Key facts
- gpt-5.4-mini answered the same Vancouver home services Google Ads question on three separate occasions on 2026-09-23; browsing stayed off and no setting was touched between any of the three attempts.
- Run 1 named 5 agencies, run 2 named 6, and run 3 named 7, for 18 total mentions across the three runs and 15 distinct names.
- Major Tom was the only agency named in all three runs. Pound & Grain appeared in two of the three runs (run 2 and run 3). The remaining 13 distinct names each appeared in exactly one run.
- In every run, the model told the reader that agency name matters less than proof of home-services experience specifically, call tracking, lead-quality tracking, and Google Local Services Ads management.
- Major Tom was described differently across runs, as a stronger fit for “larger budgets and broader strategy” in run 2, and “more enterprise-leaning than niche home-services specialists” in run 2 as well, and as a safe first call for any budget size in run 3.
What we asked and how
gpt-5.4-mini was asked, three times over on 2026-09-23, “Which Google Ads agencies in Vancouver are worth hiring for a home services company?”, each attempt a clean session, en-CA locale, no browsing.
This prompt narrows two ways at once, by city and by client type, home services, which is a more specific ask than a general “best Google Ads agency” question. We wanted to see whether that extra specificity produced a more stable list than the broader dental-agency prompt tested on the same date.
The full list, run by run
Run 1 named: Major Tom, Savvy Search Marketing, Blue Meta, TGE Marketing & Advisory, and Vireo Video.
Run 2 named: Major Tom, 1UP Digital Marketing, Web3 Marketing, Pound & Grain, The Status Bureau, and Jelly Digital Marketing & PR.
Run 3 named: Major Tom, 1st on the List Promotion, Search & Gather, Marketing Success, LoKnow, Pound & Grain, and Modern Theory.
What repeated across the runs, and what didn't
Major Tom is the standout here, the only one of 15 distinct names to appear in all three runs. Pound & Grain appeared in two of the three, runs 2 and 3, both times described as a stronger fit for creative and brand work alongside paid media rather than a pure home-services specialist.
Every other name, 13 of the 15 distinct agencies, appeared once and only once: Savvy Search Marketing, Blue Meta, TGE Marketing & Advisory, and Vireo Video only in run 1; 1UP Digital Marketing, Web3 Marketing, The Status Bureau, and Jelly Digital Marketing & PR only in run 2; 1st on the List Promotion, Search & Gather, Marketing Success, LoKnow, and Modern Theory only in run 3. This is a somewhat more stable pattern than the dental-agency prompt tested the same day, which had zero repeats at all, but it still means most of any single answer would change if you asked again.
What this does and doesn't tell you
This shows that Major Tom was the one name gpt-5.4-mini returned consistently for this exact prompt, on this date, with browsing off, across three tries. It does not show that Major Tom is objectively the best fit for a Vancouver home services company, we did not test service quality, pricing, or client results for any agency named here, and we have no way to know what a browsing-enabled session or a different model would return.
It also does not explain why Major Tom repeated in every run while the other 14 names didn't. That could reflect market size, brand visibility, or simply chance across a sample of three; this dataset can't distinguish between those explanations.
The advice that repeated more than the names did
Across all three runs, the model converged on the same underlying advice regardless of which agencies it happened to name: ask about experience with specific home-services trades like plumbing, HVAC, roofing, or electrical; ask how the agency tracks calls versus form fills, not just clicks; ask whether they manage Google Local Services Ads alongside standard Search campaigns; and ask whether they optimize toward cost per booked job rather than cost per lead.
That checklist showed up, worded differently, in every single run, more consistently than any individual agency name did.
Related questions
Major Tom was the only agency named in all three runs on 2026-09-23. Pound & Grain appeared in two of the three runs. The remaining 13 distinct names each appeared in only one run.
No. This test only shows what one AI model, with browsing off, returned three times for one prompt on one date. It does not measure the agency's actual results, pricing, or fit for any specific business.
Eighteen name mentions across three runs, covering 15 distinct agencies once repeats are counted once each.
Slightly. This prompt produced one name in all three runs and one more in two of three. The dental marketing agency prompt, tested the same date on the same model, produced zero names that repeated across any two runs.
The model consistently raised four questions across all three runs: has the agency run campaigns for trades like plumbing, HVAC, or roofing; how do they track calls versus form fills; do they manage Google Local Services Ads; and do they optimize for booked jobs rather than raw lead count.
Sources
SearchPod manages Google Ads for clients and did not surface in any of the three sessions this test ran, which asked specifically about Vancouver agencies. The material above is a straight transcript from one model on one date, not a verified ranking of any agency that came up.
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