AI-recommended electricians, checked against two registers

Data last verified: 4 October 2026. Figures re-checked against their primary sources under the Whito rolling re-verification programme.

Checked: 4 October 2026. The 182 electricians that ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode recommended in 15 UK towns in July 2026, each looked up on Companies House and on the Electrical Competent Person register on the same day.

In July we checked 182 AI-recommended electricians against Companies House, and about half could not be matched to a company. That number gets read as “half are not legitimate”. It never meant that. Many electricians are sole traders, and sole traders are not on Companies House at all.

So we ran a second check, against the register that actually covers small electrical firms. On 4 October 2026, 91 of the 182 matched an active company in or near the town. 127 of the 182 were on the Electrical Competent Person register. Of the 91 with no company match, 52 were on the trade register. 34 names could not be found on either.

What we found

• The trade register found far more than the company register. 127 of 182 (70%) were on the Electrical Competent Person register under the name the AI gave, in or near the town. 91 of 182 (50%) matched an active company.
• Most of the “unmatched” half is explained. 52 of the 91 firms with no company match were on the trade register. They are sole traders or trade under a different name, and they are registered where it counts for electrical work in homes.
• A smaller group is still unexplained. 34 names were found on neither register, and 5 more were close calls on the trade register. That is 39 of 182 (21%) we could not tie to either record by name.
• Dissolved company names did not turn up on the trade register. 6 names matched only a dissolved company near the town at Companies House. None of the 6 was on the Electrical Competent Person register under that name on 4 October 2026.

Both registers, side by side

Close calls were coded the cautious way: where the register held a similar but not identical name in the area, such as an extra word, or two possible firms, we counted it as not matched. 7 names were close calls on the trade register. On Companies House, 7 names matched more than one active company near the town; those count as matched, because a company of that name exists either way.

Town by town

Small numbers per town. Read the town rows as a guide to where the gaps sit, not as a ranking of towns.

Why the company register was the wrong test on its own

Companies House answers one narrow question: is there a limited company of this name? A sole trader electrician has no company to find. A firm can also trade under a name that differs from its company name. Neither says anything about whether the electrician is allowed to sign off electrical work in your home.

The Electrical Competent Person register brings together the government-approved schemes, including NICEIC and NAPIT, whose members can self-certify notifiable electrical work in homes in England and Wales. For a householder choosing an electrician, it is the more useful check. We saw the same pattern with gas engineers: a firm whose old company was dissolved still held a current Gas Safe registration. See our gas engineer register check.

If you are hiring an electrician

Search the firm on the Electrical Competent Person register before you book. It is free and takes a minute. If the firm is not there, ask how the work will be certified. Some electricians use building control instead, and commercial-only firms need not join. What you want is a certificate at the end of notifiable work, whoever issues it.

If you are an electrician

This is Start stage work. If you are registered, put your scheme and your trading name, exactly as the register shows it, on your own website in plain text. AI engines recommend the name they find on the web. When that name matches your register entry, anyone checking you finds you in one search. When it does not, you look unregistered to a customer who is doing the right thing. Not sure what an AI engine reads on your site? The free Visibility Check takes about twenty seconds and needs no email.

What this does not prove

• Not found means we could not find the name on that register’s own search on 4 October 2026. It is not an allegation, and it does not mean a firm is working illegally.
• The Electrical Competent Person register covers notifiable electrical work in homes in England and Wales. A firm that only does commercial work, or has work signed off by building control, need not be on it.
• We searched by the name the AI gave. A firm registered under a different name will show as not found, which is why the cautious close-call rule matters.
• Being on a register says nothing about quality or price.
• The names come from one collection on 9 July 2026. The registers were read on 4 October 2026, so a firm may have registered, renamed or closed in between.

How we did it

The 182 names are the businesses recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode for “electrician” questions in Reading, Sunderland, Swansea, Leeds, Nottingham, Coventry, Luton, Bristol, Doncaster, Ipswich, Preston, Stoke-on-Trent, Milton Keynes, Norwich and Plymouth, collected on 9 July 2026 and published in our July electrician study. On 4 October 2026 we searched each name on Companies House and recorded a match only for an active company of that name with a registered office in or near the town. The same day we searched each name on the Electrical Competent Person register’s public company search, one name at a time, and recorded only whether a firm of that name was listed in or near the town. Where the full name returned nothing, we searched again on its most distinctive word. We did not copy register records. A sample of 16 lookups was repeated later the same day and every outcome matched.

The data behind this page

The file holds all 182 names with town, engines, the Companies House outcome and the trade register outcome (found, not found or close call) with dates. Ask for it through Whito Data and we will quote a fixed price in writing. Nobody can pay to be added to a study, removed from one or moved within one. How Whito makes money.

Cite this research

Whito Research (2026). AI-recommended electricians, checked against two registers. Of 182 electricians recommended by AI engines, 91 matched an active company at Companies House and 127 were on the Electrical Competent Person register on 4 October 2026. https://whito.co.uk/electricians/research/ai-electricians-two-register-check/. Free to quote with a link.

Corrections and right of reply

If your business is named in this research and you think we have a fact wrong, email hello@whito.co.uk. We check it against the register, correct it within five working days if we are wrong, and publish your statement alongside if you want us to. Full route: corrections, right of reply and removals.

Questions

Are electricians recommended by AI registered?

Most of the ones we checked were. Of 182 electricians recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode in 15 UK towns, 127 were on the Electrical Competent Person register on 4 October 2026. 34 could not be found on either that register or Companies House. Source: Whito, registers searched 4 October 2026.

Why is Companies House not enough to check an electrician?

Many electricians are sole traders, who have no company to find, and many trade under a different name. In our check, 52 of the 91 AI-recommended electricians with no company match were on the Electrical Competent Person register.

How do I check an electrician is registered?

Search the firm on the Electrical Competent Person register at electricalcompetentperson.co.uk, which covers the government-approved schemes including NICEIC and NAPIT in England and Wales. If the firm is not listed, ask how notifiable work will be certified.

Does not being on the register mean an electrician is illegal?

No. Commercial-only firms need not join, and some electricians have work signed off by building control. A firm can also be registered under a different name from the one an AI gives.

Whito

Whito is an independent UK research publisher. We publish research on how UK businesses are found, trusted and priced: what they cost to market, how their sectors work, and who actually gets recommended. Studies are free to read, every figure carries the date it was checked, and nobody pays to appear.

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