Every few months a headline announces the end of Google. For a small business owner, that raises an uncomfortable question: if people start asking ChatGPT instead, is everything you have done to be found on Google wasted? Will AI replace Google search for local businesses?
The honest answer is that search is shifting, but gradually and unevenly, and in a way that rewards most of the same work. Here is what is actually happening, what is uncertain, and what to do about it.
What is actually changing
Three things are clearly true at the time of writing.
First, many people now use AI assistants for questions they used to search: planning, comparing options, understanding a problem. ChatGPT in particular has a very large user base, and asking it for recommendations has become normal for some groups of customers.
Second, Google itself has become an AI search product. AI Overviews appear above many results in the UK, and AI Mode offers a conversational alternative within Google. So a lot of what looks like “AI replacing Google” is Google replacing its own results page.
Third, AI features are being built into places people already are: phones, browsers, Windows, messaging apps and maps. The line between “searching” and “asking an assistant” is getting blurred.
Why local search is the slowest part to change
Local search has features that favour the incumbents, at least for now.
- Map data. Knowing where businesses are, when they are open and how to get there needs a huge, constantly updated database. Google Maps and Business Profiles, Apple Maps and Bing Places hold that data. AI assistants mostly borrow it.
- Reviews at scale. Google has an enormous volume of local reviews. Assistants summarise reviews, but they need somewhere to read them from.
- Urgency. Someone with a burst pipe or a broken-down car taps a map and a phone number. A conversation is slower than a list of nearby options with a call button.
- Habit. Maps apps are built into how people get around. Changing that habit takes years, not months.
Which customers are most likely to use AI first
Not every purchase is affected equally. Based on how assistants are used, the shift is most noticeable where people research before they choose.
| Type of purchase | Examples | AI influence now | Where the choice is usually made |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency, needed today | Locksmith, emergency plumber, vet out of hours | Low | Map pack and phone |
| Routine, local and recurring | Hairdresser, dog groomer, café, MOT | Low to medium | Maps, reviews, word of mouth |
| Considered, higher value | Kitchen fitter, extension builder, wedding photographer | Medium to high | Research over days; websites, reviews, AI shortlists |
| Professional and advisory | Accountant, solicitor, financial adviser, therapist | Medium to high | Research, credentials, recommendations |
| Business to business | IT support, commercial cleaning, agencies, suppliers | High | Research, comparison, proposals |
What stays the same whichever wins
The reassuring part is that the things AI assistants rely on are almost exactly the things Google has rewarded for years. Whether a customer finds you through a map, a search result, an AI Overview or a ChatGPT answer, the underlying evidence is similar:
- An accurate, complete business listing on Google, and equivalents on Bing and Apple.
- A fast, clear website that states what you do, where, for whom, and how to get in touch.
- Genuine reviews that describe the work.
- Consistent details wherever you are listed.
- Mentions from sources people trust: local press, trade bodies, partners.
What is genuinely new, and worth a little effort
A few things matter slightly more with AI than with traditional search, and they are cheap to get right:
- Crawler access. AI assistants use their own crawlers alongside Google. Make sure your site does not block them, including through hosting or security settings.
- Plain, quotable statements. Assistants lift sentences. A clear line like “we cover Truro, Falmouth and the Roseland” is more useful to them than a map image.
- Bing. Microsoft Copilot runs on Bing, and Bing results feed some other tools. Claiming a free Bing Places listing and checking Bing Webmaster Tools is a small job with a real upside.
- Answering the questions customers ask. Assistants are asked full questions, so pages and FAQs that answer real customer questions get used.
What to watch over the next year or two
Predictions about search have a poor track record, so rather than guess, it is more useful to know which changes would matter to a local business if they happened.
- Assistants taking actions, not just giving answers. Some already try to book tables or appointments on a user’s behalf. If that spreads, online booking and clear, public availability become more valuable.
- Assistants built into phones and maps by default. The more an assistant becomes the first thing people talk to, the more your listings on Apple, Google and Bing matter.
- Advertising inside AI answers. If assistants start selling placement, local advertising budgets will follow, and it will be worth understanding the rules before spending.
- Changes to Google’s map pack. If Google blends more AI summary into local results, detailed, recent reviews will matter even more.
What we would not do
Do not abandon Google. It is still where most local customers start, and your Business Profile is still one of the most valuable free things you have.
Do not pay for “AI rankings” or guaranteed placement in assistants. No one can sell that honestly.
Do not rewrite your whole website for robots. Pages that are clear for a busy customer on a phone are clear for an AI too.
Do keep an eye on it. Ask a couple of assistants about your service and area every month or two, note what they say and which sources they cite, and fix anything inaccurate. It takes ten minutes and tells you more than any prediction.
At Nerdsharks we build websites for how customers search now, which means for Google, for maps and for AI assistants at the same time. The good news is that doing it properly for one mostly does it for all three.