A few years ago, "getting found online" meant Google. It still does, but something else has joined it. People now open ChatGPT or an AI assistant on their phone and ask "where's good for brunch near me?" or "who does MOTs in Wallasey?". Local business AI search is no longer a thing that is coming. It is here.
How many people actually do this?
More than you'd guess. In June 2026, a Yext study of 600 UK consumers found that 36.7% had used AI to find a local business in the past month. The same study found that 24% had tried a new local business because an AI recommended it.
That second number is the one to sit with. Nearly a quarter of people have walked into somewhere new because an AI told them to.
What local business AI search actually reads
AI assistants don't know your business. They read about it, and then they summarise. The things they read are mostly:
- your website, if you have one
- your Google Business Profile: hours, address, category and reviews
- directories and review sites that mention you
Notice what is not on that list. Your Facebook page is hard for these tools to read properly, and your Instagram grid is just pictures to them. If your only presence is social media, you are mostly invisible to AI search.
What a website needs to be readable
The good news is that AI tools are not fussy about design. They are fussy about clarity. A website that works well for local business AI search says, in plain text:
- what you are: "a dog groomer in Crosby", not "your pet's happy place"
- where you are, with a full address
- when you are open, as proper opening hours
- what you offer and roughly what it costs
- what people say about you, with your real reviews
Behind the scenes there is also a layer of structured information, written in a format Google and AI tools are built to read. It tells them "this is a local business, here is its name, address, phone number and opening hours" without any guessing. Every site I build has it.
No, nobody can promise you'll be recommended
Be wary of anyone who guarantees you will show up in ChatGPT. Nobody controls that, and anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
What you can do is make sure the tools have accurate, readable information about you. That gives you a proper chance of being included when someone nearby asks the question. Without a website, you don't even have that.
Where to start
Two things, in this order. First, claim and complete your Google Business Profile, because AI tools lean on it heavily. Second, get a small website that says the plain things above and links to that profile.
That is exactly what my sites are built for. Five pages, phone first, set up for Google and AI search, linked to your Google listing, for a one-off £595. And I build it first, for free, so you can see it before you pay a penny. Here's how it works, or get your free demo.
