Houzz, Instagram or a website: where clients look

In 60 AI answers about interior designers, not one source was Instagram. ChatGPT mostly cited the studios' own websites and magazines, and never Houzz. Perplexity looked at Houzz in 26 of its 30 answers, cited it in at least 5, and cited lists of designers most. So a studio needs its own site and its directory profiles to say the same, clearly.

Most clients still start with a person. In a Houzz survey of 2,866 of its users¹, 64 percent named recommendations or references among their top three reasons to hire a pro. But a name passed on by a friend is often looked up before anyone calls, and today that can mean asking an AI assistant.

What did we ask?

These are the same 60 answers as in How ChatGPT decides which interior designer to name. On 22 October 2026 we asked ChatGPT, with web search on, and Perplexity three questions a client might type, in Amsterdam, London, Milan, New York and Paris, twice per city, each time asking for a short list. Then we sorted the sources by what kind of site they were. Perplexity looks at a list of pages and cites some of them by number in its text. We kept the first 8 per answer, so a Perplexity citation counts here only when its number points to one of those 8. Its counts are a minimum: at least 80 citations, and 15 more we could not trace. Google's AI answers were not part of this test.

Instagram: none

Not one source was Instagram, in either assistant, in any city, cited or only looked at. We found no citation of LinkedIn either, though Perplexity looked at it twice.

Instagram is still where people fall for the work. But an assistant writes its answer from pages that describe a studio in words: who it is, where it works, what it has done. A grid of photographs with a short bio gives it very little to quote.

ChatGPT reads your website

ChatGPT cited 63 sources across its 30 answers. 28 of them were the studios' own websites, more than any other kind. 22 were magazines and design sites, such as Architectural Digest, Livingetc and Elle Decor. Directories and lists of designers made up 8, and Houzz none.

In a larger check of 605 ChatGPT answers it did cite Houzz, but in only 26 of them. So when ChatGPT backs up a name, the source is most often the studio's own site. That page then has to say clearly what the answer claims: the kind of homes, the city, the projects.

Perplexity looks at Houzz and cites lists

Perplexity looked at far more pages: 240 that we kept across its 30 answers, and it cited at least 80 of them. Houzz was among the pages it looked at in 26 of those answers, 48 times across its US and UK sites, but it cited Houzz at least 6 times, in 5 answers. Of the 80 citations, 38 were directories, design sites and lists of designers, Houzz included, 23 were blog posts by furniture, lighting and fabric brands, 11 were magazines, and 8 were studios' own websites.

The larger check showed Houzz more clearly: of 605 Perplexity answers, it cited Houzz in at least 196, more than any other site.

So a studio that is missing from Houzz and the directories of its city is harder for Perplexity to find, however good its own site is. And a profile with an old address or a different description can be repeated as it is.

What should a studio do?

1. Make your own website the clearest description of you. One plain sentence on the home page about who you are, where you work and what kind of projects you do, and a page for every project with the place, the year and the scope. Our guide to the project page shows the order.
2. Keep a correct Houzz profile. Same name, same city, same description as your site, with a few real projects. In our larger check it is the site Perplexity cited most.
3. Check the directories and lists for your city. Search for "interior designers in" your city and see which lists come up. If you are on them, make sure the details are right.
4. Keep Instagram for the work, and link it to the site. The bio should say the same as your home page sentence, and point to the website, where the words are.

None of this guarantees a place in an answer. But it gives both assistants the same clear words about you, wherever they look.

Where do you stand?

Ask ChatGPT and Perplexity the questions your clients would ask, in your city, and look at the sources under each answer. Or run the free AI check: it asks both, live, and shows whether your studio comes up and who is named instead.