AI-powered search is changing the way people discover local businesses online. Tools like Google’s AI Overviews and Bing’s AI Copilot are starting to provide direct answers to location-based queries, which reduces the need for users to visit individual websites.
For local businesses, this shift introduces both risk and opportunity. If users are getting answers directly in search, how do you stay visible and relevant?
Let’s look at what’s changing in local SEO, how it affects the local search funnel, and how you can position your business to thrive in the new AI-driven search landscape.
AI Is Rewriting the Local Search Experience
Search engines are evolving from result pages into answer engines. Instead of giving users a list of links, AI now responds to questions like “best electrician near me” with a pre-assembled list of options, reviews, and maps pulled from various data sources.
Google’s AI Overviews are increasingly surfacing for local queries, showing map-based results, business profiles, and snippets from local websites. Bing’s AI-powered Copilot does something similar, pulling in business data from Bing Places and third-party sources.
This means users often choose a business directly from the overview without visiting your website, especially for queries like “closest vet open now” or “best Thai food in Cape Town.”
The Local Funnel Is Getting Shorter
Traditional local search followed a multi-step journey: discovery via a blog post or local page, review of your services, then a conversion. AI is compressing that flow into fewer steps:
- Top-of-funnel searches, like “best landscaper in cape town,” are now likely to be answered by an AI summary that highlights two or three businesses. Many users make their decision right there.
- Mid-funnel searches, such as “landscaper with irrigation services,” may still trigger map clicks or business profile visits.
- Bottom-of-funnel actions, like “call Greenfields Landscaping,” may now happen directly from Google or Bing, without a website visit at all.
Where AI Gets Local Business Information
AI tools build local answers from structured and public data. This includes:
- Your Google Business Profile
- Your Bing Places listing
- Online reviews from Google, Facebook, Yelp, and other platforms
- Structured data on your website, such as LocalBusiness schema
- Citations and business listings across directories
- Your homepage or service pages if they are crawled and structured well
If this information is missing or inconsistent, your business may be excluded from AI summaries.
What Local Businesses Need to Do Now
To compete in this new environment, local businesses need to optimize for visibility beyond just rankings. Here’s how to do it:
1. Optimize Google Business Profile and Bing Places
Make sure your profiles include accurate hours, services, locations, photos, FAQs, and up-to-date contact information. These profiles are often the primary source of data used by AI overviews.
2. Improve Business Listings and NAP Consistency
Ensure your Name, Address, and Phone number are identical across Google, Bing, Facebook, Apple Maps, and other directories. Inconsistent listings confuse both search engines and AI tools.
Cape SEO’s local SEO services include listing audits and cleanup to help you get this right.
3. Invest in Reputation Management
AI pulls in customer sentiment from review platforms. Positive, recent reviews signal trust and relevance. Responding to reviews also shows that your business is active and engaged.
If your Google or Facebook review profile has been neglected, now is the time to build it up again.
4. Use Structured Data Markup
Implement LocalBusiness schema and other relevant structured data like FAQPage and Review. This helps AI tools parse your site content accurately and improves your chances of being included in AI-generated answers.
5. Strengthen Your Homepage and Local Pages
AI tools often link to your homepage rather than specific service pages. Make sure your homepage clearly explains what you offer, where you operate, and how to get in touch.
Also make sure your service area pages and other location-specific content includes unique, helpful, and structured information that’s easy for AI to extract.
AI Is Also Changing Bing and Beyond
While most businesses focus on Google, Bing is used by millions of desktop and mobile users and powers search results for platforms like Microsoft Edge and some voice assistants.
If you haven’t yet claimed or optimized your Bing Places listing, this is a quick win that can help you appear in Bing AI results.
The same applies to Apple Maps, Facebook, and other platforms that AI may draw local business data from.
Final Thoughts
AI is changing how local search works. Users are getting answers faster, and fewer of them are clicking through to websites. This means local SEO is no longer just about rankings, but about feeding accurate, structured, and optimized data into the ecosystem that AI draws from.
At Cape SEO, we help local businesses adapt their websites, profiles, and listings for visibility across traditional and AI-powered search engines.
Need Help Staying Visible in AI Search?
If your website traffic is dropping or your business isn’t appearing in local results as often as it used to, contact Cape SEO. We’ll audit your current local presence, optimize your listings, and ensure your business is positioned to compete in the AI era of search.