Field notes on being found by search, and by the machines that answer it

GEO / AI search 18 min read Updated 26 August 2026

Why ChatGPT cites American sources for Canadian queries

Ask a generative engine to recommend a supplier in Montréal or Toronto and look at what it names. Most of the time the sources are American. The usual suspects, bias and content quality, aren’t the cause. What matters is whether a model can resolve you as a Canadian entity at all. This article covers the test, the four mechanisms behind it, the schema that fixes the readable part, and the corroboration work that fixes the rest.