Feb 25, 2010

Get Found On Google And AI Search: Local SEO, AEO, and GEO for 2026

In 2010 I wrote this post to nudge you into claiming your Google Maps listing. Back then the big worry was the Yellow Pages.

The advice still stands. Claim your listing today. But the ground under it moved.

Search used to hand you a list of links. Now it hands you an answer. Google writes a summary at the top of the page. ChatGPT names three plumbers. Your prospect calls one of them and never visits a website at all.

So the job is bigger now. You still want to be found. You also want to be the answer.

The 2026 numbers

68% of U.S. Google searches end without a click. SparkToro measured 68.01% for January through April 2026, up from 60.45% in 2024.
AI Overviews showed up on 68% of local business searches in Whitespark's 2025 study of 540 searches in Houston, Phoenix, and Denver. The map pack still showed for 93% of searches with clear local intent.
45% of consumers now use AI tools to find local businesses, up from 6% a year earlier, per BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey. ChatGPT led at 31%, with Google's AI Mode at 23%.
Google is still the top review site, used by 71% of consumers to read reviews.
74% look for reviews from the last three months, and 80% are more likely to use a business that replies to all of its reviews.

Read that last one again. The map pack still matters. The AI answer now sits on top of it. And both lean on the same thing: what the web says about you, and how fresh it is.

Step 1: Claim your Google Business Profile

The old "Google Local Business Center" is now Google Business Profile.

Claim or create your profile and follow Google's steps to verify that you own it.
Pick the most specific main category you can. "Personal injury attorney" beats "lawyer."
Fill in every field: hours, service area, services with short descriptions, phone, website, and booking link.
Add real photos of you, your team, and your work. Skip the stock shots.
Post an update every week or two: a job you finished, a tip, an offer.

Step 2: Get listed where AI looks, too

ChatGPT, Copilot, and the other AI tools pull from the whole web, not just Google. Cover the big ones:

Bing Places for Business
Apple Business Connect (Apple Maps and Siri)
Yelp for Business
The directory or association that matters in your trade (the bar association, your trade group, the local chamber)

Use the exact same business name, address, and phone number on every one. When the facts don't match, Google and the AI tools trust you less.

Step 3: Win the reviews race

Ask every happy customer. Send the review link in your follow-up email or text the same day the job is done.
Keep them coming. Recent reviews beat a big pile of old ones.
Reply to every review, good and bad, in your own words. Half of consumers are put off by canned replies.

Here's how and why to ask for testimonials without feeling like a beggar.

AEO tips: be the answer

AEO means answer engine optimization. It's how you get quoted in Google's AI answers and in tools like ChatGPT.

Write down the questions you hear on sales calls. "How much does it cost?" "How long does it take?" "Do you serve Temecula?" Each one becomes a heading on your site.
Answer in the first two sentences under each heading. Short, plain, and quotable. Add detail after.
Add an FAQ section to your key pages, with FAQPage and LocalBusiness schema so machines can read it. I did this on my own home page last week.
Put real numbers on the page. Prices, service areas, and turnaround times give an AI something solid to repeat.

GEO tips: get talked about

GEO means generative engine optimization. AI tools recommend the businesses other sites already vouch for.

Get mentioned off your own site. Go on podcasts, get quoted in local news, and join the directories in your trade.
Keep your facts the same everywhere: your site, your profiles, and your social bios.
Show who's behind the business. An About page with your name, your story, and your credentials beats a faceless logo.
Test yourself. Ask ChatGPT and Google's AI Mode, "Who's the best [what you do] in [your town]?" If you're not named, see who is and what's being said about them.

My podcast guests have gone deep on this. Frederik Jakobsen shows how to get AI to recommend you, and Brandon Leibowitz answers whether SEO is dead.

Who's going to do all this?

That's the catch. Weekly posts, review requests, replies, and FAQ updates are the kind of work that slides when you get busy.

Want AI to carry the load? HANK AI runs the AI tools you already pay for, and his built-in inspector checks the work before it goes out. Start with the 90-Minute Gap Inspection.
Leads coming in but not closing? The 48-Hour Fix repairs the biggest leak in your follow-up. Fixed or it's free.
Not sure where to start? Start here, or get one idea a day from The Daily.

Sources

Market like you mean it.
Now go sell something.

Sales Training