When your customer asks AI instead of Google

Reviewed September 6, 2026.

Somebody in London needs an electrician. A year ago they typed "electrician near me" and got a map with three pins and a page of links. This year there is a decent chance they open ChatGPT or Gemini and ask which electrician they should call.

What comes back may be a shortlist with reasons and source links, a map, or a longer comparison. The format varies by product and question. A customer can make a decision from that answer before opening your site.

That changes where a business needs to be understood. Your website still matters, but it may be one source behind a recommendation rather than the first page a customer opens.

How big this actually is

BrightLocal’s 2026 consumer survey found the share of people using AI tools to find local businesses jumped from six percent to forty five percent in a single year, putting AI third behind Google and Facebook as a discovery channel. That was a survey of about a thousand American adults, so treat it as directional rather than a Canadian number. Directionally it is enough.

Do not assume a strong Google position guarantees an AI recommendation. Answers vary by query, location, product and time. Check the actual response and its sources before drawing conclusions.

Where the answer comes from

For a question such as “best HVAC company in London Ontario,” an AI search product may consult several sources and present its own summary. Its answer can still contain errors, so inspect the cited evidence.

Google says its AI features may issue related searches across subtopics to assemble an answer and supporting links. Other assistants may use web search, but their sources and methods differ. There is no published universal checklist that guarantees a local recommendation.

As a practical starting point, check four places where customers can encounter information about you:

• Your Google Business Profile
• Your business data across other platforms, Bing Places, Apple, Yelp, Foursquare and the directory aggregators that feed them
• Reviews, and specifically what reviewers say, not just the score
• Your own website, if it is readable and says something concrete

Agreement across those places helps people understand the business. Treat that as good publishing practice, not proof of a particular AI ranking formula.

Give a customer, or a search tool, something clear and verifiable to work with.

Six things that make your business easier to understand

1. Keep your business facts consistent. Name, address, phone, hours and services should describe the same real business everywhere. Fix contradictory facts first. Ordinary address abbreviations are not evidence of a ranking penalty.

It is dull work, but it also prevents customers from calling an old number or arriving at a closed shop.

2. Check other business listings. Bing Places and Apple Business Connect are useful places to review your public details. Accurate listings help customers on those platforms. Claiming one does not guarantee that an AI assistant will recommend you.

3. Fill out the Google Business Profile properly. Right primary category, real service list, service area or address, current hours including holidays, recent photos. This does double duty because it still drives the map pack.

4. Reviews with useful detail. Honest descriptions of the work help a reader understand what you actually do. Invite feedback consistently, without incentives or selecting only happy customers. Reply helpfully and avoid sharing private customer details.

Recent reviews can reassure a customer that the business is active. There is no universal review age or count that earns an AI recommendation.

5. Write pages that answer questions in the customer's words. A page titled "Services" containing a paragraph about your commitment to excellence gives an assistant nothing to quote. A page titled "Emergency furnace repair in London, Ontario" that says what you charge for a call out, how fast you get there, which neighbourhoods you cover and what brands you service gives it a whole answer.

This is the same starting point as writing for people: answer a real question with useful, truthful content. Search visibility still needs to be checked rather than assumed.

6. Describe the business clearly in structured data. Relevant markup can describe facts already visible on your page. Google says there is no special schema required for its AI features, and inclusion is not guaranteed. Do not buy FAQ or review markup on a promise that it will put you into an AI answer.

Getting onto other people's lists

Look at the sources in actual answers for your market. They may include local roundups, industry directories, chamber listings or trade association pages. Those are useful places to check whether your business is represented accurately.

Getting into a relevant directory or local roundup takes ordinary relationship work. Contact the maintainer, explain why the business belongs and supply accurate details. Do not buy fabricated endorsements or present paid placement as independent praise.

Test it yourself, monthly

Write down the five questions a customer would actually ask, "best dentist accepting new patients in London Ontario," "who fixes garage doors near Masonville," that kind of thing. Ask them in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Check Google's AI Overview for the same phrases.

Record whether you were named, what was said about you, and which sources were cited. That last column is the useful one: it tells you exactly which platforms are shaping your reputation, and those are the ones to fix first.

Do it again in a month, with the date, location and product recorded. This is a spot check rather than a stable ranking: another person or another session may see a different answer.

Where to start if you only have an afternoon. Claim and fill in Bing Places. Fix any mismatch between your Google listing and your website footer. Then ask an assistant to recommend a business like yours in your city and see who it names.

What not to do

Do not buy an "AI visibility" subscription from someone who cannot explain what they will change. Use your actual business name on Google. Adding promotional keywords can violate its representation guidelines. Do not generate fifty thin blog posts hoping to be cited; a pile of repetitive pages gives customers little reason to trust you and is no guarantee of visibility.

The useful foundation is familiar: accurate data, honest reviews and clear pages. Check what the tools actually say, correct errors at the source, and measure whether visitors turn into relevant enquiries.