Press release · February 9, 2026
AI assistants are telling customers the wrong things about local businesses—and inconsistent online data is to blame
JOHNSTON, Iowa – Feb. 9, 2026 – PRLog — A growing number of businesses are discovering that AI assistants are providing inaccurate information about their products, services, and credentials to potential customers. New research from Big House Enterprise identifies inconsistent information across online sources as the primary driver, with affected businesses reporting customer confusion, lost sales, and reputation damage.
“We’re seeing businesses lose customers before they even walk through the door,” said Chris Tutino, chief revenue officer at Big House Enterprise. “A potential customer asks their AI assistant about a local service, receives outdated or incorrect information, and makes their decision based on that. The business never knows it happened.”
The findings reveal a troubling pattern: when business information varies across directories, review sites, and social platforms, AI systems struggle to determine the truth. The result is automated misinformation delivered as truth to prospective customers.
The research documents cases where AI assistants reported incorrect trading hours, outdated service offerings, wrong locations, and even attributed qualifications businesses don’t hold—or failed to mention ones they do hold.
Small and medium businesses (SMBs) appear particularly vulnerable. Unlike large enterprises with dedicated digital teams, most SMBs lack the resources to monitor and correct their information across dozens of online platforms.
“Your reputation is no longer just what customers say about you,” said Dr. Joseph Byrum, founder of Big House Enterprise. “It’s what AI says about you when you’re not in the room.”
The problem compounds over time. Each inconsistency across the web creates another opportunity for AI systems to draw incorrect conclusions. Businesses that haven’t audited their online presence in recent years may be most at risk.
Big House Enterprise recommends businesses conduct comprehensive audits of their digital footprint to identify where inconsistencies exist, but does offer a complimentary assessment (https://bighouseenterprise.com/assessment/) (https://bighouseenterprise.com/assessment/) of individuals, companies, brands, and products. The research suggests that information uniformity across multiple authoritative sources significantly influences how AI systems represent businesses to potential customers across the search spectrum.
About Big House Enterprise
Big House Enterprise is an AI Authority engineering firm specializing in algorithmic visibility and entity recognition across generative AI platforms. Using the proprietary AI Authority Method™ (https://www.theaiauthoritymethod.com/), the firm engineers authoritative digital identity for people, brands, and companies through Knowledge Panel creation, AI citation optimization, and cross-platform entity recognition. Visit bighouseenterprise.com (https://www.bighouseenterprise.com/) to learn more.
Originally published on PRLog: When AI Gets Your Business Wrong: The Hidden Cost. See all releases in the Big House Enterprise PRLog newsroom.
Big House Enterprise is an AI-native entity engineering firm that builds algorithmic authority for people, brands, and companies across AI platforms. Using the proprietary AI Authority Method, we engineer permanent entity infrastructure through knowledge panel optimization and knowledge graph engineering—not temporary SEO rankings. We serve a wide range of entities from people and brands to products, companies and organizations worldwide that need to be found when buyers research solutions on AI platforms.