Which Philadelphia caterers do ChatGPT and other AI assistants name?

What ChatGPT and other assistants named for Philadelphia caterers

Our data On October 14 we asked ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot six questions a client looking for a catering company in Philadelphia might ask. All 24 answers came back, and together they named 58 different businesses. 32 of those were named only once, and 5 were named by all four assistants.

Philadelphia Catering Company was named in 15 of 24 answers, by all four assistants, though Gemini named it only once. 12th Street Catering was named in 12 answers, Jeffrey A. Miller Catering in 8 and Catering by Design in 7, all by every assistant. This is one run per question, so read the counts as a snapshot, not a ranking.

Some caterers appeared mainly through one assistant. Google AI Mode named DiAntonio's Catering in 5 of its 6 answers and Miles Table in 4. Copilot named Chef's Table Catering 5 times, and no other assistant named it at all.

Not every name was a caterer

Copilot gave the longest lists, 53 names across its 6 answers, against 40 for Google AI Mode, 33 for Gemini and 26 for ChatGPT. Its answer to the question about the best caterer for events had 15 names, and seven of them were event venues such as museums and a library, not caterers. Copilot also named Thumbtack, a booking platform, in two answers.

The question about a last-minute order returned the widest mix of businesses. ChatGPT named a pizzeria and a food market, Gemini a food market and a deli, and Copilot a box lunch company. A full-service caterer comparing results should note that the answer set included businesses offering simple drop-off food.

Google AI Mode answered with Google Maps places

Our data 5 of Google AI Mode's 6 answers came as Google Maps places: 28 caterers in total. Their average rating was 4.9 stars, 96% of them had 4.5 stars or more, and the median number of reviews was 111. The caterer with the fewest reviews had 17.

That does not show that ratings are the reason a caterer was shown. It does show what these places had in common: nearly all were rated 4.5 or higher, while the number of reviews varied a lot.

Where the names come from: websites cited for Philadelphia caterers

Our data ChatGPT and Copilot attached source links to all 6 of their answers. Google AI Mode and Gemini did so once each, so the cited websites come mostly from ChatGPT and Copilot.

The most-cited website was zerocater.com, an office catering service (5 of 24 answers). Next came philadelphiacatering.com, a caterer's own website (4), and then a group cited 3 times each: the local news site phillyexaminer.com, the review sites restaurantji.com and reviews.birdeye.com, plately.org and thumbtack.com. Philadelphia Magazine (phillymag.com), weddingventure.com, ezcater.com and threebestrated.com were cited twice.

For a caterer, that means the names in these answers come from a mix of catering marketplaces, review pages, local media and a few caterers' own sites. Specific questions leaned more on own sites: for the gluten-free corporate lunch, ChatGPT cited 7 websites, most of them caterers' and restaurants' own pages.

Where Philadelphia caterers are usually listed (advice): Google Business Profile (it feeds Google Maps), Yelp, corporate catering marketplaces such as ezCater and ZeroCater, Thumbtack for private events, and The Knot or WeddingWire if you cater weddings. Venues' lists of approved caterers are another place clients look; ask the venues you work with whether you are on theirs.

How clients ask about Philadelphia caterers

Our six questions covered event catering, a gluten-free corporate lunch, affordable catering, ratings and reviews, a last-minute order, and alternatives to Stephen Starr's catering. In that last question, all four assistants named Starr Catering itself, and 12th Street Catering, Constellation Culinary Group, Rhubarb Hospitality Collection and Catering by Design each came up in at least three answers.

Real clients ask with a head count, a date and a diet. Questions worth testing for your own catering company, written the way people type them:

• "Caterer in Philadelphia for a 50-person office lunch with vegan and halal options"
• "Kosher catering in Philadelphia for a bar mitzvah"
• "Drop-off breakfast catering in Center City by 8am"
• "Backyard graduation party catering in Northeast Philadelphia for 80 people"
• "Which caterers can serve events at museum venues in Philadelphia?"

Use your own service area, event types and the menus you are known for. A question with no place in it can return caterers in another city.

Other tests in this series cover bakeries in Phoenix and wedding venues in Nashville.

What a caterer can check about how AI assistants name it

Advice: these checks are practical and you can do them yourself. None of them can promise a mention; they make the facts about your catering company easier to find and harder to get wrong.

1. Say what kind of catering you do. Corporate drop-off, full-service events, weddings, private parties: name them in the first lines of your site, with guest minimums and the area you serve. A client asking for a 20-person office lunch and one planning a 200-guest gala need different answers.
2. Put menus online as text, with dietary labels. Gluten-free, vegan, kosher or halal options, and how you handle allergies. A PDF menu alone is harder to read on a phone. In this run, the gluten-free question was answered largely from caterers' own pages.
3. State your lead times. How many days of notice you need for each kind of order, and whether you can take next-day or same-day orders. The last-minute question returned delis and pizza places; if you can do short notice, say so plainly.
4. Give price ranges. Per-person starting prices, delivery fees, staffing and rental costs. The affordable question had 20 different names in four answers; clear prices tell clients whether you belong in that group.
5. List the venues you work at. If you are on approved caterer lists or cook regularly at certain venues, name them on your site, and check that the venues list you correctly. Copilot's answer to the events question named venues next to caterers.
6. Keep marketplace listings consistent. Name, service area, menus and photos should match on ezCater, ZeroCater, Thumbtack, Yelp and your own site. These marketplaces were among the cited websites in this run.
7. Complete your Google Business Profile. 5 of 6 Google AI Mode answers came as Maps places. Check the catering category, service area, photos of real setups and that recent reviews have a reply where it helps.

How to check if ChatGPT names your own catering company

Write five or six questions your clients would ask, with Philadelphia or your area in them, and ask several assistants the same questions. Note who is named and which websites are cited, then repeat in a few weeks, because the answers change. CheckAI checks your own customer questions across the same four assistants and shows the names and the cited websites for each answer; a first check on ChatGPT and Google AI Mode is free.