Engines and what each one runs
Exactly what Peach asks ChatGPT, Gemini and Google, and how that differs from what you see in their apps.
Updated
In short. ChatGPT and Gemini are asked through their APIs and answer from what the model already knows, with no web search. The Google check reads an ordinary Google search, not the AI Overview. None of the three is the same as opening the app and typing.
The three engines
| Label in the report | What Peach actually runs | Web search? |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | OpenAI's API, a small GPT-4o model | No |
| Gemini | Google's Gemini API, a Flash-class model | No |
| Google Search | A Google search for the question, read through a search API | It is a search |
ChatGPT and Gemini
Both are plain model calls. The model answers from its training data. It does not browse, and it returns no source links.
This is the biggest difference from the apps. The ChatGPT and Gemini apps can search the web, personalise to the person asking, and vary by country. An API answer does none of that. So:
- A brand that launched recently may be missing from API answers and still appear in the app.
- A brand the app finds through a web search may be missing from API answers.
Answers are capped at the same short length on both engines. A longer answer has more room to name more brands, so an uneven cap would make the engines unfair to compare.
The report says this under each answer: one sampled answer per question, and what you see in the apps can differ.
Google Search
This engine is labelled Google Search, and that is what it is. For each question Peach runs a Google search and reads:
- the answer box or knowledge panel, when Google shows one
- the top ten organic results
It does not read Google's AI Overview.
Most questions have no answer box. When there is none, the Google verdict is "No answer", and that is the normal result, not a fault.
Your rank is shown, and never scored
When your own site is in the top ten results for a question, the report adds a line such as "Ranks #1 in Google Search (United States) for this question". That line is evidence. It is not a mention and it does not move your score.
The market is labelled
The Google search is run from the country your report is measured in, and the report names that country. A report with no single market searches from the United States. See Market and geography.
When an engine returns nothing
Engines fail sometimes, usually from rate limits. Gemini calls are retried once after a rate limit or timeout. If an answer still does not come back, it is shown as "No answer" and left out of the score. See How the score works.
Engines Peach does not check
Peach does not check Perplexity, Claude, Copilot or Google's AI Overview.
Coming soon. Perplexity. It is not checked today, on any plan.