What is Google’s AI Overviews feature?

Google’s AI Overviews provide AI-generated summaries at the top of search results. They combine information from websites, Google Business Profiles, and reviews to answer questions directly, often before users click any links.

How does Google’s AI affect local and service-based businesses?

Google’s AI changes how businesses are discovered by summarising services, reviews, and reputation directly in search results. This means customers may decide who to contact before visiting a website, making accurate listings, reviews, and clear service information more important than ever.

Will AI search reduce traffic to my website?

AI search can reduce casual website visits because some questions are answered directly in search results. However, businesses featured in AI summaries often receive more qualified traffic from users who are already interested and closer to making a decision.

Why are Google reviews more important with AI search?

Google’s AI actively uses ratings and review content to recommend businesses. High-quality, detailed reviews help AI understand what your business does well and increase the chances of being featured in AI-generated search results.

How can businesses optimise for AI-powered search results?

Businesses should keep their Google Business Profile up to date, maintain consistent information across platforms, collect genuine reviews, and create clear content that answers common customer questions in natural language.

Is traditional SEO still relevant with Google AI?

Yes. Traditional SEO fundamentals like clear structure, helpful content, and authority still matter. AI search builds on these signals but prioritises content that clearly answers user intent rather than focusing only on keyword rankings.

Do businesses need to worry about AI search beyond Google?

Yes. Customers increasingly use tools like ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and voice assistants to find services and products. Maintaining accurate, consistent information across multiple platforms helps ensure visibility across AI-driven discovery channels.

How Google’s AI Is Changing How Customers Find and View Your Business Online

Glow AI Solutions
Jan 23
6 min read

Introduction: The biggest shift in search since Google began

Google Search is going through its most significant change in decades. For years, the journey was predictable. Someone searched, scanned a list of blue links, maybe clicked a Google Maps result, and then compared a few websites.

That model is disappearing.

Today, many searches are answered before a user clicks anything. AI-generated summaries, conversational answers, and recommendations now sit at the very top of the results page. Google’s Search Generative Experience, AI Overviews, and the Gemini AI model are reshaping how customers discover, assess, and choose businesses.

For local and service-based businesses, this matters a lot. Customers may form an opinion about your business without ever visiting your website. Your reputation, services, and positioning are increasingly interpreted and presented by Google’s AI.

This article explains what is changing, why it matters, and what practical steps businesses should take to stay visible and competitive in an AI-driven search landscape.

What is Google’s Search Generative Experience?

Search Generative Experience, often shortened to SGE, is Google’s AI-powered search interface. Instead of simply ranking pages, Google now generates a detailed response to many queries.

Rather than ten links, users may see:

A short written summary answering their question
A list of recommended businesses or options
Ratings, reviews, and key attributes
Follow-up questions they can ask instantly

For example, someone searching for “best plumbers near me” may see a short explanation of what makes a good local plumber, followed by a list of businesses with star ratings and brief descriptions.

This content appears above traditional results. Users can then ask follow-up questions such as “which one offers emergency call-outs?” and the AI refines the answer.

Search becomes a conversation rather than a list.

Google has begun rolling this experience out more widely through what it now calls AI Overviews.

AI Overviews: The new first impression

AI Overviews are the visible result of SGE. They are the AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of many searches.

These overviews pull information from:

Google Business Profiles
Business websites
Reviews
Trusted third-party sources

For a user searching “family-friendly restaurants in Brighton”, an AI Overview might list several venues, mention children’s menus or spacious seating, and include star ratings and review snippets.

The key change is this. The AI Overview often becomes the first and sometimes only thing a customer reads.

If your business appears positively in that summary, you gain instant credibility. If you are missing, outdated, or poorly represented, you may never enter the customer’s consideration set.

Gemini: The engine behind AI search

Behind these features sits Gemini, Google’s advanced AI model developed by Google DeepMind.

Gemini allows Google to:

Understand complex, conversational questions
Combine information from multiple sources
Interpret images and context
Handle follow-up questions accurately

From a business perspective, Gemini means Google is far better at understanding intent. A search like “affordable emergency electrician for an old house” is no longer treated as keywords. The AI understands urgency, budget sensitivity, and property type, then looks for businesses that appear to match.

If your online information clearly communicates who you help, what you offer, and why customers trust you, Gemini is more likely to surface your business.

How AI search affects local and service businesses

For local and service-based businesses, AI search is a double-edged sword.

Visibility is more concentrated

AI summaries appear above everything else. Traditional organic rankings are pushed further down the page.

If your business is featured in an AI Overview, you gain premium visibility. If not, even a strong traditional ranking may receive fewer clicks.

