If you run a small business in a local area, whether you’re an accountant, a plumber, a café owner, or a therapist, you’ve probably heard the panic about AI “killing” Google search results.
The truth is more nuanced, and actually better news for local businesses than you might think.
But before we get into the changes, let me share something I see constantly: businesses with websites that do absolutely nothing for them. It’s almost like if they had no website at all, it would make no difference.
That’s not a technology problem. It’s a “set it and forget it” problem. And the shifts happening in search right now are going to widen the gap between businesses that pay attention and those that don’t.
Google recently rolled out “AI Overviews”, those AI-generated summaries that now appear at the top of many search results. The SEO industry has been in meltdown, with talk of traffic crashes and the “death of websites.”
But here’s what matters for your business: AI Overviews currently only appear on about 7% of local search queries. When someone searches “plumber near Bishops Waltham” or “accountant Southampton”, they’re mostly still seeing traditional results.
Local search has been relatively protected from these changes. That’s the good news.
The less good news? The rules are shifting, and your competitors who actually bother with this stuff will pull ahead of those who don’t.
In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Bold Names podcast, Liz Reid, Google’s Head of Search, described a fundamental behavioural shift. Younger users especially are going to short-form video, Reddit threads, YouTube tutorials, and user reviews over polished marketing copy.
Google isn’t making people prefer these sources. It’s noticing that they do, and ranking accordingly.
Being “Found” Isn’t the Same as Being “Chosen”
Google is becoming less about driving traffic to websites, and more about giving people the information they need without clicking through.
When someone searches “what time does [local café] open”, Google just shows them the answer from your Google Business Profile. They never visit your website.
This isn’t bad news, it’s just different news. It means your Google Business Profile matters more than ever.
Here’s the shift that matters most: if you can write an article using AI without any unique knowledge or experience, that’s exactly the content seeing the biggest declines.
Generic blog posts, the kind that could have been written by anyone are being buried. Google can summarise that stuff itself now. Why would it send users to your version?
The content that’s surviving and thriving is the stuff AI can’t generate: your specific observations, your client stories, your professional opinions, your local knowledge.
Here’s what I actually encounter when I start working with a new client:
Their Google Business Profile is barely filled in. Company name, address, phone number — and that’s it. Often they set it up years ago and haven’t touched it since. Many don’t even realise what it is or what it does for them.
They have no idea where their enquiries come from. Very few track anything. Many don’t even have Google Analytics set up, and those who do rarely look at it. They’re essentially flying blind.
They think having a website is enough. The website exists, therefore it must be working, right? Wrong. A website without even basic optimisation is just an expensive digital business card that nobody’s looking at.
They think SEO is either unaffordable or a con. And honestly, I understand why. The daily spam emails promising “page 1 of Google” have made business owners deeply sceptical of anything SEO-related. So they do nothing.
The irony is that doing the basics — the stuff that takes hours, not months — can make a genuine difference. Because most of your competitors aren’t bothering either.
This is the single most important thing you can do, and it’s free.
Most business owners I meet have done the bare minimum: name, address, phone number. Then never logged in again.
Here’s what you’re probably missing:
Business description — written like a human, explaining what you do and where.
Services — listed individually with descriptions.
Photos — of your premises, your team, your work (not stock images).
Posts — even monthly updates signal to Google that you’re active.
Q&A section — answer the questions people actually ask.
Reviews — and crucially, your responses to them.
Some clients tell me reviews will just be fake, or that the whole thing is pointless. Others have no concept of what a GBP even is, so they dismiss it entirely. But when I show them how their competitors are appearing in local searches, and they’re not, it usually clicks.
When I audit a new client’s website, I usually find the same gaps:
No Google Analytics — so no idea what’s happening.
Not connected to Search Console — so Google can’t tell them about problems.
No meta titles or descriptions — so Google makes up its own (badly).
No local signals — no address in the footer, no embedded map, no mention of areas served.
No structured data — so Google doesn’t truly understand what your business does.
None of this is complex. It’s checklist stuff. But running through that checklist with a client often surprises them, they had no idea any of it was missing.
