Local business
US shoppers using AI for local recommendations rose from 6% to 45% in a year
By BrandBoost Digital · October 2026
BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey, published in February 2026, reports that the share of US consumers using ChatGPT and other generative AI tools for local business recommendations rose from 6% the year before to 45%. The survey covered 1,002 US adults.
The figure is American, and it measures people who use AI tools to get recommendations, not people who book through them. Outside the US the picture will differ. The direction is still hard to ignore: asking an assistant is becoming a normal way to find a local business.
What an assistant needs from you
Ask an assistant for a lawyer, a dentist or a roofer and it assembles an answer from what it can find about each business. Vague or conflicting details make a business harder to recommend. Specific, consistent ones make it easier: what you do, what it typically costs, where you work, which licences you hold, and what customers ask before they book.
Where to start
- List your services with honest price ranges.
- State your service area and anything you do not cover.
- Add credentials, insurance and warranties you can back up.
- Write the ten questions customers ask most, with your real answers.
Do that once, properly, and keep it current. That is the work behind a BrandBoost Knowledge Catalog, built from your own answers and approved by you before anything is published.
Knowledge Catalog
Give AI assistants one verified source for your business
Services with pricing guides, areas, credentials and the questions customers really ask. Built from your answers, approved by you before anything is published. Foundation from $975, one time.
Sources
Third-party figures belong to their publishers and are linked above. BrandBoost Knowledge Catalog is an independent product, not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. A Knowledge Catalog helps AI systems understand your business; it does not guarantee a recommendation.