We Checked 1,882 Security Companies Against ChatGPT — Only 8% Get Recommended
Homeowners aren't scrolling ten links anymore — they're asking ChatGPT for one name. We ran the numbers on 1,882 companies to see who actually gets picked.
Watch the 40-second breakdown above.
For decades, the game for security dealers was simple: show up on Google's first page, get the click, get the call. That game still matters. But there's a new front door opening up, and it works nothing like the old one.
The Question We Asked
More and more homeowners are skipping the search results entirely. They open ChatGPT and type something like "who's a good security company near me" or "best home alarm company in [city]." And ChatGPT doesn't give them ten blue links to sift through. It gives them a name. Sometimes two. That's it.
So we wanted to know: out of all the independent security and alarm companies operating in the U.S., how many of them are actually the name ChatGPT gives out?
What We Measured
We checked 1,882 U.S. security and alarm companies against ChatGPT's recommendations, running the kinds of questions real homeowners ask when they're shopping for monitoring, install, or a new alarm system.
The results were more lopsided than we expected.
Only 151 of those 1,882 companies — 8% — ever got recommended by name. The remaining 92% never came up at all. Not as a runner-up, not as an also-ran. They simply weren't part of the conversation.
Why This Isn't Like Google
With traditional search, there's room for everybody. Page one, page two, page three — a determined homeowner might scroll past the first few results and still find your company. It's crowded, but it's not exclusive.
Asking ChatGPT is different. There's no page two. When someone asks for a recommendation, they get an answer — usually one name, maybe two — and then they call that company. It's winner-takes-most, not winner-takes-some.
That means the businesses in that 8% aren't just getting a little more attention. They're likely getting the call, while the other 92% never even get considered, no matter how good their install crews are or how fast their response times run.
What Determines Who Gets Picked
We're not going to pretend we've cracked the exact formula ChatGPT uses — nobody outside those companies fully has. But the pattern is consistent with what we've seen across other industries: businesses with a clear, consistent presence across the web — reviews, business listings, clear service descriptions, real content about what they do — show up more often. Companies with thin or inconsistent information online tend to fall into the invisible 92%.
The unsettling part is that this has nothing to do with how good the company actually is at the job. A dealer with a spotless installation record and years of loyal customers can still be invisible to ChatGPT if their online presence hasn't been built with this in mind. Meanwhile, a newer competitor with a stronger footprint gets recommended instead.
What This Means for Dealers
If you own or run a security company, this benchmark is worth sitting with for a minute. Homeowners are already asking Google and ChatGPT who to trust before they ever pick up the phone. If your name isn't part of that answer, you're not losing the sale in a close race — you're not even in it.
The flip side is that this is still early. Most of the industry hasn't caught on yet, which means the dealers who show up now have a real head start over the ones still relying only on old-school local SEO.
We put together a public leaderboard at mostrecommendedhomesecurity.com so dealers can see how companies compare on AI visibility. And if you want to know exactly where your own company stands, we run a free check at /audit — it tells you whether ChatGPT already recommends your business, and what's likely holding you back if it doesn't.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly did you measure in this benchmark?
We asked ChatGPT to recommend a security or alarm company across 1,882 real U.S. businesses, using the kinds of questions homeowners actually type when shopping for monitoring or install services. We tracked which companies were named and which never came up.
Why did only 8% of companies get recommended?
We can't say for certain what ChatGPT weighs, but companies that show up tend to have a clearer, more consistent presence across reviews, listings, and online content. Businesses with thin or scattered information online were far more likely to fall into the invisible 92%.
Does this mean my company is doing something wrong?
Not necessarily. Being invisible to ChatGPT doesn't reflect the quality of your installs or your customer service — it reflects your current online visibility. Many excellent dealers simply haven't built the presence that gets picked up yet.
How can I check if my company shows up?
AI Security Edge offers a free check at /audit that tells you whether ChatGPT currently recommends your business, along with the public leaderboard at mostrecommendedhomesecurity.com where you can compare your standing against other dealers.