Local SEO for AI search: how to get recommended when customers ask AI “who’s best near me?”

AI assistants recommend local businesses using the same raw material as local search: your Google Business Profile and other listings, your website, your reviews, and what local and industry websites say about you. To be recommended, you need complete, consistent details everywhere, a website that clearly says what you do and where, and plenty of genuine reviews and local mentions.

“Who’s the best electrician in Hove?” “Where can I get my dog groomed near Guildford this Saturday?” Questions like these used to go to Google Maps. Now plenty of people ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or Google’s AI Mode, and they get a short list of names instead of a map with twenty pins. If you’re not on that list, you’re invisible to that customer.

How AI assistants find local businesses

When someone asks a local question, an AI assistant usually searches the web, reads a selection of sources, and summarises them. Which sources depends on the tool:

• Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode draw on Google Search and Google’s local data, including Business Profiles and reviews. Google Maps has also replaced its old Q&A section with an AI “Ask” feature that answers questions from your profile and reviews.
• Microsoft Copilot is built on Bing, so your Bing Places listing and Bing’s view of your website matter.
• ChatGPT runs its own search, and BrightLocal’s research shows it draws heavily on business websites and on articles and lists that mention businesses.
• Siri and Apple Maps use Apple Business Connect and other data partners.

What ChatGPT relies on

BrightLocal ran 800 local searches through ChatGPT, across 20 types of business in 20 US cities, and recorded the sources. Business websites made up 58% of sources, mentions in articles, lists and guides made up 27%, and directories 15%. When the search showed an intent to buy or book, business websites rose to 72%.

The research was carried out in the US in late 2024, so the exact mix will differ in the UK and will have changed since. The lesson still holds: your own website and what others write about you both matter, and neither can be skipped.

Eight steps to get recommended locally

1. Complete your Google Business Profile

Fill in every section: the most accurate primary category, services, products, opening hours, holiday hours, photos and a description in plain English. Google says profiles can help your products and services appear in AI responses. Our Google Business Profile guide covers every step.

2. Claim your other listings

Set up and check Bing Places (for Copilot) and Apple Business Connect (for Siri and Apple Maps). Both are free, and both are easy to forget. Bing Places can import your details straight from your Google profile.

3. Spell it out on your website

AI tools can only recommend you for what they can see you do. On your website, say clearly:

• every service you offer, in the words customers use
• the towns and areas you cover
• your opening hours and how quickly you can respond
• typical prices or price ranges
• qualifications and memberships, such as Gas Safe, NICEIC or a professional body

If you serve several areas from different bases, give each its own page with genuinely local detail. Our multi-location guide explains how.

4. Get listed where your industry is listed

Find the directories and trade bodies that matter in your field, such as Checkatrade or Which? Trusted Traders for trades, or your professional body’s “find a member” directory, and make sure your listing is complete. Ask ChatGPT about your type of business in your town and look at which sites it cites: those are the directories worth your time.

5. Collect reviews in more than one place

Google reviews matter most for Google, but AI tools read reviews from many places. Ask happy customers to review you on Google and on one or two industry sites. Reply to every review. Never buy, write or swap fake reviews: they’re banned under UK consumer law and can get your profile suspended.

6. Get talked about locally

Local news coverage, community websites, sponsorships, charity events and “best of” lists in local magazines are all mentions that AI tools can find. Tell local journalists about genuine news: a new branch, an award, an apprentice qualifying, a community project.

7. Keep your details identical everywhere

Your business name, address, phone number and opening hours should match exactly on your website, Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, directories and social media. Add LocalBusiness structured data to your website with the same details. Mismatches confuse AI tools and can lead to wrong information in their answers.

8. Check what AI says about you

Once a month, ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Google’s AI Mode questions like “Who’s the best [service] in [town]?” and “Is [your business] any good?” Note who gets recommended, which sources are cited and whether anything about you is wrong. Then fix the source.

A note for service-area businesses

If you travel to customers rather than having them visit you, set your Business Profile up as a service-area business and hide your home address. Make sure your website lists the areas you cover. AI tools can then match you to “near me” questions without you needing a shopfront.

Ready for some help?

Want to know which local businesses AI assistants recommend in your area, and how to join them? Book a free chat and we’ll check together. We work with businesses across Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey and London, and our GEO service covers local AI visibility from start to finish.