ChatGPT and Google AI Mode recommend different fractional CFO and outsourced accounting firms
Asked the same 8 questions in the same week, the two assistants agreed on the leading firm not once.
The Shortlist Report ·
109Firms named
17%Named in both
0 of 8Same top firm
483Responses measured
Key findings
Across 8 questions about fractional CFO and outsourced accounting firms, ChatGPT and Google AI Mode named the same top firm zero times, measured by The Shortlist Report over 483 responses collected up to August 10, 2026.
Of the 109 fractional CFO and outsourced accounting firms named often enough to report in either engine, only 19 (17%) were named in both. ChatGPT named 52 firms Google AI Mode never named, and Google AI Mode named 38 firms ChatGPT never named.
The average overlap between the two engines' top 5 firms on the same question was 1.6 of 5.
This means a ranking of fractional CFO and outsourced accounting firms drawn from one AI assistant does not describe the other, and any list published without naming its engine is incomplete.
Which firms each engine knows
Questions, out of 8, on which each firm appeared in the published table. A firm with a count in one column and zero in the other is absent from one of the two places buyers ask.
Counts are questions on which the firm cleared the reporting threshold. Firms appearing on fewer than two questions in total are omitted.
Firm
ChatGPT
Google AI Mode
Presence
Pilot
3
4
both
Burkland Associates
3
3
both
FocusCFO
0
5
Google AI Mode only
Kruze Consulting
2
3
both
AccountingDepartment.com
1
3
Google AI Mode-leaning
Baker Tilly
0
4
Google AI Mode only
Graphite Financial
1
3
Google AI Mode-leaning
Paro
1
3
Google AI Mode-leaning
RSM
2
2
both
Bench
1
2
both
Bookkeeper360
1
2
both
Cherry Bekaert
0
3
Google AI Mode only
Deloitte
2
1
both
inDinero
0
3
Google AI Mode only
Accountably
2
0
ChatGPT only
Acuity
2
0
ChatGPT only
Adams Brown
1
1
both
airCFO
1
1
both
Ascent CFO Solutions
1
1
both
Blueprint CFO
1
1
both
BPM
2
0
ChatGPT only
CFO Advisors
1
1
both
Civil CFO
1
1
both
CliftonLarsonAllen
0
2
Google AI Mode only
indinero
2
0
ChatGPT only
Merritt Bookkeeping
1
1
both
NOW CFO
0
2
Google AI Mode only
Propeller Industries
1
1
both
QuickBooks Live
1
1
both
Xendoo
0
2
Google AI Mode only
Question by question
Each engine's top 5, side by side. Percentages are not comparable between the two columns — see the note below.
Percentages are not comparable across engines. Google AI Mode returns shorter answers naming fewer firms per response, which concentrates share. An 80% in one column does not mean the same thing as an 80% in the other. What is comparable is membership — whether a firm appears at all — which is why the table above leads with counts rather than percentages.
One category. This measures fractional CFO and outsourced accounting firms only. Whether the same divergence holds elsewhere is unmeasured, and we do not assume it.
Two engines. Other assistants are unmeasured and may agree with either, or neither.
Not a quality judgement. Neither engine is right. This measures what each says, not which firms are better.