You don’t need to become a content creator. Your customers can create the most valuable content for you: reviews.
Reviews build trust with both Google and potential customers. They’re one of the top ranking factors for local search. And they cost you nothing except the courage to ask.
Respond to every review — good and bad. A professional response to criticism shows potential customers how you handle problems.
Google trusts businesses whose information matches everywhere. If your website says one phone number, Yell says another, and your Facebook page has an old address, that inconsistency hurts you.
Name, address, and phone number should be identical everywhere, right down to whether you write “Road” or “Rd”.
This one surprises people, but it’s increasingly important.
AI tools and voice assistants work by understanding natural, conversational questions. When someone asks Google or Alexa “What’s the best time to get a pregnancy massage?”, they’re not typing keywords, they’re asking a question the way they’d ask a friend.
If your website has FAQ content that matches how real people actually ask questions, in their words, not industry jargon, AI can parse it easily and use it to answer queries. This is how you get cited in AI Overviews and voice search results.
The key is writing questions the way your customers ask them. Not “What are your massage service hours?” but “When can I book a massage?” Not “What contraindications exist for prenatal massage?” but “Is pregnancy massage safe in my first trimester?”
Adding FAQ schema (a type of structured data) helps Google understand this content even better and increases the chances of it appearing directly in search results.
If you’re already answering the same questions from customers over and over, you have the raw material. It just needs structuring.
Here’s something specific to market towns and areas outside bigger centres:
Places like Bishops Waltham sit about 20 minutes from Southampton city centre. But psychologically, many local people perceive it as much further. They’d rather find someone local than trek into town.
A well-optimised website and Google Business Profile in an outlying area can capture significant business from people who don’t want to travel to the nearest big town. If you’re properly visible locally, you’re not competing with Southampton businesses. You’re the convenient alternative.
Now here’s where it gets complicated.
Social media is full of advice telling you to use AI to create content. “Just get ChatGPT to write your blogs!” Meanwhile, Google is actively looking for, and devaluing, content that’s obviously AI-generated.
This creates an impossible situation for small business owners:
The content Google rewards now is content that contains something AI couldn’t generate on its own: your unique observations, your specific experience, your professional opinion, your local knowledge.
The key is this: AI should process your material, not create from nothing.
Here’s the difference:
Generic AI content (being devalued): “Write me a blog post about why small businesses need SEO.” → You get the same article a thousand other people got. Google knows it.
AI-assisted content with unique input (this works): “Here are five problems I keep seeing with local business websites: [your observations]. Here’s a photo of a GBP I audited last week. Here’s a voice note about why I recommend X over Y. Turn this into a blog post in my voice.” → You get something only you could have produced, with AI doing the heavy lifting on structure and polish.
The Problem for Small Businesses
This sounds great in theory. In practice, most small business owners:
And that’s the real issue. It’s not that the content opportunity doesn’t exist, it’s that capturing and processing it takes time and knowledge that most business owners don’t have.
The gap isn’t between businesses that invest heavily in SEO and those that don’t.
It’s between businesses that do the basics properly and those that do nothing at all.
Your Google Business Profile, properly filled in and regularly updated. Your website, connected to Analytics and Search Console with proper meta information. Structured data that tells Google exactly what you do. A steady flow of reviews you actually respond to. Consistent information across the web. And content that reflects your actual expertise, not generic filler.
That’s not a massive investment. It’s not a con. It’s just the minimum required for your online presence to actually work for you.
The businesses that will struggle are the ones whose websites do nothing, and who never notice because they’re not tracking anything anyway.
If reading this has made you realise you’re not sure where you stand, or you know there are gaps but don’t have time to address them, this is exactly what my SEO packages cover.
I handle the technical setup, the Google Business Profile optimisation, the structured data, the ongoing content that positions you as the local expert. Including the “capture your unique material and turn it into content that actually performs” piece.
You focus on running your business. I make sure Google knows you exist and understands why you’re worth recommending.
If you want to know what’s missing, get in touch for a quick review. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes on the basics makes all the difference.
Meanwhile, check out this simple infographic that summarises the 8 items you should always check off for your own website.