Some early studies have shown drops in organic traffic for certain queries. However, the traffic that does arrive tends to be more qualified. Users have already seen your ratings, services, and reputation before clicking.

Google Business Profiles matter more than ever

Google’s AI heavily relies on Google Business Profile data.

It pulls from:

Business descriptions
Listed services
Opening hours
Attributes
Reviews

An incomplete or neglected profile limits what the AI can say about you. A detailed, well-maintained profile gives the AI confidence to include your business in answers.

Your Google Business Profile is no longer just a directory listing. It is a primary data source for AI search.

See how we improved local visibility and increased leads for a client >

Reviews influence AI recommendations

Star ratings and review content are frequently woven into AI summaries.

Businesses with:

Higher average ratings
More reviews
Detailed, descriptive feedback

are far more likely to be highlighted.

The AI effectively does what customers used to do manually. It scans reviews, identifies common themes, and summarises them. If your reviews consistently mention fast response times or friendly service, that language may appear directly in AI-generated answers.

Traditional search vs AI-powered search

Understanding the difference between old and new search behaviour helps explain why strategies must change.

Then: manual research

Previously, users searched, clicked multiple links, compared websites, and read reviews themselves.

The effort sat with the customer.

Now: assisted decision-making

With AI search, Google does much of that work.

It summarises options, compares businesses, and answers follow-up questions instantly.

Users can refine their needs conversationally rather than starting a new search each time.

This reduces friction and shortens the decision-making process.

Advertising is less dominant, for now

AI summaries typically appear above paid ads. While advertising will likely be integrated into AI results over time, organic credibility currently plays a larger role in visibility.

This gives well-reviewed, well-positioned businesses a chance to compete without relying solely on ad spend.

How customer discovery habits are changing

AI search is reshaping how people look for businesses.

Faster decisions

Customers can narrow options within the search experience itself. By the time they contact you, they may already be close to choosing.

If your information is unclear or missing, you may be filtered out before contact happens.

Growing trust in AI recommendations

Many users increasingly trust AI summaries, especially for comparison-based decisions.

This makes reputation, clarity, and consistency critical.

Multi-platform discovery

Customers are no longer limited to Google.

They may ask:

ChatGPT
Bing Copilot
Voice assistants
In-app AI tools

Your visibility now depends on consistent data across platforms.

AI search beyond Google

Google is not alone in this shift.

ChatGPT shopping and research

ChatGPT now supports shopping and research experiences where users can ask for product or service recommendations. The AI builds buyer guides, compares options, and cites sources.

For businesses, this creates another discovery channel. If your products or services are not well-represented in the sources ChatGPT uses, you may be invisible.

Bing Copilot and Windows integration

Microsoft’s Bing AI and Windows Copilot provide conversational search directly within devices.

Bing relies heavily on:

Bing Places listings
Reviews from third-party platforms

Ignoring Bing is increasingly risky, it's important to focus AEO/SEO/GEO efforts on multiple platforms, not just Google.

How to adapt your SEO and content strategy

AI search does not replace SEO. It changes what good SEO looks like.

Optimise your Google Business Profile

Ensure your profile is complete, accurate, and descriptive.

Include:

Clear service descriptions
Relevant attributes
Regular updates

Write for humans, not algorithms. The AI reads natural language well.

Maintain consistency everywhere

Ensure your business details match across:

Google
Bing
Yelp
Facebook
Apple Maps

Inconsistent data reduces AI confidence.

Prioritise reviews

Actively encourage reviews and respond professionally.

Reviews are now both marketing and ranking signals.

Create content that answers real questions

Build FAQs, service pages, and blog posts that address common customer questions directly.

Think in terms of problems and solutions, not keywords.

Use structured data

Schema markup helps AI systems understand your content precisely.

This increases the chance of being included in AI answers.

Where AI search is heading

Search will become:

More personalised
More predictive
More conversational

Results may differ by user based on preferences, history, and context.

Businesses that understand their audience and communicate clearly will benefit.

AI will likely integrate with maps, bookings, availability, and even transactions.

Visibility will increasingly depend on trust, accuracy, and relevance rather than rankings alone.

Final takeaway

AI is redefining how customers find and judge businesses.

The fundamentals still matter:

Clear information
Strong reputation
Helpful content

But they now feed an AI that acts as the first point of contact.

Businesses that treat AI search as a new channel, rather than a threat, will be best positioned to grow. Your goal is simple. Make it easy for AI to understand who you are, what you do, and why customers trust you.

Do that consistently, and the technology works in your favour.