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Guides · AI index · 25 September 2026

Richmond cafés: who AI recommends

We asked 3 AI assistants 5 questions a customer might ask about cafés in Richmond, London, and wrote down every business they named.

What we foundThe assistants barely agree. 15 answers named 38 different businesses, and 23 of them came up only once. Only 1 business, Drop-in, was named by all 3 assistants for the same question. The most-named café, Brunch and Brew, appeared in 6 of 15 answers: from ChatGPT and Gemini, never Perplexity.

Most-named businesses

Number of answers naming each business, out of 15. Businesses named only once are in the full table below.

  1. Brunch and Brew6
  2. The Robin Cafe Richmond3
  3. Kiss the Hippo Coffee Richmond3
  4. Tide Tables Cafe3
  5. Megan's at the Old Town Hall3
  6. Drop-in3
  7. The Mirror Cafe3
  8. Hollyhock Vegetarian Fairtrade Cafe2
  9. Peggy Jean at Riverside Green2
  10. The Ivy Richmond Brasserie2
  11. Dharma Coffee Richmond2
  12. Long Black Richmond2
  13. Heidi2
  14. Kapucin2
  15. No. 1 Duke Street2

What this means for a café owner

  • Each assistant has its own shortlist. Being top on Google Maps doesn't mean ChatGPT or Perplexity will name you. You have to check each one.
  • Specific facts get repeated. For Brunch and Brew, the assistants repeated details such as its opening time, its coffee roaster and that it's dog-friendly. Clear, specific information gives AI something to say about you.
  • Third-party sites matter. ChatGPT's answers cited Tripadvisor, OpenTable, local guides and dog-friendly directories, not just cafés' own websites.
  • AI makes mistakes. See below. If AI gets your business wrong, customers go elsewhere without you ever knowing.

Mistakes we spotted

  • Perplexity's dog-friendly answer named The White Swan "in Shepherds Bush", which is not in Richmond.
  • Perplexity's early-breakfast answer showed no sources and named mainly chains (Pret A Manger, Costa Coffee, Caffè Nero).
  • Gemini recommended "Wild Bush" as a dog-friendly café, while the map card it showed listed the business under "Pet care".
  • Perplexity's laptop answer included Isaac's Coffee in St Margarets, Twickenham, and its best-café answer led with 7 Cafe in East Sheen: both outside Richmond town.

Every answer

QuestionChatGPTGeminiPerplexity
What is the best café in Richmond upon Thames, London?
  1. The Robin Cafe Richmond
  2. Kiss the Hippo Coffee Richmond
  3. Brunch and Brew
  4. Hollyhock Vegetarian Fairtrade Cafe
  5. Tide Tables Cafe
  1. Tide Tables Cafe
  2. Hollyhock Vegetarian Fairtrade Cafe
  3. Kapucin
  4. Brunch and Brew
  5. The Ivy Richmond Brasserie
  1. 7 Cafe
  2. The Mirror Cafe
  3. The Robin Cafe Richmond
  4. Neighbourhood Cafe Yukari
Where is the best brunch in Richmond, London?
  1. Heisenberg Breakfast Co
  2. Peggy Jean at Riverside Green
  3. Megan's at the Old Town Hall
  4. Bill's Richmond
  5. The Ivy Richmond Brasserie
  6. Brunch and Brew
  1. Megan's at the Old Town Hall
  2. Peggy Jean at Riverside Green
  3. No. 1 Duke Street
  4. 144 On The Hill
  5. Kapucin
  1. No. 1 Duke Street
  2. The Petersham Restaurant
Which coffee shop in Richmond, London is good for working on a laptop?
  1. Dharma Coffee Richmond
  2. Drop-in
  3. The Robin Cafe Richmond
  4. Kiss the Hippo Coffee Richmond
  1. Kiss the Hippo Coffee Richmond
  2. Dharma Coffee Richmond
  3. Drop-in
  1. Drop-in
  2. The Mirror Cafe
  3. Long Black Richmond
  4. Wolk Coffee
  5. Isaac's Coffee
Can you recommend a dog-friendly café in Richmond, London?
  1. Long Black Richmond
  2. Eileen's at Buccleuch Gardens Cafe
  3. Tide Tables Cafe
  4. Mocha
  5. Drummer Boy Tearoom
  1. Wild Bush
  2. Mooca Café
  3. Brunch and Brew
  4. Megan's at the Old Town Hall
  5. Richmond Hill Bakery
  1. Petersham Nurseries
  2. The White Swan
Where can I get an early breakfast near Richmond station in London?
  1. Heidi
  2. Knot Pretzels & Coffee
  3. Butter Beans
  4. Jamaica Blue
  5. Brunch and Brew
  6. The Mirror Cafe
  1. Heidi
  2. Brunch and Brew
  1. Pret A Manger
  2. Costa Coffee
  3. Rave Coffee
  4. Caffè Nero

Names as the assistants gave them, in the order they gave them. Download the data (CSV)

How we did it

Asked on 25 September 2026, between 13:30 and 13:45 UK time, from a browser in London, logged out, one new chat per question, one try each. Google's AI Mode is not included this round: Google showed a bot check. AI answers change from day to day and person to person, so treat this as a snapshot, not a ranking. Being named, or not, says nothing about a café's quality.

Run a café here and think we got something wrong? Email hello@visiblyai.co.uk.

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