How the Idea Came Together
The study started with a simple family moment. Warren Butland, founder of Ottawa-based Clixera Ai, noticed his daughter turning to ChatGPT to find a well-reviewed nail salon instead of using a search engine, and it got him thinking about how often that is now happening across the city.
Butland’s company already helps businesses understand how they appear across websites, listings, reviews and AI tools, so he decided to put that technology to a fun test. He pulled a sample of 2,000 Ottawa businesses from Main Street style commercial strips like Preston Street and Wellington Street West, then asked hundreds of everyday consumer questions that turned into thousands of prompts for ChatGPT.
Ottawa Versus Toronto
Once the Ottawa numbers were in, Butland could not resist expanding the project to Toronto for a proper Battle of Ontario. He built a comparable sample from similar business improvement areas in the city, keeping big chains separate from independent businesses, and ran the same style of questions.
The two cities ended up neck and neck. Forty one per cent of Ottawa businesses showed up at least once in relevant ChatGPT answers, compared to 43 per cent in Toronto. When the chatbot was asked to make a specific recommendation, both cities landed at almost exactly 29 per cent, a tie that surprised Butland given how much bigger and more competitive Toronto’s business scene tends to be.
Where Ottawa Pulled Ahead
Ottawa actually had the edge on broader, citywide shopping questions. In those responses, a verified local business appeared only 57 per cent of the time, while recognizable chains and bigger brands showed up 71 per cent of the time, and Ottawa still performed better than Toronto on this measure overall.
Butland said bigger brands tend to win those broader questions simply because there is more information about them online for AI tools to pull from, touching on everything from website speed and authority to the strength of their listings and reviews.
The Basics Still Matter Most
Not every Ottawa business is set up to be found this way yet. Butland’s research found that 26 per cent of the businesses in the sample were missing either a clearly identifiable website or a properly matched Google Business listing, meaning a solid chunk of local favourites may simply be invisible to these tools before any ranking even comes into play.
Some sectors are ahead of the curve. Health and wellness providers and professional services, think physiotherapists, dentists, accountants and lawyers, tended to show up more consistently in both cities, likely because their customers are used to researching them online in detail. Food and drink businesses had more mixed results, often getting by with little more than a basic listing and a menu.
Why Ottawans Are Already Living This
The timing lines up with how quickly Canadians are embracing these tools. A 2026 survey from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority found 46 per cent of adult Canadian internet users had tried generative AI in the past year, up from 33 per cent in 2025 and just 16 per cent in 2024, with more than half of that group using it specifically as a search engine.
A separate Angus Reid survey found a quarter of Canadians who use AI have turned to it for shopping advice or reviews, and 60 per cent said they trust the information these platforms provide about products and services. Google is leaning into the same shift, having rolled out AI generated overviews in 2024 that can answer a search before a user ever scrolls to a traditional results page.
What It Means for Shopping Local
For Ottawa shoppers, the takeaway is simple: your favourite local spots are increasingly being discovered through conversations with AI rather than a quick Google search. Supporting the small businesses you love by leaving a review, checking that their listings are accurate, or simply mentioning them by name helps make sure they show up the next time someone, human or otherwise, goes looking for a great night out in this city.