Mentioned vs BrightLocal: Which Visibility Engine Actually Drives Your Leads?
You need visibility. The question is which search channel is actually eating your leads right now.
When a homeowner in your service area opens their phone to find a plumber or HVAC tech, they don't start at Google Maps anymore. They open ChatGPT or Perplexity and ask: "Who's the best in my city?" If you're not in that answer, you're invisible. Same time, they may also search Google. You could be Google #1 and AI invisible, or AI visible and Google nowhere. Each requires different fixes.
Here's the honest comparison.
What BrightLocal does well
BrightLocal is the market leader for local SEO. It was built to solve this problem: How do I rank higher on Google Maps, in the local pack, and across citation directories? It does that really well.
If your funnel feeds on Google—if most of your leads come from "plumber near me" on Maps, or from your website ranking in organic search results—BrightLocal tracks the right signals. It monitors your local search rank across cities, builds out citation networks (Yelp, BBB, industry directories), manages reviews, and shows you how you stack against competitors in the local pack.
It's battle-tested. 15,000+ agencies and contractors use it. The tooling is deep, the reporting is dialed in. If you're paying for local SEO, your agency probably runs BrightLocal in the background.
Bottom line on BrightLocal: It answers "How visible am I to Google and Maps?" Really well.
Where Mentioned is different
Mentioned tracks a different search channel entirely: AI engines. Specifically ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini—the tools 41% of Americans are using to research local services. BrightLocal doesn't touch these. Your SEO agency doesn't measure them. Mentioned was built because nobody else does.
The core difference: When an AI engine gets asked "best HVAC in [your city]", it doesn't pull from Google's local pack or your citations. It pulls from training data, web mentions, Reddit threads, trade publications, Google reviews, schema markup, and a few hidden sources only AI companies know about. Your Google rank and your AI rank share under 30% of the same signals. You can be #1 on Google and invisible in AI, or vice versa.
Mentioned measures where you actually rank in AI search. You run a 30-second free audit, it queries ChatGPT and Perplexity the way a homeowner would, and counts how many times AI actually names you. Score of 0-100. Then if you want to climb, we tell you exactly why you're invisible and what fixes move the needle.
The data: 137 audits so far. Median score is 32/100. Top 5% of operators score above 79. There's a 47-point gap between median and elite. That gap is how much money is being left on the table across the entire trade contractor market right now.
Bottom line on Mentioned: It answers "How visible am I to the AI engines homeowners are using?" And it's the only platform measuring it.
The honest comparison table
| Feature | BrightLocal | Mentioned |
|---|---|---|
| Tracks Google ranking | Yes | No |
| Tracks Google Maps visibility | Yes | No |
| Tracks AI engine visibility | No | Yes (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude) |
| Citation management | Yes | No |
| Review monitoring | Yes | No |
| Free audit | No | Yes (30 seconds) |
| API for partners | Yes | Yes |
| Designed for | Local SEO agencies managing Google rank | Trade contractors who want AI visibility |
Use both. They're different channels, not competing tools.
Here's the real talk: You probably should track both.
If your pipeline comes from Google, use BrightLocal to optimize it. But if you've got Google dialed in and leads are still soft, run a Mentioned audit before you throw more money at your SEO retainer. 87% of contractors are AI invisible despite having decent Google rank. That's why they can't figure out why the MAP Pack doesn't convert like it used to.
BrightLocal moves the needle on Google. Mentioned moves the needle on AI. You could be winning in one and losing in the other. Both are happening with or without you measuring them.
One is SEO. One is AI search. Both feed the same funnel from different sources.
What to do next
If you're using BrightLocal: Keep using it. Add Mentioned. Run the free audit, see where you stand in AI. If you're invisible, the $1,497/month performance plan includes the exact same 7-step schema/citation/NAP fixes that BrightLocal tracks—just optimized for AI engines instead of Google.
If you're not using BrightLocal: Run a Mentioned audit first. If your Google rank is strong but the audit is low, BrightLocal is probably worth the money. If your Google rank is soft AND your AI rank is low, fix AI first (it's faster and cheaper) then add BrightLocal after.
If you're paying your SEO agency $4K-$15K/month: Ask them where you rank in ChatGPT and Perplexity. They'll have no idea. Run a Mentioned audit and bring the score into the next agency call. That will clarify a lot.
Get your AI visibility score in 30 seconds. No card, no upsell.
Built by an operator running a trade business. Not a SaaS company. Mentioned is what we use internally. You're using our system.
See your BrightLocal AI visibility score in
Enter your business below. We run live queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. You get your score in under 90 seconds.
Common questions about AI visibility for BrightLocal contractors in
Google ranks pages. AI search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity name specific businesses in answers. A BrightLocal contractor in can rank #1 on Google and still be invisible in ChatGPT, because the signals are different (schema, citations, structured data, training-data presence).
Most BrightLocal contractors see meaningful score lift within 30-60 days of implementing the three core fixes: Google Business Profile completion, consistent industry directory listings, and schema markup. The 47-point gap between median (32) and top performers (79) is closeable.
Yes. Roughly 40% of homeowner searches now start in ChatGPT or Perplexity instead of Google. Even with strong Google rankings, you can be completely invisible in AI answers, which means losing calls you don't even know about.
Your AI visibility score across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. Specific gap analysis against top performers in . Three highest-leverage fixes prioritized by impact. Takes 90 seconds, no card required.