How AI is changing local search — and what to do about it.

For twenty years, local marketing meant ranking on a results page. Now Google summarizes answers above the links, and a growing share of customers skip search entirely and ask an AI assistant. The page is dissolving into the answer.

What's actually changed

AI Overviews answer many local questions directly — fewer clicks reach websites. Chat assistants recommend specific businesses by name. Voice queries return one answer, not ten. Being #4 on a page nobody scrolls is the new invisible.

What still decides winners

The same trust signals, weighted harder: a complete and active Google Business Profile, reviews with substance, consistent business details across the web, structured data, and website content that answers questions plainly enough to be quoted.

The moves to make now

Audit your business facts everywhere for consistency. Turn your most-asked customer questions into clear pages. Add schema markup. Grow reviews that mention specific services. Publish genuinely local content — AI loves specificity it can attribute.

Why early matters

AI recommendations are self-reinforcing: businesses cited today become the pattern cited tomorrow. The gap being built right now will be expensive to close later.

The bottom line

Same fundamentals, higher stakes, first-mover advantage. This is the thinking behind our whole AEO approach — and it's included in the Growth Plan.