Get named when someone asks AI for the best near them

Show up in Google's AI answers for local

Google is stitching AI answers straight into local search. Ask it for a recommendation and you increasingly get an AI-generated summary that names businesses, above or instead of the usual results. Being one of those names is fast becoming as important as the map pack itself.

68%

of local searches

~45%

use AI for recs

AI Overviews now appear on as many as 68% of local searches, and around 45% of consumers use an AI tool for local recommendations. Source: 2026 local search data.

It builds on your local foundations

Google's AI answers pull from the same well as its local results: your Business Profile, your reviews, Maps, and trusted local sources. There's no separate trick, the business that's strong on those foundations is the one Google's AI is comfortable surfacing. Everything in this academy feeds it.

Make yourself easy to summarise

Clear, factual content about your services, area and what sets you apart gives Google's AI clean material to quote. Well-structured pages, reviews it can read, and consistent information all make you the easy, safe business to name in a generated answer.

AI answers are the new top of the local page. Win them the same way you win the pack, with a strong profile, real reviews and clear, consistent content.

Do this now

Check whether Google's AI answers surface my business for my key local searches, who they feature instead, and what to strengthen to get included.

Check it yourself, freeAudit your AI visibility →See if ChatGPT cites you →Check AI Overviews →Check your Perplexity rank →Generate your llms.txt →