AI SEO in Chicago

What we asked AI about Chicago

On 21 October 2026 we sent 500 real buyer questions to Claude with Anthropic's live web search tool, one call per question, word for word, and saved every answer and every source. 27 were about Chicago: 5 each about med spas and dermatology, real estate, restaurants, and schools and childcare, all in English, plus 7 in Spanish (5 about gyms, trainers and physical therapy, and 2 about dentists).

When AI named businesses, it named 5.8 on average. 20% of the names were individual people, mostly real estate agents and doctors.

Where AI got its Chicago answers

The 27 answers listed 246 sources from 151 different websites:

The off-topic layer. 58 sources came from 33 unrelated websites, in 18 of 27 answers, and they were most of the sources in 5: lip fillers, two real estate questions, family brunch and restaurants open late. The lip filler pages sat on a meeting directory, a charter school's site, a hardware supplier's subdomain and a foreign university server, with titles like "Best Lip Augmentation Chicago for a Fuller, More Defined Look". We don't name these sites, which are often victims of the spam.

The directories, one answer at a time. Chicago's directory citations came in bursts. BiggerPockets' agent finder supplied all 10 sources for the investor-agent question. RealSelf supplied 8 of 9 for CoolSculpting. Fresha supplied 8 of 9 for the Spanish physical therapy question. Airbnb's Spanish pages supplied 6 for the Spanish trainer question. HomeLight (5, in 3 answers) and Lessons.com (4) were spread wider.

City and food media. 14.6% of sources. Time Out was cited 7 times in 5 answers, then The Infatuation, Tasting Table, Choose Chicago, InsideHook, Refinery29 and Borderless Magazine.

The wrong Chicago. The dermatologist answer spotted a RateMDs list for Chicago, Indiana, and threw it out. Yelp was mentioned in one Chicago answer and cited in none.

Chicago questions, and who AI named first

Five of the 27 questions, the business named first and what the answer was built on. Results from one run, not rankings or our recommendation. We did not check whether each business is licensed or still open.

The three answers that named no one were a price question ("Affordable HydraFacial in Chicago?"), a trust question ("How do I find an honest real estate agent in Chicago?") and a specific need ("Which school in Chicago is best for kids with ADHD?"). Each found general advice but no business that answered the question plainly.

Spanish questions about Chicago

The 7 Spanish questions asked where to get cheap dental implants, for the best children's dentist, a personal trainer for weight loss, a yoga studio for beginners, the best gym, a cheap gym with a pool and a physical therapist. All 7 were answered in Spanish and all named between 2 and 7 businesses or people.

By our hand count, 12 of the 64 sources were Spanish-language pages, and one more was Portuguese. 4 of the 7 answers cited at least one. Several Spanish pages were about other cities: the trainer answer drew on Airbnb's Spanish pages for Culver City and Norwalk in California, North Bergen in New Jersey and one titled for Miami, and said so itself. Planet Fitness's Spanish page for its Chicago clubs was cited twice.

The cheap implants answer did better because a clinic had a price: it quoted Affordable Dentures & Implants' page, "Dental Implants (each) now starting at $1250", and a Spanish dental-cost page that put the full implant average at $4,500.

What this means for a Chicago business

1. Med spas: publish your prices. Two of the five med spa questions were about price. One named no one; the other was built entirely on spam. A page that says "Lip filler in Chicago, Illinois, from $X a syringe", with the product and the injector's credentials, has almost no real competition.
2. Fix the one directory that answers your question. Chicago answers often took most of their sources from a single directory: BiggerPockets for investor agents, RealSelf for CoolSculpting, Fresha for physical therapy. Find yours, and make that profile complete.
3. Restaurants: the food media decides. Time Out, The Infatuation and Tasting Table built the pizza answer. Late-night dining and family brunch were left mostly to spam pages, so a plain "open late" or "brunch with kids" page with real hours is worth writing.
4. Schools and programs: say who you serve. The ADHD school question named no one. A school that states the support it offers, for which ages, and how admissions work, answers it.
5. Write "Chicago, Illinois", and the neighborhood. Chicago, Indiana exists, and answers placed businesses by area (West Loop, Lincoln Park, Streeterville, Bridgeport).

How we work with Chicago clients from Dubai

• Remote, and mostly written. We have no office in Chicago, or anywhere in the US. Adjoltz is a Dubai team (Adjoltz FZE, Ajman Free Zone licence 58339). Day to day we work on WhatsApp and email. The day-one review and the day-90 review are video calls.
• Time zones. Chicago is on Central Time. Dubai is 9 hours ahead of Chicago during US daylight saving time (the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November) and 10 hours ahead the rest of the year, because the UAE does not change its clocks. So 9am in Chicago is 6pm in Dubai in summer and 7pm in winter. Our working hours barely overlap with yours, so most of the work runs in writing, and calls are booked at a time that suits both sides.
• English, not Spanish. We write in English, and in Arabic on Growth and Authority. We do not write or track Spanish pages. Chicago's Spanish answers drew on pages for other cities, so if your buyers ask in Spanish, a native Spanish writer is worth adding alongside us.
• Invoicing. Adjoltz FZE invoices in USD from the UAE.
• What we need from you. Access to your website, Google Search Console and Google Business Profile, your real prices, and one person who can approve pages quickly.

Plans and prices in USD

The same fixed prices we publish at adjoltz.com/us. Traditional SEO is included in every plan, and every plan tracks ChatGPT and Gemini (Google AI). Our study used Claude because it lists its sources; our plans track the two assistants most of your buyers use.

Month to month, no lock-in, no setup fee. 10 to 15% off when you pay yearly. For a business that sells in English only, Foundation is the natural start. Growth and Authority add Arabic, which helps only if you sell to Arabic speakers. The free AI check costs nothing: 10 real buyer questions on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI, with the result on WhatsApp in about 10 minutes during Dubai working hours.

The guarantee, and what we don't promise

In the first 30 days of any plan, if ChatGPT, Gemini (Google AI) or Google's AI answers do not name you for at least 3 commercial questions on the list you approved, or you are unhappy for any other reason, we refund 100% of what you paid, in cash, within 7 working days. There is no lock-in after that. The full rules are on our guarantee page.