How to show up in Google's AI Overviews as a local business
Google says there's nothing extra you need to do to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode: no special markup, no AI text files and no new structured data. A page can be used as a supporting link if it's indexed and eligible to show in Search with a snippet. For a local business, that means solid SEO basics plus an accurate, complete Business Profile.
What Google actually requires
- The page is indexed by Google.
- It's eligible to appear in Search with a snippet.
- It meets Google Search's normal technical requirements.
Google is clear that there are no additional requirements and no special optimisations for AI features, and that meeting the requirements doesn't guarantee a page will be shown.
The basics Google recommends
| Do this | Why |
|---|---|
| Let Google crawl your site | Check robots.txt and your hosting or CDN settings aren't blocking Googlebot |
| Link your important pages together | So Google can find every service and location page |
| Keep key information in text | Prices, services, areas and hours in words, not only in images |
| Add good photos and video | They support the text where they're relevant |
| Keep structured data accurate | It must match what's visible on the page |
| Keep your Business Profile up to date | Google lists this among its recommendations for AI features |
What local businesses should do
- Answer the questions customers ask on your service pages: prices or price ranges, areas covered, how long jobs take.
- Keep your Google Business Profile complete and current: hours, services, photos and replies to reviews.
- Use the same name, address and phone number everywhere online.
- Ask every customer for a review. Reviews describe your work in customers' own words.
- For ChatGPT and other assistants, see our guide on getting recommended by ChatGPT.
How to measure it
Search Console now has Search Generative AI performance reports, which show your impressions in generative AI features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google announced them in June 2026 and says they reached all websites by 31 August 2026. The same data is still included in your overall Performance report. Track what visitors do next, such as calls, forms and time on site, in a tool like Google Analytics. Google says clicks from AI Overviews tend to be higher quality, with people spending more time on the site.
If you don't want content used
You can limit what Google shows from a page with nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet or noindex. Google-Extended controls whether your content is used for AI training and grounding in some other Google systems; it doesn't control Search. Most local businesses want to be found, so these are rarely worth using.
Sources
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website (updated 10 December 2025)
- Google Search Central Blog: Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console (3 June 2026)
Citing these figures? Please link to this page. If you spot a figure that's out of date, email hello@flexilocal.com.
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