outreach and community workshops.
This research examines how Exchange District BIZ businesses appeared in ChatGPT responses when consumers asked for local recommendations.
394 eligible businesses were tested across 2,427 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.
394
Businesses analyzed
2,427
ChatGPT questions asked
38%
At least one mention
62%
Not visible in test
38% of Exchange District businesses (150 of 394) were mentioned at least once.
25% had strong visibility (appeared in multiple relevant responses), 13% had limited visibility (appeared once), and 62% were not named in any tested response.
Discovery questions (like "best florist in Winnipeg") produced a 35% mention rate. Recommendation questions (like "Who should I see for a dentist?") produced a 24% mention rate.
38%
Mentioned at least once
25%
Strong visibility
13%
Limited visibility
62%
Not visible
Visibility varied by category. Arts & Entertainment performed best at 63%, while shopping businesses had the lowest visibility at 28%.
These category rates show which types of Exchange District businesses entered ChatGPT's shortlist most consistently in this test.
| Category | Businesses | Mention Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Financial & Professional Services | 181 | 29% |
| Food & Drink | 65 | 49% |
| Shopping | 58 | 28% |
| Arts & Entertainment | 51 | 63% |
| Health, Beauty & Fitness | 37 | 41% |
| Other | 2 | 100% |
Below are sample ChatGPT answers from the test. These examples show which Exchange District businesses were named — and which questions returned no Exchange District businesses at all.
Businesses were sourced from the Exchange District BIZ public directory. National chains, businesses without websites, and civic listings were excluded so the benchmark reflects local independent businesses.
This benchmark uses the 722 listings in the Exchange District BIZ directory extract on October 5, 2026.
2,427 ChatGPT questions were asked across 159 unique prompts. Questions were matched to each business's category and pinned to Winnipeg 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 722 listings, 120 had no owned website: 104 had no website listed, and 16 listed only Instagram, Facebook, SkipTheDishes, Restaurantji, Setmore, or Acuity. Another 120 were not eligible: 61 national or multi-location chains, 50 civic or institutional listings, and 9 duplicate listings. Of the 482 eligible members, 88 could not be matched to a Winnipeg Google Business Profile and were not asked. The Other row is two hotels, Mere Hotel and Mariaggi's Theme Suite Hotel. Both were named, but hotels fall below the five-business minimum for their own category. Questions were asked once each at temperature 0.2.
This is a point-in-time benchmark of the ChatGPT responses tested on October 5, 2026. This study uses the 722 listings in the Exchange District BIZ 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 BIZ members may want to understand.
CLIXERA can walk BIZ 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.
