What did Genivista find?
That AI often answers Irish and UK buyers as if they were in the US. Across the Gap Checks Genivista ran for companies in Ireland and the UK in October 2026, only a small minority of answers named the market tested, its regulator, its prices or its websites.
The answers were not wrong for an American buyer. They were simply about another country: its rules, its professional bodies and its suppliers. A buyer in Dublin or Manchester reading them is given a shortlist built for someone else.
Why does AI drift to another market?
Because a question that does not say where the buyer is gets the most common answer, and on much of the web the most common answer is American. The platforms search from the buyer's market, but the wording of the question still decides which rules and which sources the answer draws on.
The drift is strongest where local rules shape the category: tax, legal, payroll, employment and financial services. In those categories an answer written for the wrong country is not just less useful; it describes the wrong obligations.
What changed when the questions named the market?
Almost everything about the answers, and very little about who was named. For one company in a category shaped by UK rules, we asked the same buyer questions twice: first in general terms, then naming the UK and its regulator, as a UK buyer naturally would.
| Share of answers that | General wording | Naming the UK and its regulator |
|---|---|---|
| Spoke to the UK market | about 1 in 9 | all |
| Cited UK or Irish websites | none | more than 8 in 10 |
| Pointed to the US instead | about 6 in 10 | none |
The company itself was named in almost none of the answers either way. Getting the market right is the precondition for being recommended, not the recommendation.
What does this mean for a B2B company in Ireland or the UK?
That a measurement which ignores the market can mislead in both directions. It can show you losing to American firms your buyers would never shortlist, or hide that your real local competitors are the ones AI names to buyers who do say where they are.
It also changes the fix. When the answers are about the right market, the sources that matter are local ones: the trade press, professional bodies and regulators your buyers already trust. Being written about there is what reaches AI's answers.
What should a leadership team ask first?
- When our buyers ask AI for options, is the answer about our market at all?
- Which of our competitors does AI name to buyers who say where they are?
- Which local sources does AI draw on in our category, and are we in them?
A Gap Check answers all three, in your market's own terms. Send your website, the market you want measured and your top three competitors for that market, and Genivista sends the report at no charge, walked through with Neil.