Last Updated on July 16, 2026
Published by Whito Research · Last updated 2 July 2026 · Data checked July 2026
Ask anyone how you find a good electrician now and they will say the same thing: just Google it, or ask ChatGPT. So we did. We looked for a tradesperson in nine UK cities, and we asked Google’s own AI directly. Neither could give a straight, trustworthy answer, and they did not even agree with each other.
What we did
In June 2026 we ran the search a normal person runs: electricians in a given city, across nine cities spanning England, Scotland and Wales. We recorded what Google actually showed, the ads, the directories, the local businesses, and whether any AI answer appeared. Then we went a step further and asked Google’s AI mode directly: who are the best electricians in Leeds, and the same for plumbers in Manchester. We recorded who it named and where those names came from.
We did not rate anyone ourselves and we have not invented a single review. Everything below is what these tools put in front of a real searcher.
What we found
- Checkatrade appeared in the first results in all nine cities. So did TrustATrader, Yell and MyBuilder. The same handful of pay-to-list directories own the page, everywhere.
- Most cities showed paid ads first, often from the same national advertiser dressed up as a local firm.
- Not one of the nine standard searches showed an AI answer. Google defaulted to ads and directories.
- Ask the AI directly and it gives a confident list, a different one, drawn from Reddit, reviews and accreditation registers. It got things wrong, including placing a Leeds firm 43 miles away in Northampton.
Finding 1: the same five directories own every city
Whatever city we searched, the results were near identical. A row of find-results-on links and the first organic results were dominated by the same pay-to-list directories. Checkatrade, TrustATrader, Yell and MyBuilder appeared in every single one.
| City | Nation | Checkatrade shown | Other big directories in results | Paid ads on top | AI answer shown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leeds | England | Yes | TrustATrader, Yell, MyBuilder, Rated People | No | No |
| Manchester | England | Yes | TrustATrader, Yell, MyBuilder, Yelp | Yes | No |
| Birmingham | England | Yes | TrustATrader, Yell, MyBuilder | Yes | No |
| London | England | Yes | TrustATrader, MyBuilder, Yell, Thomson Local | Yes | No |
| Bristol | England | Yes | TrustATrader, Yell, MyBuilder | Yes | No |
| Sheffield | England | Yes | TrustATrader, Yell, MyBuilder, MyJobQuote | Yes | No |
| Nottingham | England | Yes | TrustATrader, MyBuilder, MyJobQuote, Yell | Yes | No |
| Glasgow | Scotland | Yes | TrustATrader, Yell, MyJobQuote, MyBuilder | No | No |
| Cardiff | Wales | Yes | TrustATrader, MyBuilder, Yell, Rated People | Yes | No |
Nine searches for an electrician by city, Google UK, June 2026. Results vary by location and personalisation.
It is worth saying what these directories are. A business does not appear near the top because it is the best. It appears because it pays to be listed, and often pays more to be ranked. The same local advert, one national lead generation company, followed us into city after city.
Finding 2: there is no neutral answer, and no AI answer either
The interesting part is what was missing. For all the talk of AI taking over search, not one of our nine ordinary searches produced an AI summary of who to call. Google simply served ads, then directories. If you want an actual answer, you are left to open three or four pay-to-list sites and compare.
Finding 3: ask the AI directly and it makes one up
So we asked Google’s AI mode the way a person would: who are the best electricians in Leeds. It answered instantly and confidently, with a ranked shortlist, descriptions and evidence. The problem is that the list bore little relation to what the same Google showed seconds earlier in its own local results, and parts of it were simply wrong.
| We asked the AI | Who it named first | Did it match Google’s own local results | What stood out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best electricians in Leeds | SS Electrical Leeds, Wired Electrical, Martin Day, AMC Electrical | No, a different list | It cited Reddit as evidence, ranked a 4.3-rated firm first, and placed a Pudsey business in Northampton, 43 miles away |
| Best plumbers in Manchester | Zodiac Plumbing, Daniel Plumbing, JB7 Plumbing, Manchester Plumbing & Heating | Partly, two of four overlapped | Its top pick did not appear in Google’s local results at all; detail was pulled from customer reviews |
Google AI mode, June 2026. Business names are reproduced as the AI returned them.
Read that again. The same company, Google, gave us three different answers to who is a good electrician in Leeds: the ads, the local map results, and the AI. None of them matched. And the AI’s confident shortlist leaned on Reddit threads and accreditation registers to decide who was trustworthy, not on who had paid a directory.
Finding 4: people already know, so they ask each other
You can see the distrust in the results themselves. In city after city, one of the most prominent links was a Reddit thread of locals asking for a human recommendation. In Glasgow, the top thread opened with a resident saying they do not trust Checkatrade any more and asking for a real name instead.
“i don’t really trust check a trade anymore”, a Reddit r/glasgow user, asking for an electrician
When the official answer is ads and pay-to-list directories, people route around it and ask other humans. The AI has noticed, which is why it now quotes those same Reddit threads back to you.
What this actually means
There is no honest, neutral place that simply tells a UK homeowner who the good local tradespeople are. Standard search is an auction. The AI is a confident guess stitched from reviews, registers and forum posts, and it is not always right. The signals that genuinely decide who deserves a recommendation, real customer ratings, accreditation with bodies like NICEIC, Gas Safe and TrustMark, and genuine word of mouth, are scattered across the internet and nobody is reading all of them in one place.
That is the gap. Not another pay-to-rank directory, and not a black box that invents a list. A place that reads the trust signals that already exist across the web, ratings, registrations, track record, and presents them plainly, in a form both people and AI can rely on.
Cite this research
Whito Research (2026). Nobody can tell you who the best local tradesperson is. We tested nine UK cities to find out.. Whito. https://whito.co.uk/research/how-uk-finds-a-tradesperson-search-ai-study/
Key finding: In all nine UK cities checked, the first page of results for a local tradesperson search was dominated by the same pay-to-list directories, and no AI answer appeared for any city.
This is original Whito research. You are welcome to reuse these figures with a link to this page as the source.
Common questions
Does Google show an AI answer when you search for a local tradesperson?
In our June 2026 test of nine UK cities, none of the standard searches for an electrician in a city showed an AI answer. Google served paid ads and pay-to-list directories such as Checkatrade, TrustATrader, Yell and MyBuilder.
Are AI recommendations for tradespeople accurate?
Not reliably. When asked directly, Google AI gave a confident ranked list that differed from Google’s own local results, leaned on Reddit threads and accreditation registers, and contained errors, including placing a Leeds firm 43 miles away in Northampton.
How should I actually find a trusted tradesperson?
Check the business is registered with the relevant body (NICEIC or NAPIT for electricians, Gas Safe for gas work), look at genuine reviews across more than one source, and always get a written quote and proof of insurance before work begins.
