I was sitting with a contractor last month, showing him his Google Business Profile audit. Everything looked decent. Good reviews, clean website, solid Map Pack position. Then I pulled up ChatGPT and typed “best roofer in San Antonio for hail damage repair.”
His business wasn’t mentioned. Not in the top recommendations, not in the follow-up questions, nowhere. Three of his competitors were. He stared at the screen for about five seconds and said, “Where is that pulling from?”
That’s the question every local business owner should be asking right now.
What AI search actually is
When someone opens ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google’s Gemini and types “find me a plumber near me,” the AI doesn’t just Google it and repeat the results. It pulls from a mix of sources: your Google Business Profile, Yelp, BBB, Angi, Thumbtack, your website, Reddit threads, even local news articles. Then it synthesizes all of that into a recommendation.
A study that tracked 267,000 AI search citations across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude found something that would probably surprise you. The most-cited source wasn’t Google. It was Yelp, with 28% more AI citations than Google Business Profiles. Reddit came in third. Then Angi, BBB, and Thumbtack.
That means if you’ve spent years optimizing for Google and ignoring everywhere else, you might be invisible to the fastest-growing search channel.
How big is this, really
BrightLocal’s 2026 consumer survey found that 45% of consumers now use AI tools like ChatGPT to find local businesses. That’s up over 7x from the year before. It’s not replacing Google. People still search Google, and 95% of Americans use traditional search monthly. But AI search is a new channel on top of the existing ones, and it’s growing fast.
Here’s what makes it different from Google. When someone Googles “roofer near me,” they get a map with three businesses and a list of blue links. They click, they call. When someone asks ChatGPT the same question, they get a conversational answer. “Based on reviews and ratings, here are three highly-rated roofers in your area.” The AI picks favorites. If you’re not one of them, there’s no page two to scroll to. You’re just not there.
How AI decides which businesses to recommend
I’ve spent real time reading the technical documentation on how this works, and it comes down to three things.
First, the AI needs to find you. It searches its index for businesses that match the query. If your website says “we offer services in the greater metropolitan area” instead of “we do roof repair in Alamo Heights, Stone Oak, and Boerne,” the AI can’t match you to a specific search. Specific terms matter more than you’d think. A page that mentions “San Antonio hail damage roof repair” scores dramatically higher than one that says “roofing services in the area.” Every generic phrase is a missed connection.
Second, it checks whether your information is consistent across the internet. If your phone number on Yelp doesn’t match your Google profile, or your business name is slightly different on BBB, the AI treats you as less trustworthy. It’s looking for what the engineers call “multi-source corroboration.” When multiple independent websites describe the same business using the same details, the AI treats that as confirmation you’re real and credible.
Third, it checks whether your content contains specific, verifiable facts it can cite. “We offer competitive pricing” gives the AI nothing to work with. “Roof replacement for a 2,000 sq ft home runs $8,000-$15,000 and takes 2-3 days” contains three things the AI can actually cite. Price range, square footage, timeline. The more concrete facts on your pages, the more likely you are to show up in AI answers.
How to check if AI can find your business right now
This takes about five minutes. Open ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini. In each one, type three searches:
Your business name plus your city. (“Acme Roofing San Antonio” or whatever yours is.) The AI should know basic facts about you: what you do, where you are, your rating.
Your service plus your city. (“Roof repair San Antonio.”) See if you show up in the recommendations. Note who does show up and why the AI chose them.
A question your customers ask before they hire someone. (“How much does a roof replacement cost in San Antonio?” or “How do I choose a good plumber?”) If the AI cites your website or your Google profile in the answer, you’re in good shape. If it cites three competitors and a Reddit thread, you have work to do.
When I run this test for the businesses I audit, about 7 out of 10 don’t show up at all in AI recommendations for their primary service. The ones that do tend to have three things in common: a complete Google Business Profile with recent reviews, consistent information across multiple directories, and a website that actually states specific facts about what they do and what it costs.
What you can do about it today
The good news is that the things that make you visible to AI search are the same things that help you rank on Google. They’re not competing strategies. A complete Google profile, consistent directory listings, real reviews, and a website with specific content about your services and the cities you serve. That foundation works for both.
The businesses getting ahead right now are the ones adding two things most competitors skip. First, they’re making sure they’re listed on the directories AI actually pulls from: not just Google, but Yelp, BBB, Apple Business Connect, Angi, and Thumbtack. Apple Business Connect alone now feeds Apple Maps, Siri, and a bunch of other Apple services across 200 countries. It’s free and takes 30 minutes.
Second, they’re putting real facts on their websites. Not marketing copy. Facts. Pricing ranges, timelines, process descriptions, the specific cities they serve. Every concrete detail is something an AI can cite. Every vague sentence is something it skips.
I don’t think AI search replaces Google anytime soon. But I do think the businesses that show up in both places are going to have a real advantage over the ones that only show up in one. And right now, the bar is still low enough that a few hours of real effort puts you ahead of most of your market.
If you want to see where you stand, I built a free audit tool that checks the things Google and AI search both care about. Takes 30 seconds.