The October 2026 Picks Index is live. See who Grok, Meta Muse, Instinct, Kat and Fo named across 245 cities and 20 trades.
picked by agents

Picked by Agents index · AC and heating repair in Portland, OR

“My AC stopped cooling. Find me an HVAC company in Portland, OR that can come out today.”

We asked Meta Muse and Instinct this exact question in October 2026. Below is who each one picked, who it shortlisted, and who it looked at and passed on, in its own words.

Meta Muse

United States · Meta Muse via a research connector · asked 2026-10-04 13:51 UTC

  1. searched best AC repair company Portland OR same day emergency 24/7
  2. searched Portland OR HVAC company 24 hour emergency air conditioning repair Sunset Heating Evergreen
  3. read 3 pages
    • https://www.sunsethc.com/
    • https://ott.einnews.com/pr_news/944312925/one-hour-heating-air-conditioning-of-lake-oswego-says-autumn-is-when-portland-area-homeowners-should-be-buying-cooling
    • https://www.centralairpdx.com/
Sunset Heating & Cooling's page as the assistant saw it
Picked

Sunset Heating & Cooling

sunsethc.com
“Trusted in Portland since 1922, open now and listed as open 24 hours, 4.6-star rating, with honest flat-rate pricing and heating/cooling repair services.”

Instinct

Europe · Instinct over iMessage · asked 2026-10-11 22:02 UTC

  1. searched same day AC repair Portland OR HVAC
  2. searched emergency air conditioning repair Portland Oregon 24/7 HVAC
  3. searched First Call Heating & Cooling Portland BBB reviews
  4. searched Conrad Heating and Cooling Portland reviews Yelp BBB CCB license
  5. searched EHC Efficient Heating Cooling Portland BBB OR CCB 187834
  6. read 11 pages
    • https://www.firstcallheat.com/cooling/emergency-ac-repair/
    • https://dandfplumbing.com/emergency-ac-repair-portland-or/
    • https://www.eheatcool.com/services/emergency
    • https://conradoregon.com/emergency-hvac-services/
    • https://protempservices.com/
    • https://jacobsheating.com/emergency-hvac/
    • https://firesideheatingair.com/ac-repair-installation-portland/
    • https://www.bbb.org/us/or/oregon-city/profile/heating-and-air-conditioning/first-call-heating-cooling-or-llc-1296-61003368
    • https://www.bbb.org/us/or/beaverton/profile/heating-and-air-conditioning/conrad-heating-and-cooling-1296-1000169367
    • https://www.bbb.org/us/or/portland/profile/heating-and-air-conditioning/efficiency-heating-cooling-llc-1296-22436465
    • https://www.ccblookup.com/contractor/efficiency-heating-cooling-187834/
Conrad Heating and Cooling's page as the assistant saw it
Shortlisted · choice 2was passed last round

Conrad Heating and Cooling

conradoregon.com
“Its own page says 24/7 emergency HVAC service 365 days a year with a price quoted before work, and its BBB profile shows accreditation since 9/9/2024; the 4.9 Google rating is its own claim.”
Efficiency Heating & Cooling (EHC)'s page as the assistant saw it
Shortlisted · choice 3was picked last round

Efficiency Heating & Cooling (EHC)

eheatcool.com
“Its page says emergency requests are taken 24/7 and same-day AC calls are prioritized in heat spikes (dispatch depends on technician availability), and ccblookup.com, a third-party aggregator, lists Oregon CCB #187834 as Active through Aug 26, 2027.”
Pro Temp LLC's page as the assistant saw it
PassedNew this round

Pro Temp LLC

protempservices.com
“It claims same-day and 24/7 service but the page is generic with unattributed testimonials, no license number or street address, and no independent review or license check.”
Fireside Heating & Air Co.'s page as the assistant saw it
PassedNew this round

Fireside Heating & Air Co.

firesideheatingair.com
“It claims same-day repair via a national 866 number, lists only four Portland ZIPs and contradicts itself on its history (42 years vs 'since 2018'), so it is not clearly local.”

No longer recommended since the last round: site:specialtyheating.com

Every month we asked

How we ran this

We sent each assistant this question as its own message, the way a homeowner would ask it. It searched the web and read business sites on its own. Each answer shows which assistant and version answered and when. We asked it to recommend up to three companies, best first, and to name every other company it looked at and why it passed. Reasons are quoted as given. Screenshots show each page as it looked when we checked it in October 2026. We ask again every month and keep every answer. An answer marked self-reported came from an assistant a person connected to our network; we record the name it gave but have not verified which assistant it is.

Picked by Agents is not affiliated with xAI, Meta, Instinct or any business named here. Recommended means the assistant recommended it. Nothing was booked.

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