Short answer: Google AI Mode and AI Overviews now answer a lot of "near me" and "best [service] in [town]" questions with a written recommendation instead of a list of links. Google says your Business Profile can help you appear in those AI responses, so Google Business Profile optimization is now AI optimization: complete categories and services, correct hours, real photos, and a steady flow of detailed reviews. Then check, every month, whether AI actually names you.
That last step matters more than it sounds. Most local businesses are not being recommended at all, and the traffic signals owners are used to watching (calls and website clicks from the profile) are drifting down even when rankings hold.
This guide covers what changed in 2026, what Google has and hasn't said, and a checklist you can work through this week. Everything here is as of September 2026. Google changes these surfaces often, so treat the specifics as a snapshot.
How AI Mode answers "near me" questions
Google AI Mode is the conversational search experience inside Google Search. You ask a question, it writes an answer, and you can keep asking follow-ups. For local queries, that answer typically names a handful of businesses and explains why each one fits.
AI Mode is also taking on more tasks. TechCrunch reported on 27 August 2026 that AI Mode can now help book hotels in the US and track flight prices (source). The direction is clear: Google wants the searcher to finish more of the job without leaving Google.
Google has not published a local ranking guide specific to AI Mode. What it has said is general, and we cover it below. What we can say with confidence is that the answer is built from information Google already holds about your business, plus what the wider web says about you. If that information is thin or inconsistent, the model has little to work with and a competitor with a fuller profile is the easier recommendation.
Consumers are using these tools. BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey, published 10 March 2026, found that 45% of US consumers had used an AI tool for local business recommendations in the past year, up from 6% the year before. ChatGPT was the most used AI tool for this (31%), followed by Google's AI Mode (23%) (source).
The Business Profile panel becomes an AI Overview
The biggest visible change this month is on the profile itself. Search Engine Roundtable's Barry Schwartz reported on 17 September 2026 that Google is turning the local knowledge panel (your Business Profile) into an AI Overview listing: the panel is labelled "AI Overview" at the top, with a "Show more" button that opens an AI Mode style follow-up chat (source). The change was first posted by Ben Fisher on LinkedIn, and Schwartz replicated it himself.
Two caveats. Google has not confirmed this as a full rollout, and Schwartz notes Google has tested variations of AI summaries in local panels for some time. You may or may not see it on your own listing yet.
If it does become standard, the implication is simple. The first thing a searcher reads about your business may be Google's summary of you, not your own description. That summary can only be as good as the facts and reviews behind it.
Why calls and clicks are falling
Many owners have noticed fewer calls and fewer website visits from their profile, even when their map ranking looks stable. The data supports that.
Search Engine Land published an analysis by Michel van Luijtelaar on 31 August 2026, based on GMBapi data, comparing Q2 2026 with Q2 2025 (source):
| Business Profile action | Q2 2026 vs Q2 2025 |
|---|---|
| Calls | -11.9% |
| Website clicks | -12.5% |
| Direction requests | +21.1% |
The author's reading is that Google is building cleaner data so its AI can answer questions without sending users to a website first, which would explain why direction requests rise while calls and clicks fall. That is an interpretation, not something Google has stated, but it matches what the panel change above suggests.
What this means in practice:
- Fewer calls does not automatically mean less demand. People may be getting their answer (hours, price range, whether you do the job) from Google and turning up, or ringing later.
- Direction requests are a better signal than before. If they are rising, your listing may be doing its job.
- Being in the answer matters more than the click. If Google summarises the options and the searcher picks one without visiting any website, the business that isn't named never gets a chance.
What Google says helps
Google's own guidance is short but direct. Its Search Central page on AI features, last updated 10 July 2026, says Merchant Center and Business Profiles "can help your products and services to be visible in both AI responses" (source).
