SEOAI search

How local businesses get found on Google and in ChatGPT answers in 2026

By Jailah Topp, Founder & Darius Smith, Head of OperationsTopp Level Marketing · · 7 min read
The short answer

The same fundamentals now power Google, AI Overviews and AI assistants like ChatGPT: a site search engines can crawl and index, pages that answer real customer questions clearly, accurate business details, structured data, and a steady stream of reviews. Google says you don't need special AI files to appear in its AI features. You need to be indexed and genuinely useful.

Search changed more in the last two years than in the ten before it. Customers still Google you, but they also ask ChatGPT, read AI summaries and check reviews before they ever click. Here's what the data says and what actually moves the needle.

How customers find local businesses now

Reviews are still the front door: BrightLocal's 2026 survey found 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, and 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or higher.[1] The same survey found 45% of consumers now use AI tools like ChatGPT for local recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier.[1] That's one survey, so treat it as a strong signal rather than a settled trend.

45%of consumers now use AI tools like ChatGPT for local recommendations (BrightLocal, 2026)[1]

AI summaries mean fewer, better clicks

When Google shows an AI summary, people click fewer links. Pew Research Center found users clicked a traditional result on 8% of visits with an AI summary, against 15% without one.[2] Semrush tracked AI Overviews appearing on about 16% of keywords by late 2025.[3] The businesses that get cited in those answers win the attention that's left.

You're not optimizing for a ranking anymore. You're optimizing to be the answer. That means pages that say plainly who you serve, what it costs and how it works, so a search engine or an AI can quote you with confidence.

Darius Smith · Head of Operations, Topp Level Marketing

What Google says about AI features

Google's own documentation is refreshingly direct: you don't need to create new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. To show up as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet.[4] In other words, the fundamentals are the strategy.

The checklist that works for Google and AI

  1. Be crawlable and indexed. Submit a sitemap in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing's index also feeds Microsoft Copilot.
  2. Don't accidentally block AI crawlers. OpenAI (OAI-SearchBot), Anthropic (Claude-SearchBot) and Perplexity (PerplexityBot) each publish the crawlers their search features use.[5][6][7]
  3. Answer the question in the first two sentences. Then back it up with detail, prices and FAQs.
  4. One page per service. A page that tries to rank for everything gets quoted for nothing.
  5. Structured data. Business, service and FAQ markup helps engines understand what you are.
  6. Consistent business details (name, address, phone, hours) on your site and Google Business Profile.
  7. Reviews, every week. Ask every happy customer and reply to every review.

The businesses that win search are the ones that sound like themselves. Real answers, real prices, real reviews. That's what people trust, and it turns out it's what the AI trusts too.

Jailah Topp · Founder, Topp Level Marketing

What about llms.txt?

llms.txt is a proposed file that gives AI tools a plain-language summary of your site.[8] It's a proposal, not an official standard, and Google says it isn't needed for its AI features.[4] It's cheap to add, so we include one, but it's no substitute for the checklist above.

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Common questions

How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT?

There's no paid shortcut. Make sure your site isn't blocking AI search crawlers, publish clear pages that answer real customer questions (services, pricing, service area, FAQs), keep your business details consistent everywhere, and build reviews. AI search tools cite pages they can find and trust.

Do I need an llms.txt file?

It's optional. llms.txt is a proposal rather than a standard, and Google says no special AI files are needed to appear in its AI features. It's cheap to add, but indexing, clear content and structured data matter far more.

How much does an SEO audit and fix cost?

Topp Level Marketing's SEO Audit + Fix is $450 flat. We audit your site and make the priority fixes for you in three to five business days.

Sources

  1. BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026
  2. Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears (July 2025)
  3. Semrush, AI Overviews Study (updated Dec 2025)
  4. Google Search Central, AI features and your website
  5. OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers
  6. Anthropic, Does Anthropic crawl data from the web?
  7. Perplexity, Perplexity crawlers
  8. llmstxt.org, The /llms.txt file (proposal, 2024)

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