Every
pick in Grok Bot's 3 recorded answers gave licenses and credentials as a reason. Price and financing came up in two of three.
Picked by Agents, Grok Bot answers, October 2026, pickedbyagents.com/assistants/grok-bot
14.7
businesses weighed per answer on average, about twice as many as Meta Muse (7.0).
Picked by Agents, Grok Bot answers, October 2026, pickedbyagents.com/assistants/grok-bot
2 of 3
of its answers cited bbb.org, the only outside site it leaned on.
Picked by Agents, Grok Bot answers, October 2026, pickedbyagents.com/assistants/grok-bot
Where Grok gets local business information
Grok is xAI's assistant, built into X and available at grok.com and in its apps. xAI's documentation describes two search tools. Web search lets Grok search the web in real time and browse pages. X search lets it search posts on X.
Our research network ran an assistant on Grok, which we called Grok Bot. It is now retired. It recorded 3 answers in 3 markets, and in every pick it had read the business's own website. The one outside site it cited across most answers was bbb.org.
xAI has not published how Grok ranks local businesses, and we found no confirmed maps feature in Grok as of October 2026. What follows is built from what Grok Bot actually wrote.
What Grok weighs when it picks
The share of its picks whose stated reason mentioned each thing was licenses and credentials 100%, price and financing 67%, experience and history 67%, and reviews and ratings 33%. Compare Meta Muse, where reviews led at 64%. Grok reads more like an inspector than a reviewer.
Its reasons are long and specific. For a rhinoplasty question in Fort Worth it picked Kurkjian Plastic Surgery + Aesthetics, saying "his practice was the only one I found that publishes an all-in rhinoplasty price (starts at $15,500, covering surgeon, anesthesia and facility), and it lists new-patient consult days (Tue 9-5, Fri 9-12) and offers virtual consults."
It also checks claims. For a new AC in Atlanta it picked PV Heating, Cooling & Plumbing and noted the license number and warranty terms, then flagged that it "posts no AC-only price" and that "BBB rates it A- with 5 complaints in 3 years rather than the A+ some listings claim." A listing that overstates your rating can be caught.
“PV (3605 Clearview Pkwy, Atlanta, license CR109728) has the strongest written replacement terms I found, with a free in-home estimate that includes a load calculation, a 10-year parts-and-labor warranty, a 2-year money-back guarantee...”
Step by step, how to get Grok to name you
- 01
Put your license number on your website
Add your state license number to your footer, your About page and each service page, in text. Grok quoted a license number in its reason.
- 02
Publish an all-in price or a clear range
On each service page, state what a typical job costs and what the price covers. Grok picked the only practice that published an all-in price, and called out a winner for posting none.
- 03
Write your warranty and guarantee terms out
Put the years, what is covered, and any money-back terms on a warranty page linked from every service page. Written terms were the lead reason in its Atlanta pick.
- 04
Fix your BBB profile and make every listing match it
Claim your business at bbb.org, answer open complaints, and make sure no other directory or page claims a rating your BBB profile does not show.
- 05
List your availability
Post consult days, booking hours or same day service where true, plus a virtual option if you have one. Grok repeated consult days word for word.
- 06
Show your experience and training
Years in business, board certifications, training and fellowships, each on your site. Experience and history appeared in 67% of its picks.
- 07
Keep an accurate X profile
Grok can search X. Make sure your business's X account, if you have one, lists the same name, phone, website and area as everywhere else.
How to check whether Grok recommends you today
Open grok.com or the Grok tab in X and ask a customer's question with your city. For example, "how much is a new AC in Atlanta, GA and who should I call" or "Find three cosmetic surgery practices in Fort Worth, TX offering rhinoplasty. Compare surgeon credentials, published total prices and consultation availability." Both are questions Grok Bot answered.
Note who it names, what it says it could not find about each business, and which sites it cites. Grok tends to say what is missing, which makes it a useful checklist. Ask a few times, since answers vary.
Our free pick report runs your customers' questions across the assistants in our network and shows who was named, the reasons, and what was missing on your side.
Questions we get asked
How does Grok decide which local business to recommend?
- It searches the web and reads the businesses' own sites. In our recorded answers every pick's reason mentioned licenses and credentials, and two of three mentioned price and experience. It also checked records like the BBB.
Does Grok use X posts to recommend businesses?
- xAI's documentation says Grok has an X search tool alongside web search. xAI has not said how much X posts count for local picks. In our runs the reasons came from business websites and bbb.org.
Does Grok check the Better Business Bureau?
- In our runs, yes. bbb.org was cited in 67% of Grok Bot's answers, and in one pick it noted a business's actual BBB grade differed from what other listings claimed.
Why does Grok name more businesses than other assistants?
- Grok Bot weighed 14.7 businesses per answer on average, against 7.0 for Meta Muse. It compares widely before choosing, so a missing fact on your site is easy to spot next to a competitor that has it.
Is the Grok data large enough to trust?
- It is three answers in three markets, so treat the percentages as a small sample. The reasons themselves are recorded word for word and show how Grok reasons. Meta Muse's 5,198 answers give the broader picture.
Your free report
Find out what an assistant could not verify about you
Get a free pick report with your customers' questions run in the assistants we record, who they named, and the facts they could not find on your side.
- 01We read your site and work out what your customers ask an assistant for.
- 02We run the top assistants on those requests in your area.
- 03You get where you rank, whether they would book you and why, and what to change first.