That is about as close as Google gets to saying "fill in your profile". Here is how that translates into Google Business Profile optimization work:
| Profile element | Why it matters for AI answers | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Primary and secondary categories | Categories tell Google which questions you are a candidate for | Pick the most specific primary category; add secondaries only if you genuinely offer them |
| Services and products | AI answers often match a specific need ("emergency", "same day", "Invisalign") | List each service by the name customers use, with a short description |
| Hours, including holiday hours | Wrong hours make a recommendation useless, and a summary may repeat them | Update special hours before every holiday |
| Business description | Gives the model plain facts to summarise | State who you serve, where, and what you are known for, without keyword stuffing |
| Attributes | Answers to constraint questions like accessibility or payment options | Fill in every attribute that applies |
| Photos | Evidence that the business is real and active | Add current exterior, interior, team and work photos |
| Website link and landing page | Where AI and Google confirm details | Make the linked page match the profile exactly, with LocalBusiness schema |
| Name, address, phone (NAP) | Inconsistent details make you harder to verify | Use identical NAP on your site, directories and social profiles |
None of this is new advice. The difference is that a half-finished profile used to cost you a few clicks. Now it can cost you the recommendation.
Reviews as raw material
In an AI answer, reviews stop being a star rating and become source text. When a model explains why it picked a dentist ("gentle with nervous patients, open Saturdays"), those phrases usually come from what customers wrote.
So the review goal shifts from volume alone to detail:
- Ask for specifics. "Would you mention what we helped you with?" produces reviews that name services, which is exactly what matches a specific question.
- Keep them recent. A steady trickle beats a burst every two years.
- Reply to every review, including negative ones. Your replies are public text about how you handle problems.
- Don't rely on Google alone. BrightLocal's CEO Myles Anderson pointed out in the same March 2026 report that ChatGPT and other LLMs "can't see inside Google's walled garden of reviews" (source). Reviews on other platforms relevant to your trade help you in the engines that aren't Google.
Consumers also check. BrightLocal found 88% of AI users fact-check the reviews that AI tools cite, and 42% always check reviews on the native platform (source). A glowing AI summary backed by a thin review profile will not hold up.
Test your recommendations monthly
Here is the uncomfortable number. Business Observer reported on 18 September 2026 on an Evoke Strategy study of 28,488 Florida businesses: fewer than 6% were recommended by ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Google AI Overviews. For dentists the figure was 3.6%, and for general contractors 2.3% (source). That is one agency's study of one state, but it matches what local owners find when they test themselves.
You cannot improve what you have not checked. A simple monthly routine:
- Write down 10 to 20 questions a customer would really ask, such as "best emergency plumber in [suburb]" or "family dentist near [landmark] open Saturday".
- Ask them in Google (AI Overviews and AI Mode), ChatGPT and at least one other assistant.
- Record whether you are named, where you appear in the list, and which competitors are named instead.
- Note which sources the answers cite. Those are the directories and review sites worth fixing first.
- Repeat on the same day each month so you can see whether your changes moved anything.
Doing this by hand works for a few questions. It gets tedious quickly, and the answers vary from run to run. Citedify's local business AI visibility audit automates it: it asks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews 20 buyer-intent questions for your business, records every answer, scores how often and how favourably you are mentioned, and shows the competitors named instead of you. For local businesses it also checks Business Profile, review, NAP and LocalBusiness schema signals, then gives you a prioritised fix list. One honest limit: it tests AI Overviews, not AI Mode separately, so keep a few manual AI Mode checks in your routine.
If you want to understand the Google side in more depth, our guide to AI Overview tracking explains how those answers are measured, and the September 2026 AI Overviews roundup covers the other changes Google made this month. Apple is moving in the same direction with Siri, which we cover in Siri AI and Apple Business Connect.
Key takeaways
- Google's Business Profile panel is being shown as an AI Overview in some searches (reported by Search Engine Roundtable, not confirmed by Google).
- Profile calls and website clicks fell year on year in Q2 2026 while direction requests rose, according to GMBapi data in Search Engine Land.
- Google says Business Profiles can help you be visible in AI responses. Complete every field that applies.
- Detailed, recent reviews on Google and on other relevant sites are the raw material AI uses to describe you.
- Most local businesses are not recommended by AI at all. Measure your own AI visibility monthly rather than assuming.
Ready to see where you stand? Get your AI Visibility Audit — track your AI visibility score, competitor share, and a prioritized action plan every month.
