Does ChatGPT Use Foursquare? How AI Gets Local Business Info

When you ask ChatGPT for the best coffee shop near you or a recommended plumber in your city, the answer does not come from Google. It comes primarily from Foursquare. OpenAI partnered with Foursquare to power ChatGPT's local search capabilities, making Foursquare the single most important data source for local business visibility in AI search.

Most local business owners have never thought about their Foursquare listing. Google Business Profile dominates local SEO conversations. But for AI visibility, Foursquare matters more than any other single platform. This guide explains exactly how the ChatGPT-Foursquare connection works, what data ChatGPT pulls, and how to optimize your Foursquare listing for maximum AI visibility. For the full picture of all data sources ChatGPT uses, see our guide on how ChatGPT finds local businesses (/blog/how-chatgpt-finds-local-businesses).

How Does the ChatGPT-Foursquare Partnership Work?

When ChatGPT receives a local business query, it triggers an internal tool call to Foursquare's Places API. This is not a one-time data import. ChatGPT queries Foursquare in real time for each local search request, pulling current business data including names, addresses, phone numbers, categories, ratings, hours, and geographic coordinates.

Foursquare shut down its consumer-facing city guide app in 2025, but the underlying data platform continued to expand. Foursquare's Places database contains information on over 100 million points of interest worldwide. This data powers not just ChatGPT but also Apple Maps, Snap, Samsung, and hundreds of other platforms through Foursquare's enterprise API.

The practical implication is straightforward. If your business is not in Foursquare's database, or if your Foursquare listing is incomplete or inaccurate, ChatGPT cannot recommend your business to its 800 million weekly active users. No other single action has as much impact on ChatGPT visibility as optimizing your Foursquare listing.

What Data Does ChatGPT Pull from Foursquare?

ChatGPT pulls a comprehensive set of business fields from Foursquare's API. Understanding exactly which fields ChatGPT accesses tells you exactly what to optimize.

The core data fields include: business name (used for entity matching and display), full street address (used for proximity calculations and directions), phone number (used for entity verification across sources), business categories (used to match your business to user queries like "best Italian restaurant" or "plumber near me"), hours of operation (used to filter recommendations by current availability), user ratings and review counts (used as quality signals for recommendation ranking), photos (used to enrich conversational responses), and geographic coordinates (used for distance calculations in "near me" queries).

Each of these fields directly influences whether ChatGPT recommends your business. A missing phone number reduces entity confidence. Incorrect categories mean your business will not match relevant queries. Outdated hours may cause ChatGPT to skip your business for users searching during those times.

Why Does Foursquare Matter More Than Google Business Profile for ChatGPT?

Google Business Profile is the cornerstone of traditional local SEO. Every local business owner knows to optimize it. But ChatGPT does not have access to Google's proprietary local data. Google does not share Business Profile data with competitors.

This creates a critical blind spot. A business can have a perfect Google Business Profile with hundreds of reviews, complete information, and first-page rankings, and still be completely invisible to ChatGPT. The data ChatGPT uses comes from a separate ecosystem entirely.

Foursquare fills this role because it is an independent data platform that licenses its data to third parties. OpenAI can access Foursquare's API because Foursquare's business model is built on data licensing. Google's business model keeps its local data proprietary.

How Do You Optimize Your Foursquare Listing for ChatGPT?

Optimizing your Foursquare listing is the single highest-impact action for ChatGPT visibility. Follow these steps in order.

First, claim your listing at business.foursquare.com. If your business already exists in Foursquare's database (many do, created by users over the years), claim ownership to gain editing control. If your business does not exist, create a new listing.

Second, complete every available field. Your business name must match your legal business name exactly as it appears on your website, Yelp, and other directories. Enter your full street address, phone number, website URL, and hours of operation. Select all relevant business categories. Write a complete business description that includes your services, specialties, and service area.

Third, upload current photos. Businesses with photos receive more detailed treatment in ChatGPT's conversational answers. Include your storefront, interior, team, and product or service photos.

Fourth, verify accuracy against your other listings. Your Foursquare data must match your Yelp, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, and website data exactly. Inconsistencies across directories reduce AI confidence in your business entity. For more on why this matters, see why AI can't find your business (/blog/why-ai-cant-find-your-business).

What Other Data Sources Does ChatGPT Use Besides Foursquare?

While Foursquare is the primary source, ChatGPT cross-references multiple data sources to build its local business recommendations. Yelp provides review content, star ratings, and business descriptions that ChatGPT uses to assess quality and relevance. Yelp data appears in approximately one-third of AI search results.

Bing's web index provides supplementary data from your website and other web pages that mention your business. This is why having well-structured, content-rich web pages matters for AI visibility. ChatGPT can also access Apple Maps data for location verification and additional business details.

The multi-source approach means that businesses with strong, consistent data across Foursquare, Yelp, and their own website send the strongest signals to ChatGPT. A complete Foursquare listing backed by positive Yelp reviews and a well-structured website is the ideal combination for AI visibility. For a complete optimization plan covering all data sources, see how to improve AI visibility for your local business (/blog/ai-visibility-local-businesses).