How Consistent Are LLM (Large Language Model AI) Answers?
Here’s something that might surprise you.
If you ask an AI like Google’s AI Overview or ChatGPT on your desktop, “Samsung vs Sony, which is better?” and then ask that exact same question on your phone, you’ll likely get two different answers. One version says neither is better, and another suggesting Samsung is better? Ask again tomorrow, you’re likely to get something different yet again.
Here are screenshots of both mobile to the right and desktop to the left, both asking the same questions, yet receiving completely different responses.
AI Overview (Desktop):
AI Overview (Mobile):
Why AI Doesn’t Always Agree with Itself
LLMs aren’t like search engines that pull a static answer from one source. They generate answers, building them dynamically from patterns in data, probabilities, and context.
That means each response can shift depending on:
- Device: Mobile vs desktop versions might use slightly different models or interaction layers.
- Session context: If you’ve chatted about tech before, it may ‘remember’ that tone or preference.
- Updates: Some AI systems are continuously retrained or refreshed with new information.
- Regional data: A model might lean toward results more relevant to your country or market.
In short, LLMs aren’t designed for perfect consistency, they’re designed to sound natural and helpful in context. That’s great for conversation, but it can make factual reliability tricky.
AI Consistency vs. Human Consistency
Humans aren’t perfectly consistent either. If you ask five friends which phone is better, you’ll get five opinions, all influenced by experience. LLMs just automate that process. They’re reflecting our collective uncertainty, aggregated, scaled, and rephrased. That’s what makes them powerful, and unpredictable. They’re mirrors, not encyclopedias. And like any mirror, the reflection depends on the light you shine on it.
Why This Makes Tracking So Tricky
If AI systems can’t stay consistent with themselves, how reliable are the metrics behind them?
Right now, some tools can show how often your business appears in AI answers (or “AI overviews”) for certain prompts, but those figures only tell part of the story.
Because answers shift by device, time, and phrasing, your brand might appear in one response and vanish in another. Worse still, the context might change: one day your brand is recommended, the next it’s compared unfavorably.
That variability makes it difficult to measure true AI visibility. The takeaway? Tracking how often you appear matters, but tracking how you appear, and what tone surrounds your mention, is even more important.
If your business sells a product, these variations can actually be valuable. They surface patterns in how AI interprets public perception, revealing what customers emphasize (or criticise). In that way, AI can expose product weaknesses just as much as marketing blind spots, something we explore in our related article: Is Your Problem Marketing or Product? Using LLMs to Get Product Information Could Be All You Need to Get Back on Track!
What Businesses Can Do About It
Businesses can’t control what AI says, but they can influence it.
Here’s how:
- Keep your online content accurate and up-to-date.
- AI learns from what’s published, so refresh key info regularly.
- Show real-world experience.
- Publish case studies, testimonials, and photos, AI weighs credibility.
- Be consistent across platforms.
- Align your messaging on your website, socials, and review sites.
- Don’t rely solely on AI visibility.
- Track real engagement, conversions, and human feedback
The more you control the source material, the less room there is for AI to get confused about who you are.
So, how consistent are LLM answers?
Not very. And that’s the point. They’re built to be adaptive, not absolute. But that adaptability means businesses and users alike need to think critically about what they see. The AI answer you get today might not be the one you get tomorrow, and that’s exactly why your own voice online still matters most.
At Sleepi Digital, we help brands cut through the noise, auditing websites, content, and visibility to make sure that wherever your business appears (even in AI), it shows up accurately and consistently.
Let’s make your digital story consistent, no matter who’s asking the question. Contact us today.