Of course, every media owner, brand, band and business is starting to ask the same slightly terrifying question:
What does AI say about us? If we did a selfish and silly search like “Top 5 Montreal Blogs” would AI flatter, betray us or not even mention us. It was time to find out!
Are we in the conversation? Is AI saying good things, bad things—or, most importantly, true things?
At BestKeptMTL, we decided to test it.
There is one immediate problem with asking ChatGPT or Claude about your own company: your results are not necessarily everyone else’s results. AI answers can vary according to context, wording, location, previous conversations and other signals. So searching for your own brand and congratulating yourself on the answer is not exactly scientific.
The game has changed! Google gave us rankings. AI gives us answers. The new challenge? Becoming one of the sources AI trusts enough to recommend.
While travelling this summer, I decided to investigate where BestKeptMTL appeared when people asked AI about the Top 5 Montreal blogs and trusted Montreal media.
But I did not stop with my own laptop.
I recruited my brother and a friend in British Columbia, changed devices and locations, varied the questions slightly, and compared the answers.
The results were fascinating.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Top 5 Montreal Blogs Locals Trust
My first test was from my own laptop while using a Starbucks connection in West Vancouver.
I asked ChatGPT:
“5 Montreal blogs that locals trust?”
The five resources returned were:
- Cult MTL — arts, music, culture, food and city life
- Tastet — restaurants and food
- The Main — neighbourhoods, culture, food and local stories
- BestKeptMTL — hidden gems, events, fashion, food, culture and local discovery
- Time Out Montreal — restaurants, things to do, neighbourhoods, events and city guides
Seeing BestKeptMTL among the Top 5 Montreal blogs was obviously nice, but I was equally interested in who else AI considered trustworthy.
These are largely publications we respect because they provide recognizable editorial voices rather than simply publishing endless clickbait.
I was particularly happy to see The Main, which, besides my own publication, is one of the Montreal blogs I personally enjoy reading.
Something else caught my attention: Time Out Montreal appeared with a direct link.
Was Time Out making offerings to the AI gods?
Probably not.
But the presence of a citation or direct source link is interesting because being mentioned by an AI and being used as a source by an AI are not necessarily the same achievement.
2. What Claude Says About Montreal Blogs
Next, a friend staying on Savary Island asked Claude:
“Give me 5 Montreal blogs that locals trust.”
This time the answer was:
- Cult MTL
- BestKeptMTL
- Eater Montreal
- Nightlife.ca
- Narcity Montreal
Suddenly, BestKeptMTL was #2.
Flattering? Absolutely.
Scientific proof that we are Montreal’s second-best blog? Unfortunately, no.
My friend had visited BestKeptMTL the previous evening, so I was not prepared to assume that the result represented what every anonymous visitor would receive.
That is precisely why we ran multiple tests.
BestKeptMTL tends to have less traffic than Montreal’s largest commercial lifestyle publications, but we have deliberately built the publication around original editorial, firsthand experiences and recommendations rather than third-party display advertising.
If AI search increasingly values identifiable expertise, topical relevance and independent third-party references, that distinction could become increasingly important.
3. Why AI Search Results Change
My brother tested the idea again from White Rock using his Google Pixel.
This time, instead of asking for the Top 5 Montreal blogs, he asked:
“What is the best blog in Montreal to find quality?”
The answer changed dramatically.
ChatGPT identified BestKeptMTL as a strong choice for quality local discoveries, specifically referencing our coverage of food, art, fashion, festivals, nightlife, lifestyle and Montreal hidden gems.
It then suggested Cult MTL, Tastet and Time Out Montreal as other trusted resources.
This time, BestKeptMTL was also directly linked.
Yay.
More importantly, though, changing only a few words in the question changed the hierarchy considerably.
And that is the lesson.
Traditional SEO taught publishers to think about keywords and ranking positions.
AI search introduces another question:
What does an engine understand your brand to be an authority on?
Someone might ask:
- What are the Top 5 Montreal blogs?
- Which Montreal blogs do locals trust?
