AI Search Is the New Google — Here Is What It Means for Local SEO
In 2023 your prospect typed "roofer near me" into Google. In 2026 they type "best-rated roofer in [city] that handles wind damage claims under $15K" into ChatGPT. The query is longer, the answer is shorter, and only a handful of businesses get named.
If your business is not named in that answer, you do not exist in that market.
The three shifts
1. AI search reads differently than Google. Google crawls the page and indexes keywords. ChatGPT reads entire passages and synthesizes. That means dense, specific, expert writing outperforms thin, keyword-stuffed pages. The same post that ranks well on Google today may not be cited by AI search.
2. Structured data matters more, not less. LocalBusiness, Service, Review, FAQPage — these tell AI search what your business is, what it does, and what people say about it. We see a 30–60% lift in AI citations when clients move from zero schema to complete schema.
3. Reviews are citation fuel. AI search cites specific reviews in its answer. "Reviewers consistently mention [X] about [Business]" is now a ranking signal. If you have 40 reviews and your competitor has 400, you will not get cited.
What to do this month
- —Add LocalBusiness schema with complete NAP, hours, service area, and services.
- —Publish one deep post per service you offer — a 1,500–2,500 word expert piece, not a 400-word blurb.
- —Install a review engine that requests after every job (we use Twilio + Resend with a public/private routing flow).
- —Claim your business on Perplexity and Bing Places, not just Google.
The longer arc
AI search is still immature. It will get better, and it will consolidate around the same small set of trusted sources for each niche in each market. Get named in that set while the window is open, and you are in the moat for a decade.