When an AI engine recommends a Slovenian business, it rarely reads that business's website. Far more often it reads a directory. In June 2026 we counted every source three engines (ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity) cited across 89 answers about 20 Slovenian businesses: 464 citations in total. The single largest group was not company websites but directories and lead platforms.
Below are the directories, ranked by how often the AI actually cited them as a source.
Directory ranking by citation share
This is a mechanical count: how often each directory appeared among the sources across the 89 answers from the three engines.
| Directory | Citations | What it is | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mojmojster.net | 40 | tradesman and professional directory | all three engines |
| Primerjam.si | 34 | quote comparison platform | all three, mostly Google AI |
| Moja-dejavnost.si | 21 | general business directory | all three |
| Omisli.si | 19 | lead platform | mostly Google AI |
| Topponudba.com | 12 | offers platform | Google AI, Perplexity |
| Mojastoritev.si | 11 | services directory | ChatGPT, Google AI |
Behind these is a long tail of smaller directories (starofservice.si, nudim.si, najdi.si, pirs.si and similar), each with a few citations. Together, directories and lead platforms make up around 38% of all cited sources, more than any other group.
How directories flip the game
Directories do not just supplement answers, sometimes they replace them. In our data, Perplexity twice cited the directory itself as the answer to "who do you recommend" (for example "check on Mojmojster and Primerjam") instead of naming a business. In one answer, Google AI pulled all eight of its sources from directories and closed by inviting the user to submit a request through the platform.
The consequence for a business is unpleasant: if your profile on the directory is empty, outdated, or you are simply not there, the AI cannot pull you out of that source. A competitor with a well-kept profile and a few reviews shows up in the answer instead of you.
An important caveat
A directory profile is not a magic button. AI reads the same index and the same quality signals as regular search, Google says [1]. A directory helps you only if your profile there is consistent with everything else: the same name, address and phone as on your site and your Google Profile. A mismatch between sources confuses the AI, it does not help.
A second caveat: do not pay to "be inserted into the lists AI cites". Directories work because they are an actually-visited source, not because you were slotted in. A well-kept free profile with real data is worth more than a paid artificial placement.
What you can do yourself
- Check whether you are on Mojmojster, Primerjam, Moja dejavnost and Omisli. If not, create a basic profile with real data.
- Make sure your business name, address and phone are written the same way everywhere, character for character, as on your website and Google Profile.
- Where possible, gather a few real reviews. AI reads reviews from these platforms as part of the picture of you.
- Ask ChatGPT and Google AI "who do you recommend for [your service] in [your city]" and see which directories they cite. Start there.
If you want us to measure this for you
Which directories exactly drive the answers in your niche and your city, we measure as part of the Visibility Teardown: we count the sources in real AI answers about you and your competitors and tell you which profile to fix first. It costs €290 and is fully credited if you continue working with us. No sales pressure: you can run the steps above yourself.
Limits of the study
Cards on the table: the sample is 20 businesses, enough to show patterns, not statistics. We counted citations mechanically from text logs of 89 queries on a single day. Many ChatGPT answers did not reveal their sources ("Maps-style data"), so some numbers are a lower bound. The directories we cite are the ones that appeared most often in our answers; in another niche or another city the order may differ.
