How many people use AI to find local businesses?
- 45%
of US consumers used AI tools for local business recommendations in the past year, up from 6% the year before.1
- 31%
of consumers used ChatGPT for business recommendations in the past 12 months. 23% used Google’s AI Mode.1
- 64%
of adults aged 30 to 44 asked AI for a business recommendation in the past year, against 24% of people over 60.1
- 63%
of people who use AI tools trust their business recommendations.1
- 23%
of consumers used AI tools during their most recent search for a local business, and 8% started there. Of those who started with AI, 43% then checked Google.5
- 31%
use AI tools for local business recommendations at least once a month.5
- 75%
of consumers used more than one channel in their most recent local business search.5
How many Americans use ChatGPT and other AI chatbots?
- 44%
of US adults say they use ChatGPT, up from 34% in 2025 and 18% in 2023. 49% use any AI chatbot.6
- 42%
of US adults use chatbots to search for information, and 24% use them daily.6
- 900M+
people use ChatGPT every week.7
How big are Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode?
- 2.5bn+
people use AI Overviews every month.4
- 1bn+
people use Google’s AI Mode every month.8
- 3x
longer: queries in AI Mode are on average three times longer than traditional searches.9
How often do AI Overviews appear in local searches?
- 68%
of local business-type searches showed an AI Overview, on average. That was 15% of searches with clear local intent, 92% of informational searches and 97% of mixed ones.10
- 39%
of the same searches showed a local map pack.10
Do AI answers reduce clicks to business websites?
- 8% vs 15%
When a Google AI summary appeared, people clicked a regular result on 8% of visits, against 15% when there was no summary. They clicked a link inside the summary on 1% of visits.11
- 58%
lower click-through rate for the top-ranking page on informational searches with an AI Overview, compared with expected rates without one.12
- 1.76% to 0.61%
Organic click-through on searches with AI Overviews fell from 1.76% to 0.61% between June 2024 and September 2025. Brands cited in the AI Overview got 35% more organic clicks than brands that weren’t.13
- 80%
of consumers rely on zero-click results in at least 40% of their searches.14
Which sources do AI tools cite for local businesses?
- 28.5%
of all local AI citations, across ChatGPT, AI Overviews and AI Mode combined, came from Google Business Profile, almost all of them in Google’s two AI features.2
- 54%
of AI citations for plumbers come from Google Business Profile, followed by Yelp at 13.8% and Facebook at 3.1%.2
- 80%
of ChatGPT’s local answers cite Yelp as a source.2
- 95.83%
of ChatGPT test runs had Yelp in the data behind its local business cards. Foursquare almost never appeared.15
- 93%
of the domains cited in local AI answers were individual business websites.2
- 86%
of AI citations for location searches came from sources brands manage: websites (44%) and listings (42%), across retail, finance, healthcare and food brands.16
- 1.93%
of the Reddit pages ChatGPT retrieves end up cited in its answers.17
Do AI tools cite the same pages that rank on Google?
- 12%
of links cited by ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot appeared in Google’s top 10 for the same question. For ChatGPT’s in-text citations alone it was 8%.3
- 38%
of pages cited in Google’s AI Overviews rank in the top 10 for the same search, and 31% rank outside the top 100.18
- 73%
of pages ChatGPT cites were updated within the past year.19
- 46%
of the time, the brands named in Google’s AI Overviews changed when the same keyword was checked again within a month.20
How do people use reviews when choosing a local business?
- 97%
of people who use AI for local recommendations sometimes double-check them against real reviews. 42% always check reviews on the review platforms themselves.1
- 97%
of consumers read reviews for local businesses.21
- 74%
only consider reviews from the last three months.21
- 47%
won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews.21
- 31%
will only use businesses rated 4.5 stars or higher, up from 17%. 68% require four stars or more.21
- 89%
expect business owners to respond to reviews.21
- 82%
read AI-generated review summaries, and 23% rely on them alone.21
- 27%
used Apple Maps for reviews, up from 14%. Google’s share fell from 83% to 71%.21
How do homeowners hire and spend?
