A customer calls about a standby generator. Halfway through the quote she says, "I asked ChatGPT who installs these near me, and you were one of the names." You thank her. Afterward you realize nobody in your office has ever typed that question.
It's October 2026 as I write this, and this is a plan for 2027. It rests on pages Google, Microsoft and OpenAI publish today, with every change dated. Nobody can put a number on AI's share of local search next year, and I'd distrust anyone who sells you one.
Do your customers really ask AI who to call?
Some do. How many depends on how you ask.
45% of US consumers now use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local business recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier.
Source: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey · (opens in a new tab)
That covers the past year. The same company's later survey asked about the latest local search instead.[1]
23% of consumers used an AI tool during their latest local business search.
Source: BrightLocal consumer search behavior study · (opens in a new tab)
Only 18% of consumers who use AI for local search felt ready to contact the business it recommended; the rest kept researching on Google and other channels.
Source: BrightLocal consumer search behavior study · (opens in a new tab)
So I'd treat an AI answer as a first stop. People keep checking Google and other places, so your details have to agree there. Our guide to AI search for home service companies explains where those answers come from.
What do Google, Bing and OpenAI say about showing up?
Google's AI features page says there are no additional technical requirements. A page has to be indexed and allowed to show a snippet, and you need no AI text files or special markup.[2] Google's newer guide adds one condition: a setting in Search Console that includes your site by default.[6][7]
Bing's guidelines say Bing and Copilot rely on the same core crawling, indexing and ranking foundation as regular search. They ask that key facts be stated outright on the page, and that your company and places keep the same names each time.[3]
OpenAI's help page on ChatGPT search says how a site becomes eligible. Let OAI-SearchBot crawl it, and check that your host lets OpenAI's published IP addresses through. It adds that placement isn't guaranteed.[10]
What changed in 2026 that matters to a small business?
Google's documentation log says that on May 15, 2026 it added a guide to optimizing for generative AI features.[5] The guide says regular SEO still applies and a Business Profile can help your services show up in AI responses.[6]
The guide, last updated July 10, 2026, adds one condition: a site must be included in the Search generative AI control to be eligible for AI features.[6] That control sits in Search Console, Google's tool for site owners.
Google's help page says the control reached all websites worldwide as of August 31, 2026. It covers AI Overviews, AI Mode and the AI features in Google Discover, and including your site is the default.[7]
On February 10, 2026, Microsoft launched AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools as a public preview. It reports how often Copilot, Bing's AI summaries and some partner integrations cite your pages. The same post says local businesses can register with Bing Places to keep their address, hours and contact details current.[8]
OpenAI's release notes say ChatGPT began letting people share their device location on March 26, 2026, so it can give local recommendations. A June 24, 2026 model update, it says, makes better use of location to surface nearby options.[9]
How do you prepare for AI search?
I'd do these six, in this order.
- Write your facts once, then copy them everywhere. Name, phone, hours, services and towns should read the same on your site, Google profile, Bing Places and the big listings. Google lists an up-to-date Business Profile among its basics.[2] Bing asks for consistent names.[3]
- Put each service and town in plain text. Say it in a sentence a crawler can read: "We repair and replace furnaces and air conditioners in Columbus, Dublin and Hilliard." Google says important content should be available as text.[2]
- Check that nothing shuts you out. Google says to make sure crawling is allowed in robots.txt and by any CDN or host.[2] In Search Console, open Settings, then Search generative AI, and check that your site is included.[7] OpenAI recommends allowing OAI-SearchBot.[4] Our guides to checking whether your site blocks ChatGPT and showing up in Google AI Overviews show how.
- Write down 10 to 20 questions customers ask. Take them from calls, texts and estimate notes, in the customers' words, with the town in them.
- Ask them once a month and keep a dated log. Answers vary: Google says its AI features may run several related searches behind one question,[2] and OpenAI says ChatGPT may use an approximate location from your IP address, or your device location if you share it.[10] So note when you asked, where you were and what came back.
- Fix what you can see. A wrong hour or phone number usually comes from a page somewhere, so trace it to its source. If a competitor is named and you aren't, compare the evidence.
A standby generator installer in Katy, Texas
- Who installs standby generators near Katy?
- Do I need a permit to install a standby generator in Katy?
- Do you service a generator you didn't install?
- Log row, first Monday: date, assistant, place and location setting, question 2 word for word, companies named, hours and phone right or wrong, sources shown.
Illustrative example
Keep the wording the same each month, or you can't tell a changed answer from a changed question.
Which AI search offers should you skip?
Skip anything that promises you'll be named. Google's guide treats work sold as AEO or GEO as ordinary SEO,[6] and Google says third-party tools can't guarantee performance.[11] Bing says optimizing for its AI answers doesn't guarantee a citation.[3]
- A fee for a place in ChatGPT's answers. OpenAI said, when it began testing ads on February 9, 2026, that answers are generated independently of advertising.[9]
- Schema sold as an AI switch. Google says there's no special markup for its AI features.[2] Our piece on what schema markup can and can't do has the detail.
- Pages written in bulk. Google says separate pages for every variation of a query, made mainly to manipulate rankings or AI answers, break its scaled content abuse policy.[6]
- Fake mentions. Google says chasing inauthentic mentions isn't as helpful as it seems.[6] For real ones, see how to get on local best-of lists.
Where do you watch for changes?
Use the platforms' own pages, not blogs about them.
- Google Search Central's documentation updates, which come with an RSS feed.[5]
- Search Console's Generative AI performance report, which shows how often links to your site appeared in AI Overviews and AI Mode.[12]
- OpenAI's ChatGPT release notes and its crawler page.[9][4]
- The Bing Webmaster Blog and the Bing Webmaster Guidelines.[8][3]
When one lands, read the page itself, change one thing and write the date in your log. Look again next month.
What fits in an afternoon, and what takes a quarter?
An afternoon covers steps 1 to 3, the question list and a first run. Our Google Business Profile checklist covers the profile part. A quarter is three monthly runs with one fix after each.
If the monthly questions never get asked, that's the part worth paying for. Our AI search optimization plans run the same buyer questions across the AI assistants we test (currently ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity) every month. The Expert Action Plan ($149) is our complete report plus a 30-minute consultation.
What this plan can't tell you
The survey figures above count different things, and a jump between two years doesn't predict the next one.
Following the plan doesn't make an assistant name you. Google says indexing and serving aren't guaranteed.[2]
Platforms change their pages, and some show no exact date. I found none on Bing's guidelines or OpenAI's crawler page, and OpenAI's help page on ChatGPT search shows only a relative "Updated" label.
I wrote this in October 2026. If you're reading it in 2027, re-read Google's AI features page, generative AI guide and Search generative AI control page. Do the same with Bing's webmaster guidelines and OpenAI's crawler and ChatGPT search pages before you act.