Do famous interior designers come first in ChatGPT?

Being famous does not guarantee the first place in an AI answer. We asked ChatGPT and Perplexity about five of the best-known interior designers in the world. Both described every one of them well. But when we asked the question a client would ask, in the designer's own city and style, the famous name came first in only 5 of 10 answers. It came lower down in 3 and was not named in 2.

What did we ask?

On 22 October 2026 we asked ChatGPT, with web search on, and Perplexity two questions about each of five designers: Kelly Wearstler, Pierre Yovanovitch, Studio KO, Vincent Van Duysen and India Mahdavi.

• First: "What is [designer] known for as an interior designer?"
• Second: the kind of question a client types, in the designer's city and style, for example "Best interior designer in Los Angeles for a bold, luxurious home".

That makes 20 answers. We asked for a short list with one line per studio, so the length of each list and the short descriptions come partly from our question. We ran it once, on one day; answers change between runs. Google's AI answers were not part of this test. Our method page explains how we run checks like this.

Both tools knew all five designers

Asked what each designer is known for, both tools answered in a few clear words. A few of them:

• Kelly Wearstler. ChatGPT: "bold, eclectic luxury interiors mixing Hollywood Regency, Art Deco, modernism, and rich materials." Perplexity: "bold, maximalist interiors that mix rich textures, patterns, vintage and contemporary pieces."
• Vincent Van Duysen. ChatGPT: "serene, tactile minimalism: warm neutrals, natural materials, monastic calm." Perplexity: "serene, timeless interiors that pair clean geometry with tactile, natural materials."
• Pierre Yovanovitch. ChatGPT: "refined French luxury: sculptural spaces, understated elegance, strong architecture, and custom furnishings."

The descriptions come from pages written about each designer. Where ChatGPT showed its sources, they included design magazines and marketplaces such as Wallpaper, Architectural Digest, Elle Decor and 1stdibs.

On a client's question, the famous name came first in half the answers

In total the famous designer came first in 5 of 10 answers, lower down in 3 and was not named in 2. Other strong studios took the first place: Joseph Dirand Architecture twice in ChatGPT's Paris answers, CO.STUDIO in Perplexity's Antwerp answer, Laura Gonzalez in ChatGPT's colourful Paris answer, and Pierre Yovanovitch in Perplexity's warm, minimal villa answer.

The two tools rarely agreed on the first name

For 4 of the 5 client questions, ChatGPT and Perplexity put a different studio first. Only for Kelly Wearstler did both tools put the same name at the top. A client who asks one tool can get a different first name than a client who asks the other.

What does this mean for a studio?

The tools answer the client's exact words. A client asks for warm and minimal, or colourful and characterful, and the tools name the studios that pages describe in those words. A famous name helps, but it is not enough on its own.

In our test, the first place for a specific question often went to another strong studio, not the most famous name. So it is worth checking whether your own website and the places that write about you use the words your clients use:

1. Say what kind of work you do, in your clients' words. Warm, minimal, colourful, coastal: whatever is true for you, written on your home page and your project pages.
2. Say where you work. The city and the area, written out.
3. Make sure others describe you the same way. Directories, design lists and magazines that cover your city.

None of this guarantees a place in an answer. No one can honestly promise that. But it gives ChatGPT and Perplexity the words they need to match you to the right client.

How do you see what ChatGPT says about your studio?

Ask it the questions your clients would ask, in your city and your style, twice. Or run the free AI check: it asks ChatGPT and Perplexity what your clients ask, live, and shows you whether your studio comes up, and who is named instead.

fioel is a design studio in Amsterdam that works only with interior designers and interior architects, worldwide. We design their websites and help clients find them, on Google and when they ask AI for a designer.