2.5 to 4.1
businesses named in a typical local AI answer. ChatGPT names about 4.1, Google AI Mode 3.5, AI Overviews 2.5.
BrightLocal local AI visibility study, Sept 2026
72%
of consumers consider three businesses or fewer before they choose, and 75% decide within 30 minutes.
BrightLocal consumer search behavior, June 2026, n=1,227
60%
of US adults read the AI summaries at the top of search results.
Pew Research Center, Feb 2026, n=5,119
Search used to give ten chances. AI search gives three.
On a results page, ranking fifth still got you a click now and then. In an AI answer there is no fifth. The assistant reads a handful of sources, writes one paragraph, and names a few businesses with a line on why each one fits.
That short list is where the decision now happens for a lot of customers. Most people who ask look at three businesses or fewer, and most decide inside half an hour. If you are not in the answer, you are not in the running.
What the assistant is searching for
A customer types something like "my AC is out in 75034, who can come today". The assistant turns that into a few searches, opens the sites that come back, and looks for proof that a business covers that ZIP code, can come soon, and will say roughly what it costs.
In our sample of 236 local service sites in Dallas and Phoenix, 67% named the cities they serve and 73% claimed same day or 24/7 service. Only 32% showed any price and 25% let a visitor book online. The gaps the assistant hits most are the two facts owners leave off.
“The assistant does not reward the prettiest site. It rewards the one that answers the customer's question without a phone call.”
Our version of AI search optimization
- 01
Run the customer's question, not a keyword list
We write the questions your customers actually ask, with a place and a problem in them, and run them through the assistants that matter in your market.
- 02
Record who got named and why
Each run keeps the pages the assistant opened, the businesses it named, and its stated reason for each. When it passes on you, the reason is the brief.
- 03
Fix what you own
The deciding fact on your service pages, the Google Business Profile, the directories the assistants cite, and the path from answer to a requested visit.
- 04
Re-run monthly
Same questions, same competitors, same places. You see whether the pick moved, not whether a dashboard number went up.
Where it differs from SEO you already pay for
Keep your SEO. Much of what an assistant reads comes from ordinary search results, so good SEO helps. What SEO rarely does is check whether the page it ranks actually answers the buying question. We check that, in the assistant's own words, and fix the page when it does not.
What we report
Picks first. For each question, whether the assistant named you, who it named instead, and why. Then three numbers, always kept apart. AI referrals we observed in your analytics, customers who told you an assistant sent them, and our estimate of new business. We never blend them into one figure.
Typical AI search optimization vendor vs Picked by Agents
| Typical AI search optimization vendor | Picked by Agents | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | A keyword list and a content calendar | Your customers' buying questions, with place and need |
| Evidence | Rankings and estimated AI share of voice | The assistant's own reasons for each pick, saved per run |
| Work product | Articles and schema markup | Price, availability and service area on your pages, profile fixes, a booking path |
| Measure of success | Traffic and impressions | Named or not, on the same questions, month after month |
| Guarantee | Usually none | Named within 90 days or we work free |
Questions we get asked
- What is AI search optimization?
- AI search optimization is making a business show up in the answers AI tools write when people search, in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, Gemini and others. The answer names a few businesses instead of listing links. The goal is to be one of those names for the questions your customers ask.
- Is AI search optimization the same as SEO?
- It overlaps. Assistants search the web, so pages that rank well get read. But the assistant then judges what it reads, and it drops businesses that hide the fact the customer asked about. SEO gets you read. We work on getting you picked once you are read.
- Which AI search tools matter most for a local business?
- ChatGPT reaches 44% of US adults and Google's AI summaries are read by 60%, both from Pew in February 2026. Gemini is next. We also run Meta Muse, Grok and Instinct, since some of them place calls for the customer. The fixes carry across all of them.
- Do customers really choose a business from an AI answer?
- Some do, and most check first. BrightLocal found 18% would contact the assistant's pick without more research and 43% then checked Google. So we fix the answer and the Google profile they check it against.
- How soon will I see a change?
- Assistants that browse live can reflect a page change within days. Profile and directory changes take longer. We agree the questions and a baseline in writing first, then re-run monthly. You are named within 90 days or we keep working free.
See what AI search says when your customers ask.
The first report is free. It shows the questions we ran, who the assistants named, and where they stopped on you.
Or write to Greg at greg@gregmiller.ai.