How a Small Paramaribo Bakery Became ChatGPT’s First Recommendation
A small local study, a one-page website, and what it means for your business.
When people in Paramaribo, Suriname ask AI where to order a cake, who does it recommend?
I asked three AI tools five real customer questions, in English and in Dutch, and counted every answer. The best-known bakery in the country was named most often.
Here’s how ChatGPT explained its choice:
“Start with Kuku Sani. It explicitly offers delivery, publishes cake sizes and prices, and has a WhatsApp ordering process.” ChatGPT, asked “Who delivers cakes in Paramaribo?”, October 2026
This AI search case study shows why, and how you can run the same test for your own business.
Why I went looking
I was preparing my keynote for Social Media Conference Suriname 2026, “Stop Creating to Be Seen. Start Creating to Be Found.” The talk argues that customers no longer only find businesses by scrolling a feed. They ask questions, more and more often in AI tools, and whatever comes back decides who gets the call.
I didn’t want to make that case with numbers from the United States. I wanted to know if it holds up here, in a small market, with real local businesses, in the languages people actually use.
Who gets named?
Who gets recommended first, and why?
Does asking in Dutch change the answer?
And where does AI get its information about local businesses?
Those questions matter because business owners can’t see these answers. A customer asks ChatGPT, reads the answer and decides. That moment never shows up in Facebook or Instagram insights. And AI can only repeat what it can read online. In Suriname, that is often a Facebook page, a few reviews and maybe a website. Established bakeries have years of reviews, articles and tourism listings behind them. A small maker has to compete with that history.
How I ran it (you can too, in about an hour)
I kept the method simple on purpose, so any business owner can repeat it.
Pick real customer questions. Five questions people actually ask: the best bakery in Paramaribo, where to order a birthday cake, a custom wedding cake, who delivers cakes, and a gluten-free cake. Some broad, some very specific.
Ask in both languages. Every question in English and in Dutch.
Use three AI tools. ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. They read different sources, so they often give different lists.
Count two things. Every business AI named, and the one it put first or told the reader to start with. Being mentioned and being recommended are two different results.
Follow the sources. Where the tools showed their sources, note where the information came from: websites, directories, review sites or social media.
Ask the business. Once the numbers pointed to Kuku Sani, I sent them a message (on WhatsApp, of course) and asked how customers find them and why their website looks the way it does. They agreed to be featured.
5 questions × 2 languages × 3 tools = 30 answers, collected in October 2026.
In English | In Dutch |
What’s the best bakery in Paramaribo? | Wat is de beste bakkerij in Paramaribo? |
Where can I order a birthday cake in Paramaribo? | Waar kan ik een verjaardagstaart bestellen in Paramaribo? |
Custom wedding cake Suriname | Bruidstaart op maat Suriname |
Who delivers cakes in Paramaribo? | Wie bezorgt taarten in Paramaribo? |
Gluten-free cake Paramaribo | Glutenvrije taart Paramaribo |
One honest note: this is one snapshot. AI answers change every day. Run the same questions next month and you will see differences. The patterns are what matter.
Named is not the same as recommended
The biggest name got mentioned. The clearest answer got recommended.
Named (out of 30 answers) | Recommended first | |
Fernandes | 15 | 2 |
Kuku Sani | 13 | 7, more than any other business |
Five patterns in the answers
1. Broad question, big names. Specific question, small makers. When I asked for “the best bakery,” AI went to the established names with hundreds of reviews. The moment I asked for a birthday cake, a wedding cake or delivery, the small specialists took over. Most customer questions are specific.
2. Facebook was the most-cited source. More than bakery websites, more than directories. For wedding cakes, one tool built its whole answer from Instagram, Facebook and TikTok posts. Organic social media is what AI reads.
3. Dutch found more local businesses. In English, AI leaned on tourism sites and TripAdvisor. In Dutch, it found the actual bakers.
4. Nobody owns “glutenvrije taart” yet. One AI tool said it plainly: it couldn’t find a bakery in Paramaribo confirming gluten-free cakes online. The first baker who writes one clear sentence about it can own that question.
5. AI adjusts the answer to who’s asking. I asked from the United States, and ChatGPT assumed I wanted to send a cake to someone in Paramaribo. It labeled Kuku Sani “best for ordering a birthday cake from abroad” and told me to confirm payment options for international customers.
For Surinamese businesses, that’s a reminder that some of your customers live in the Netherlands, the US or elsewhere and are ordering for family back home. They can’t walk in. Clear prices, delivery details and easy WhatsApp ordering are what make you the safe choice for them.
Inside Kuku Sani’s one-page website
So I looked at their website. It’s one simple page, in Dutch. It says what they sell and where (“Taarten & Eetbare Prints, Paramaribo”). It lists sizes and prices, starting at SRD 1,475. It says they deliver anytime in Paramaribo. And it has an order button that writes the WhatsApp message for you.
That is almost word for word what ChatGPT gave as its reasons. No big budget. No webshop. When I searched the map for bakeries, they didn’t even show up near the top. They were simply the clearest answer to the question.
When I asked Kuku Sani how customers find them, they said:
“Most orders come in through Facebook. Sometimes, ChatGPT.”
And when I asked why they put prices and sizes on their website:
“So customers only message us when they’re ready to order. No back and forth. It saves us time.” Kuku Sani, Paramaribo (translated from Dutch)
They took a question they got every day on WhatsApp and answered it once, on their website. They did it to save time. That same decision is why AI recommends them first.
You don’t have to be the biggest. You have to be the clearest answer.
How to get recommended by ChatGPT: try this with your own business
Suriname is a small market with few online sources. That is a head start. When AI has only a handful of pages to read about your category, the business that publishes clear, specific answers first can own those questions for a long time, especially in Dutch.
Three things you can do this month:
Find the question you answer most on WhatsApp and put the answer on your website, with prices if you can.
Say what you do, where, and for whom in the same words on your website, your Facebook page and your Google profile.
Ask AI five customer questions once a month and write down who it names. That’s exactly how this study started.
Want to see what AI says about your business? Start with the free Found Audit, the checklist from my keynote.
About this Case study
I’ve worked in organic social media for more than 15 years, and my message has always been the same: build before you boost. Be clear, be useful, be credible, and then put money behind what already works. AI search hasn’t changed that. It has made it more important. AI cannot see an ad budget. It reads what you and other people publish about you, and repeats it.
I ran this study to show that this works in a real local market, with a real small business, and with a method anyone can repeat. My thanks to Kuku Sani for letting me share their story.
