The data behind local marketing and AI search

64%

64% of local pack businesses are recommended by the AI Overview on the same page; only 12% of AI Overviews skip the pack entirely.

46%

In metro cities the AI Overview recommends only 46% of pack businesses and skips the pack on 35% of searches; in small cities, 69% and 5%.

4.79

Packs for "best" searches average 4.79 stars against 4.67 for the plain search; two thirds of those businesses are rated 4.8 or above.

30%

Three in ten Local Pack businesses have no website link.

3.9

The AI Overview recommends 3.9 businesses per local search when it uses business cards, against three in the local pack.

80%

80% of local AI Overview citations point to Google's own business entities, up from 20% two weeks earlier.

41%

For hospitals the AI Overview recommends only 41% of pack businesses; for bars and cafes, over 90%.

17%

AI Overviews citing Reddit fell from 23% to 17% in two weeks, and those citing Yelp from 47% to 35%, as Google cited its own entities instead.

75%

Adding a specific need to a "best" query produces an AI Overview on 75% of local results pages, against 4% for "near me".

48%

Nearly half of specific-need AI Overviews contain business cards with call and directions buttons.

13,777

The Google Business Profile is the most cited source in local AI Overviews, cited 13,777 times across 8,540 answers.

85%

Up to 85% of local AI Overviews end by asking the searcher a question, with an "Ask anything" box underneath.

40%

Independent business sites take 40% of the organic top ten on a plain "[category] [city]" search.

24%

"Best" searches show a Discussions and Forums block on 24% of pages, against under 3% for the plain search.

69%

69% of shoppers would travel farther to a business rated 4 stars than to a closer one rated lower.

94%

94% of consumers rate product review information as critical in their search journey.

46%

46% of consumers rely on reviews before making a purchase decision.

71%

71% of shoppers have found wrong information about a store online.

50%

About half of retail profiles are missing from the 50 channels people use most.

20%

Sending profile visitors to a location page instead of the homepage lifts conversions by 20% on average.

15%

Up to 15% of user-uploaded media on a brand’s business profiles is not brand-approved or correct.

58%

Locations with indexed listings improved 58% in Google Maps rankings for category keywords, against 36% for the control group.

41%

Organic rankings for category keywords improved 41% for indexed locations and did not move for the control group.

3.5x

Shoppers posted 3.5 times as many photos to store profiles as the brand did, and those photos drew 3.5 times the views.