Problem · wrong details in AI answers
ChatGPT has the wrong information about my business. What can I do?
A customer turns up when you are closed because an AI assistant gave them the wrong hours. Or it lists a phone number you stopped using two years ago. You cannot edit an AI answer directly, but you can fix the places it is likely to be reading, and that is usually where the problem starts.
By Word of Chat · Published 27 October 2026
Why AI assistants get details wrong
An AI assistant either answers from what it learned during training, which can be months or years old, or it searches the web and summarises what it finds. If old or conflicting details about you are still published somewhere, either route can pick them up.
The usual culprits are not mysterious: a directory listing you forgot about, a Facebook page with old hours, a previous address on an old website, a second Google listing someone created years ago, or a supplier’s page that still lists your old number.
Seven steps to put it right
- Write down exactly what is wrong, word for word, and which assistant said it. Ask the same question a few times: if the mistake keeps coming back, it is probably published somewhere.
- Fix your Google Business Profile first: name, address or service area, phone, hours (including holiday hours) and website. Mark any duplicate or closed listing as such through Google’s own tools.
- Make your own website say the correct details in plain text, ideally in the footer of every page, not only in an image.
- Search the web for your old phone number, old address and old business name. Update or remove the listings you control, and ask the sites you do not control to correct them.
- Update social profiles (Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor) so their hours and contact details match.
- If ChatGPT shows its sources for that answer, open them. That tells you which page to fix.
- Check again in a few weeks with the same questions. There is no fixed timescale for corrections to show.
Can I report the mistake to the AI company?
Most assistants have a thumbs-down or feedback button on each answer, and it does no harm to use it with a short, factual note. Treat it as a bonus rather than the fix: the dependable fix is making sure the correct details are the ones published everywhere.
The honest limits
Nobody outside the AI companies controls what their assistants say, and some old information can linger even after you have corrected every listing you can find. We cannot promise a date by which an answer will change. What reliably helps is one consistent, current set of details everywhere you are listed.
Want to know where you stand?
Our free check asks ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini the kind of questions your customers ask and emails you, in plain English, whether you were named and who was named instead. Four tiny steps; your details come last.
Step 1 of 4: Your trade
If you want more, every service has a fixed price.
Questions
The AI says we are closed, but we are open. Is that serious?
It can cost you customers, so fix it quickly. Check Google for a duplicate or closed listing, make sure your hours are correct on your profile and website, and look for old directory entries that say you closed.
We moved premises. How do we stop AI giving the old address?
Update your Google profile, website and every directory you can find, and ask sites you do not control to update theirs. Old addresses can linger for a while, so re-check monthly.
Can Word of Chat fix this for me?
The free check shows what ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini say about you. If details are wrong, the Get Recommended Sprint includes cleaning up your Google profile and directory listings so your details match everywhere.