Local Users Want More, Google vs. Web, Local Ranking Variables, TikTok Survives

Local Searchers Want More from AI

The early 2022 - 2024 narrative that Google would be displaced by AI has given way among many SEOs to its polar opposite: ChatGPT hasn't had any impact on Google. That's equally untrue. What we see is a pattern of complementary or sequential usage, where people are using AI and Google. AI is changing buyer journeys, but those changes typically vary by vertical and use case. Shopping and product comparison research is a prominent one, which is why Google is stepping up AI shopping efforts. Research we recently presented with Last Mile Retail (form required) at BrightonSEO looked at AI and Google usage for local search, extending to local product finding. What we see is that many people are using AI for local search but ChatGPT (primarily) is not providing the information depth and detail people want. In the survey (n=1,045 US adults), 66% of respondents said that a majority of their overall search activity has local intent. And 87% said they'd conducted local searches using AI, with 57% having done it multiple times. Yet 68% expressed mixed satisfaction with AI local results. The chart below shows what people believe is missing from local AI results. When they don't get what they want from AI, they (re)turn to Google.