AI search for local businesses: what our citation study suggests
AI search for local businesses: what our study of ChatGPT, AI Overviews and other assistants found, its limits, and the plain steps worth taking for your site.
ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews now answer some searches with a paragraph and a few links. If you run a local business, the fair question is whether those answers will send you customers and what, if anything, you should change.
We ran a small study to see how assistants pick their sources. Here's what it found and what we'd do with it for a local business.
What we measured
On September 11, 2026, we ran 12 buyer-intent queries in one software category through four AI assistants plus Google. That came to 96 runs. For each query we compared what the assistants cited with Google's organic top ten, and we checked six properties of every page to see whether any of them lined up with being cited.
The full method and data are in our write-up on AI-cited versus ranked pages. Here's the short version.
What it found
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| URLs shared with Google's top ten | 2 to 12 percent |
| Companies shared with Google's top ten | 34 to 54 percent |
| Cited pages with Article or BlogPosting markup | 41.6% |
| Ranked but never-cited pages with that markup | 0% |
| AI Overviews citations kept between runs | 62.7% |
| ChatGPT citations kept between runs | 4.5% |
The assistants mostly cited different pages from the ones Google ranked. They named many of the same companies. That suggests the company matters more to them than the specific URL Google picked.
Of the six page properties we measured, only Article/BlogPosting markup separated cited pages from pages that ranked and were never cited.
Citations also moved around. Google's AI Overviews kept 62.7% of its citations between runs. ChatGPT kept 4.5%. Ask ChatGPT the same question twice and you may get a different set of sources.
The limits
This was one software category, collected in one window. Home services weren't in it. The markup finding is a correlation. We can't tell you BlogPosting markup causes citations, only that in this sample the cited pages had it and the ranked-but-ignored pages didn't. Treat everything here as a direction worth testing.
What it suggests for a local business
The company overlap is the useful part. If assistants care about which business to name, your job is to make your business easy to identify and easy to describe correctly.
Use one business name everywhere. The same name on your website, your Google Business Profile, your directory listings and your invoices. Mixed versions make it harder for any system to tell they're the same company. We covered the listing side in NAP citations for contractors.
Write a real About page. Who runs the business, what you do, which towns you serve and how to reach you. Plain sentences. Ours is at /about if you want a reference for length.
Add Organization schema. On your home page, mark up your business name, logo, phone, address if customers visit, and links to your profiles. For a roofer, the more specific RoofingContractor type fits. The setup is in roofing contractor schema.
Put BlogPosting markup on articles. With a headline, author, date published and date modified. It's the one property that lined up with citation in our sample, it's cheap to add, and it's correct markup for an article regardless.
Answer questions plainly. If homeowners ask how long a roof replacement takes, put a direct answer in the first lines of the page and the detail after. A direct answer is easier for a person to use and easier for any system to quote. For a remodeler, the page worth writing first is usually what a kitchen or bathroom remodel costs in your area, with ranges from your own jobs; we list the other questions worth a page on home remodeling SEO.
Get mentioned by other sites. Local news, suppliers, trade associations, chambers of commerce, directories. The company overlap in our study suggests being known matters, and other people writing about you is how a business gets known beyond its own site.
Don't overpromise
Nobody can promise you a spot in ChatGPT. Our own numbers show citations shifting between runs of the same question. If someone sells AI placement with a guarantee, ask them how they'd measure it next week.
Every step above is also sound practice for regular Google search, so none of it is wasted if AI answers change direction again.
Next step
Check that your business name matches across your site and your Business Profile, then look at your About page with fresh eyes. If you'd like us to look over your schema and name signals, send us your site and we'll reply the same business day.
For a fuller local playbook, read how to get your business recommended by ChatGPT, or see what we do in AI search optimization.
Frequently asked questions
Do ChatGPT and AI Overviews cite the pages that rank on Google?
Rarely the same pages. In our September 2026 study, assistants shared only 2 to 12 percent of URLs with Google's top ten. The overlap in companies was 34 to 54 percent.
Can anyone guarantee my business shows up in ChatGPT?
No. In our study ChatGPT kept only 4.5% of its citations from one run to the next. Treat any guarantee of AI placement as a sales line.
What can a local business do to show up in AI answers?
Make your company easy to name: the same business name everywhere, a clear About page, Organization schema, BlogPosting markup on articles, plain answers to customer questions, and mentions on other sites.
