How do AI Overviews affect local businesses?

What the research says about clicks

The best independent data comes from Pew Research Center, which tracked the real browsing of 900 U.S. adults in March 2025. About 18% of their Google searches produced an AI summary. When one appeared, people clicked a traditional search result in 8% of visits, against 15% when there was none, and they clicked a link inside the summary itself in only 1% of visits. They also ended their browsing session more often after seeing a summary: 26% of the time, compared with 16%.

Google frames it differently. It says clicks from results pages with AI Overviews are higher quality, meaning visitors are more likely to spend time on the site. Both can be true at once: fewer clicks, from people who already understand their problem.

Which local searches are affected

Pew found AI summaries on 60% of searches that began with a question word and 53% of searches ten words or longer, but on only 8% of one- or two-word searches. For a service business, that splits demand in two.

Research questions, such as what causes ice dams or whether a heat pump makes sense in Michigan, increasingly get answered on the results page. Hiring searches, such as roofer Lansing or emergency plumber, are short and direct, the kind Pew found least likely to trigger a summary.

Your Business Profile matters even more

Google says its AI responses can include information about local businesses and tells owners to keep Business Profile details current. Local ranking still rests on relevance, distance and prominence, and Google lists reviews and links from other websites among the signals for prominence.

Google has also started calling businesses for searchers. In July 2025 it began rolling out a feature in the U.S. that phones local businesses to check pricing and availability, and it says businesses stay in control through their Business Profile settings. Accurate hours, services and phone details matter more when software, not just people, reads them.

Ads now show inside AI answers

Google Ads can now appear within AI Overviews and AI Mode, labeled Sponsored, as well as above and below them. Existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns are eligible automatically, in English in the U.S. and select English-speaking markets.

One detail matters for local advertisers. Exact and phrase match keywords qualify only when the searcher's own query shows clear commercial intent, while broad match and Google's AI-driven targeting can also match longer, exploratory questions based on the AI response. Results are folded into your normal campaign and search terms reports rather than shown separately.

What to do now

None of this calls for panic. It calls for a few deliberate changes:

• Write pages that answer the research questions in your trade with specifics only you can give, so you are a likely source when a summary appears.
• Keep your Business Profile complete: categories, services, hours, photos and a steady flow of new reviews.
• Make the site ready for the visitor who does click: fast on phones, phone number at the top, one clear next step.
• Measure leads, not just traffic. Search Console counts AI feature appearances in its regular Web search data, and its generative AI performance report shows impressions in those features. Pair them with calls and form submissions.
• If you run Google Ads, read the search terms report with these longer, conversational queries in mind.

Keep reading

• Does AI search replace Google for local businesses?
• What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?
• How do I get my business in the Google map pack?
• How do I optimize my Google Business Profile?
• SEO from Modern Apex
• Google Ads management from Modern Apex