What makes a local business show up in the AI answers?
A study being conducted in Austin, Texas to answer that one question with real data. Nobody knows the answer yet. We are finding out by measuring every locally owned business in the area, phase after phase, and publishing what we find.
How the study works
-
1
The platform, and why we need it
Current data shows that sources for AI answers overwhelmingly favor directory-style platforms like Google, Yelp, and Reddit. Weird Wire is a directory built the same way, on purpose. It becomes our starting line, our control, and our inside look at how the infrastructure affects the AI.
-
2
Surveying the digital landscape
We index every locally owned business's website and Google presence, then measure each one against the currently known factors that affect the AI's decision making and the machine's ability to see, read, and understand what it is presented with. 3,000+ local businesses so far, and every one of them is counted, not modelled.
-
3
Watching who shows up, and recreating it
Each business that does show in the AI answers, we monitor closely and use that data to form a theory on how that business got there. Then we attempt to recreate it with the local businesses verified on Weird Wire. What works becomes what we do for everyone.
Phase one, measured September 4, 2026
Every phase is dated. The difference between phases is what we publish.
We measured the index for the first time and checked the three motions, seen, understood, and recommended, across every business.
We take the same measurements again and publish what moved, and for whom.
Every month we publish who is in the answers, who moved, and what the movers have in common.
Take part
- Verify your businessYour verified listing puts your business in the study. Takes less than 60 seconds.
- Bring the study to your chamber or your BNI roomWill walks your members through how they look to the AI today, business by business.
- Apply to look at the codeWeird Wire is source available. Apply to take a look at the search, the database structure, and the codebase. Stand on our shoulders if you want.
- Get each phase as it landsThe Ground Truth Initiative newsletter sends you the findings only, in plain English.