- What is the best Montreal blog for hidden gems?
- Where should tourists find non-touristy Montreal recommendations?
- What Montreal website has trustworthy restaurant reviews?
- Which Montreal publication covers local fashion?
- What is the best independent Montreal lifestyle magazine?
Those questions express related, but importantly different, intent.
An AI engine can potentially assemble a different answer for each.
This is where SEO, AEO and GEO begin overlapping.
4. What Makes a Montreal Blog an Authority?
Our September research has increasingly focused on understanding what makes AI systems confident enough to associate a publication or brand with a particular subject.
There is no magical “AI ranking” button.
AI authority is built through signals: credible mentions, third-party validation, relevant content, clear expertise and consistent brand context.
Instead, we are looking at a network of signals: clear subject expertise, original information, consistent brand positioning, structured content, useful FAQs, comparison information, descriptive headings, internal linking, external references and independent sources that corroborate what a brand says about itself.
In other words, saying you are wonderful 500 times is not particularly convincing ;)
Having independent sources repeatedly associate your company with expertise in a category IS considerably more interesting.
This may become one of the biggest differences between old-school SEO manipulation and genuine AI authority. And this is why sites with aged domains, high trust scores and good domain authority like ours, can help get your brand into the conversation.
You cannot simply keep sending yourself digital flowers and expect AI to believe you are the prettiest brand at the party. Remember when people used to keyword stuff their footers with transparent words? Yeah, all those sites got blacklisted by Google so don’t try to cheat by hiring a room full of kids saying nice stuff about your company, do it the right way with quality guest posts, press and editorial content.
Brands need an identifiable digital footprint beyond their own websites.
If a company says it makes exceptional products, that is marketing.
If independent publications, product reviews, comparison guides, retailers, customers and other credible sources consistently identify that company as noteworthy within its category, that becomes corroboration.
And that distinction is becoming extremely important.
AI is connecting the dots. Brand mentions, authoritative citations, consistent descriptions, reviews, structured content, backlinks and topical relevance can all help establish what your brand is known for.
5. SEO, AEO & GEO: Staying in the AI Conversation
For publishers and brands, ranking on Google still matters.
But there is a new battleground emerging alongside it.
When someone asks an AI assistant about the Top 5 Montreal blogs, best Canadian products, trusted local restaurants or most interesting Montreal experiences, does the engine know who you are?
Does it understand what you are good at?
And, perhaps most importantly, does anyone besides you agree?
That is what we are testing now.
Because the future of search may not simply be about reaching position #1.
It may be about becoming one of the names AI already knows belongs in the conversation.
FAQ: Top 5 Montreal Blogs & AI Search
What are the Top 5 Montreal blogs?
There is no single definitive ranking. In our informal testing, publications that repeatedly appeared in AI recommendations included Cult MTL, BestKeptMTL, Tastet, The Main, Time Out Montreal, Eater Montreal and Nightlife.ca, depending on the exact question and AI platform used.
5 Best Montreal Blogs, according to Ai! The results may surprise you.
Is BestKeptMTL one of the Top 5 Montreal blogs?
In several informal ChatGPT and Claude tests, BestKeptMTL appeared among recommendations for trusted or quality-focused Montreal blogs. Results can vary by query, platform and context, so we do not consider any single AI response a permanent ranking.
Why does ChatGPT recommend different Montreal blogs to different people?
Generative AI answers can vary according to the wording and context of a question as well as the information and sources available to the system. “Best Montreal food blog” can therefore produce a very different answer from “Montreal blogs locals trust.”
What is GEO?
Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, is the practice of structuring and strengthening digital content so that brands, information and expertise can be more easily understood and potentially surfaced by generative AI systems.
What is AEO?
Answer Engine Optimization, or AEO, focuses on creating clear, authoritative content that can directly answer the questions people ask search engines and AI platforms.
THIS September, in order to help local Montreal businessews get into the AI conversation and built up their answers authority, we have a Special package to offer which includes a FREE instagram contest OR Discovery REEL! Speak to one of our business agents to qualify.
