BrightLocal

AI reshapes local search; chatbots join Google

Yext's "Consumer Search Behaviors Report 2026" finds that AI is increasingly a starting point for local search but has not displaced traditional search engines. 84% of respondents say they use such applications more often than a year ago. While 77% still search for nearby businesses via conventional search engines, 41% use AI tools and 39% use social networks. In Germany, 27% of consumers say an AI recommendation led them to contact or visit a previously unvisited local business in the past six months, especially restaurants. Trust in AI answers is mixed: 79% partly trust AI responses, 11% fully trust them, and 96% verify AI answers via other sources. The report signals a hybrid customer journey in which chatbots initiate discovery and users then consult search engines, websites and reviews.

AI search levels field between national brands and local firms

BrightLocal chief executive Myles Anderson argues that AI-powered search reduces the advantage of national brands over local businesses by rewarding narrow, provable local expertise, fresh content and direct booking capability. Large, multi-location brands risk appearing generic to language models unless they create localized, frequently updated signals across touchpoints. BrightLocal's Consumer Search Behavior Survey 2026 shows substantial consumer testing of AI for local recommendations, but many users still verify answers on Google. Anderson also highlights Google’s deep local data assets and warns that 'agentic' AI assistants able to book appointments could start routing leads toward businesses that permit direct agent interaction by late 2026.

Guide: Get Your Business Recommended by AI Engines

MarTech Series published a July 9, 2026 article reporting that marketing strategist Zues Ordaz (Founder & CEO, New Gen Marketing Company) has released a free step-by-step guide showing how businesses can get recommended by AI recommendation engines — a practice he calls Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). The article cites industry data showing rapid consumer adoption of AI discovery tools (BrightLocal: 45% used AI tools for local discovery in 2026; SOCi: ChatGPT recommends only 1.2% of local businesses) and broader shifts in information sources (McKinsey: 44% of AI-search users now use AI as their primary source). Ordaz’s agency is presented as a working example: when asked for the top marketing company in Worthington, Minnesota, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity recommend New Gen Marketing Company. The guide is distributed via Ordaz’s AI Prompt Vault.