When someone in Galway asks an AI assistant to recommend a hairdresser, Gemini and Perplexity often return different businesses — and quote different details about them. Gemini tends to draw heavily from Google's own ecosystem, while Perplexity casts a wider net across third-party review and booking platforms. Understanding which fields each assistant actually surfaces helps you decide where to focus your time.

Why Gemini and Perplexity may prioritise different page types

Gemini is Google's AI assistant, so it has a natural affinity for data that lives inside Google's own products — particularly the Google Business Profile (GBP), which is the free listing that appears when someone searches for your business on Google Maps or Search. Perplexity, by contrast, is an AI-powered search engine that retrieves and synthesises information from across the open web in real time.

In practice, this means:

  • Gemini is more likely to quote your GBP directly — your business name, category, address, phone number, opening hours, and any services you've listed.
  • Perplexity is more likely to pull from third-party platforms such as Treatwell (a popular salon booking site used widely in Ireland), Booksy (appointment booking for hair and beauty), or review aggregators like Tripadvisor.

Neither approach is better or worse — they're just different. A hairdresser in Galway who has a polished GBP but no Treatwell listing may appear confidently in Gemini and barely at all in Perplexity. The reverse is equally possible.

It's also worth noting that your business category in Google Business Profile changes what AI recommends — choosing "Hair Salon" rather than a generic "Beauty Salon" category can shift which queries you appear in across both assistants.

Google Business Profile fields that consistently get referenced

Across both Gemini and Perplexity, certain GBP fields appear more often in AI-generated recommendations than others. Based on typical behaviour we observe, the following tend to be quoted most reliably:

GBP Field Gemini Perplexity
Business name Almost always Often (via indexed pages)
Primary category Frequently Occasionally
Address / area Frequently Frequently
Opening hours Frequently Less often
Services listed Frequently Varies by platform
Review score Sometimes Often (from multiple sources)
Website URL Sometimes Often

Opening hours deserve special attention. If your hours are incomplete or out of date — particularly around Irish bank holidays — an AI assistant may either skip your listing or quote incorrect information. There's a useful guide on handling Irish public holiday hour variations in Google Business Profile that's worth reading before you assume your hours are fine.

Photos are another underestimated signal. Gemini in particular can reference visual content when describing a business, and a well-structured photo set helps both AI assistants and human searchers understand what your salon actually looks like. A photo checklist for improving local AI recommendations from Google Business Profile covers the specific shot types that tend to matter.

The role of appointment-linked info (services, messaging, website)

One of the clearest differences between Gemini and Perplexity is how they handle booking and appointment signals — the information that tells a potential customer not just that you exist, but that they can act right now.

Gemini can surface your GBP's built-in booking link if you've connected a supported scheduling provider. It can also display your listed services (for example, "women's cut and blow-dry", "balayage", "keratin treatment") directly in the AI response. If those services aren't listed on your GBP, Gemini has nothing to quote.

Perplexity, meanwhile, is more likely to reference your Treatwell or Booksy profile if those pages are well-indexed and contain structured service and pricing information. It may also pull from your own website if the services page is clearly written and easy to crawl.

This is why your website and your third-party booking profiles need to be consistent. If your GBP says you offer balayage but your Treatwell listing doesn't mention it, the two assistants may give contradictory answers about what you actually do.

For more on how services and pricing signals work across GBP specifically, see services and pricing signals on Google Business Profile: what AI can quote.

How to test with the same query across assistants

The most practical thing you can do right now is run the same query on both Gemini and Perplexity and compare what comes back. Here's a simple process:

  1. Choose a realistic query — something like "best hairdresser in Galway city centre" or "hairdresser near Salthill open Saturday".
  2. Run it on Gemini (via Google's app or gemini.google.com) and note: does your business appear? What details are quoted? Is the information accurate?
  3. Run the same query on Perplexity (perplexity.ai) and note the same things.
  4. Compare the sources — Perplexity usually shows its citations. Check whether it's pulling from your GBP, your website, Treatwell, Booksy, or somewhere else entirely.
  5. Look for gaps — if Gemini quotes your hours but Perplexity doesn't mention you at all, your third-party profiles likely need attention. If neither mentions your services, that's a GBP gap.

It's also worth testing with a few variations: your town name, your neighbourhood, and queries that include a specific service ("balayage Galway"). AI assistants don't always return the same results for slightly different phrasings.

GBP Posts and Q&A can also influence what gets quoted — particularly for Gemini. If you've answered common questions in your Q&A section or posted recent updates, those can appear in AI responses. There's more on this in Google Business Profile posts and Q&A: when they change AI answers.

What to change first when you see missing quotes

If you've run the test above and found that one or both assistants are either not mentioning you or quoting incomplete information, here's a prioritised list of what to fix:

Start with your GBP: - Confirm your primary category is "Hair Salon" (not a broader or incorrect category) - Fill in every service you offer, with clear names and descriptions - Make sure your opening hours are complete and accurate, including holiday hours - Add a booking link if you use a supported provider - Upload recent, well-lit photos of your interior, exterior, and work

Then check your third-party profiles: - Claim and complete your Treatwell listing if you haven't already - Set up or update your Booksy profile with current services and prices - Check your Tripadvisor listing for accuracy — Perplexity cites it regularly

Finally, review your own website: - Make sure your services page lists treatments clearly, with plain language - Include your location ("Galway city centre", "near Eyre Square") in your page text — not just in metadata - Ensure your contact details and booking link are easy to find

If you want a quick sense of whether AI assistants are currently naming your business, the free check from suggestedby.ai measures exactly that — it shows you whether you're appearing in AI-generated recommendations for your area and category.

The gap between Gemini and Perplexity isn't something to worry about — it's something to use. Each assistant reveals a different layer of how your business is understood online, and fixing the gaps in one often improves your visibility in both.