- 91%
of renovating homeowners hire professionals. Electricians (41%), HVAC specialists (40%) and plumbers (36%) are among the most hired.22
- $12,472
was the average US homeowner spend on home projects in 2025, and average emergency spending rose to $1,143.23
- 43%
of homeowners who recently hired a pro saw the final cost exceed the original estimate.24
What do roofing customers do?
- 74%
of homeowners follow a recommendation from a neighbor, friend or family member when choosing a roofer, and 66% gather three quotes.25
- 65%
are more likely to call a roofer whose website lists pricing.25
- 5,432
hail events with hailstones one inch or larger were recorded in the US in 2025, with Texas leading at 902.26
How we built this page
We only include figures we could trace to the original source, and we quote them in the source’s own terms. Each figure links to its source at the bottom of the page. We left out several numbers that are widely shared but that we couldn’t trace to an original report, including claims about how many homeowners use ChatGPT to find HVAC companies or plumbers.
We review this page every month and add new studies as they’re published. See how ChatGPT decides which business to recommend for what these numbers mean in practice.
- November 3, 2026 First published, with 44 statistics.
Sources
Every figure on this page was checked against the source listed below on November 3, 2026.
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026: AI and trust (1,002 US adults), March 10, 2026. brightlocal.com
- BrightLocal, Where to get local citations for AI search (1,967,762 citations, 1,355 locations), August 26, 2026. brightlocal.com
- Ahrefs, Study of 15,000 queries comparing AI citations with Google’s top 10, August 11, 2025. ahrefs.com
- Google, Sundar Pichai’s I/O 2026 keynote, May 19, 2026. blog.google
- BrightLocal, Consumer search behavior and channels (1,227 US consumers), July 9, 2026. brightlocal.com
- Pew Research Center, Americans and AI 2026 (5,119 US adults), June 17, 2026. pewresearch.org
- OpenAI, Scaling AI for everyone, February 27, 2026. openai.com
- Google, Search announcements at I/O 2026, May 19, 2026. blog.google
- The Motley Fool, Alphabet Q3 2026 earnings call transcript, October 29, 2026. fool.com
- Whitespark, The prevalence of AI Overviews in local search (540 queries), May 12, 2025. whitespark.ca
- Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears (900 US adults), July 22, 2025. pewresearch.org
- Ahrefs, AI Overviews and click-through rates (300,000 keywords), February 4, 2026. ahrefs.com
- Seer Interactive, AI Overview impact on Google CTR, September 2025 update, November 4, 2025. seerinteractive.com
- Bain & Company, Goodbye clicks, hello AI: zero-click search redefines marketing, February 19, 2025. bain.com
- Steady Demand, Test of where ChatGPT’s local business results come from (4,607 runs, 12 US cities), August 21, 2026. steadydemand.com
- Yext, Analysis of 6.8 million AI citations, October 9, 2025. yext.com
- Ahrefs, Why ChatGPT cites some pages and not others (1.4 million prompts), April 15, 2026. ahrefs.com
- Ahrefs, Study of 4 million AI Overview citations and Google rankings, March 2, 2026. ahrefs.com
- Seer Interactive, Content recency’s impact on AI visibility in 2026, July 24, 2026. seerinteractive.com
- Search Engine Journal (sponsored by Ahrefs), 9 AI search myths, debunked by 15 million data points, August 18, 2026. searchenginejournal.com
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (1,002 US adults), February 11, 2026. brightlocal.com
- Houzz, 2026 U.S. Houzz & Home Study, April 22, 2026. houzz.com
- Angi, State of Home Spending, January 20, 2026. ir.angi.com
- Angi, 2026 State of Home Spending Pulse (1,000 US homeowners), August 20, 2026. angi.com
- Roofing Contractor, The homeowner’s roofing journey in 2026 (survey with Owens Corning), May 1, 2026. roofingcontractor.com
- Insurance Information Institute, Facts + Statistics: Hail, 2026. iii.org
