ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI features mostly find local businesses the same way search engines always have. They run live web searches, read your website, your Google Business Profile, reviews and directory listings, and write an answer from the facts that agree. What’s changed is how they present it, and how few businesses make it into the answer.
A growing number of your customers now ask a chatbot instead of typing keywords. “Who’s a good physio in Lennox Head who does dry needling?” “Which builders in the Northern Rivers do knockdown rebuilds?” They get a written answer, often with two or three business names in it. Business owners we talk to tend to assume either that this is magic and nothing can be done, or that there’s a new trick to learn. Neither is right.
This article explains how the main tools work as of late 2026. Things are moving quickly, so treat the product details as a snapshot.
Two ways an AI tool can “know” about you
Every AI assistant answers questions in one of two ways, and often a mix of both.
From memory (training data). The model behind the tool was trained on a huge snapshot of text from the web, books and other sources, up to a cut off date. If your business was well documented online before that date, the model may “remember” facts about you. That memory is frozen, patchy and sometimes wrong. A model might confidently tell someone you’re open Saturdays because you were three years ago.
From a live search. When a question needs current or local information, most assistants now run web searches in the background, read a handful of the results, and write an answer from them. This is called grounding or retrieval. It’s how they can recommend a cafe that opened last month.
For local business questions, the live search part does most of the work. That’s good news. It means the things that help you show up in normal search results also help you show up in AI answers.
How the main tools work
Google: AI Overviews and AI Mode
Google has two AI features in Search. AI Overviews are the summaries that appear above the normal results for some searches. They rolled out across Australia on 29 October 2024. AI Mode is a separate, chat style tab for longer questions and follow ups, which went live in Australia in October 2025.
Both draw on Google’s normal search index. Google’s own guidance for site owners says there are no extra requirements to appear in them: a page needs to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet in regular search. Google also describes a technique called query fan out, where the AI runs several related searches on subtopics and pulls links from all of them. So a question about “best plumber for a hot water system in Ballina” might trigger separate searches about hot water brands, local plumbers and rebate schemes.
Google also has Business Profile data, reviews and Maps. For local questions, that’s often where the business names come from.
Gemini
Gemini is Google’s standalone assistant (the app and gemini.google.com). It can use Google Search to ground its answers, so it draws on the same index and, for places, Google’s local data. In practice, if you’re well represented on Google Search and Maps, you have a head start in Gemini.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT can search the web when a question needs it, and for local recommendations it usually does. OpenAI has said ChatGPT search uses third party search providers alongside its own crawler and content from partners. Bing has historically been one of those providers. Local answers can include links, business details and sometimes a map.
The practical upshot: Bing matters more than it used to. If your business is missing or wrong in Bing, it may be missing or wrong in ChatGPT. Our guide to Bing Webmaster Tools covers the setup, which takes about 15 minutes for most sites.
Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Claude and others
Copilot is built on Bing’s index. Perplexity runs searches and cites its sources heavily, so you can see exactly which pages it read. Claude and other assistants can also search the web when the feature is switched on. Each uses a different mix of search providers, which is why the same question can get different answers from different tools.
Where the information about your business comes from
When an AI tool writes “Smith Plumbing is a well reviewed local plumber who specialises in hot water”, it’s assembling that from sources like these:
| Source | What it contributes |
|---|---|
| Your website | Services, areas covered, about information, prices if you publish them |
| Google Business Profile | Name, address, hours, category, reviews, photos |
| Review sites and directories | Ratings, review text, consistency of your details |
| Bing Places and Apple Business Connect | The same basics, for tools that don’t use Google |
| Local news, councils, associations, suppliers | Independent mentions that confirm you exist and are credible |
| Social profiles and forums | Sometimes, especially when people discuss local recommendations |
The tools tend to favour facts they can find in more than one place. If your website says you service Byron Bay, your Business Profile says the same, and a local directory agrees, the AI has confidence. If your website lists services you stopped offering two years ago, that’s what it’ll repeat.
What’s different from normal search
Three things change in practice.
Fewer names make the cut. A page of Google results shows ten links and a map pack of three. An AI answer might name two or three businesses, or none at all. Being the fifth best result used to get you some clicks. In an AI answer, it gets you nothing.
Descriptive questions matter. People ask AI tools long, specific questions: “a plumber who can do a same day callout for a burst pipe in Alstonville”. The AI looks for evidence that a business fits each part of that question. A website that says “we offer all plumbing services” gives it nothing to work with. One that has a page about emergency callouts and lists Alstonville gives it plenty.
Reputation is read, not just counted. AI tools can read review text, not just star ratings. If reviews keep mentioning that you’re punctual, or that you’re great with kids, that can turn up in the answer.
What this means for a local business
Most of this is good, practical SEO that never stopped mattering. The difference is that the penalty for skipping it is now bigger.
- Make your website say plainly what you do, where, and for whom. One page per main service, with the towns you cover written in normal sentences.
- Keep your Google Business Profile complete and current. Categories, hours, service area, photos, and replies to reviews. This is the core of local SEO, and AI tools lean on it heavily for “near me” style questions.
- Set up Bing Places and Bing Webmaster Tools. It’s free and many businesses still haven’t.
- Get mentioned on real local sites. Your industry association, local business chamber, suppliers’ “where to buy” pages, sponsorship pages.
- Keep your details identical everywhere. Same business name, same phone number, same address format.
- Check what the tools say about you. Every month or two, ask a few AI assistants the questions your customers ask. We give you a simple process in how to check whether AI tools recommend your business.
You’ll hear plenty of people selling special “AI optimisation”. Some of that advice is sound and much of it is repackaged SEO, or worse. We sort the useful from the rubbish in generative engine optimisation: what’s real and what’s hype.
A note on accuracy
AI tools get things wrong. They mix up businesses with similar names, invent opening hours, and occasionally recommend businesses that have closed. You can’t fully control that. What you can do is make the correct information easy to find and consistent, so the tools have less reason to guess. If you find a persistent error, fix the source it probably came from (an old directory listing is the usual culprit) rather than trying to argue with the chatbot.
For trade businesses, our tradie.agency builds include the service and location structure AI tools look for. For everyone else, our AI search service covers this side of things and starts by checking where you currently show up.