The shift from search engines to answer engines is no longer a prediction. It is happening. Here are the numbers that matter for local businesses, with sources you can verify.
Consumer behavior
- 45% of consumers now use AI tools like ChatGPT to find local businesses, up from 6% the previous year. - BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, 2026
- Gartner predicted search engine volume would drop 25% by 2026 due to AI chatbots and virtual agents. - Gartner Newsroom, February 2024
Platform growth
- ChatGPT: 800M+ weekly active users as of October 2025, up from 200M in August 2024. - TechCrunch, October 2025
- Google's share of US search: 73.7% when AI and alternative platforms are included, down from 77.1% at the start of 2025. - SparkToro/Datos Q4 2025 State of Search Report
- Google global search share fell below 90% for the first time in a decade. - StatCounter Global Stats, March 2025
Search volume shifts
- Google searches per US user fell nearly 20% year over year. - Search Engine Land / Datos, 2025
- Perplexity raised $500M at a $9B valuation, making it the fastest-growing AI search platform. - CNBC, 2025
- Google launched AI Overviews in its core search product, blending traditional results with AI-generated answers. - Google I/O, May 2024
The local business gap
Despite these numbers, most local businesses have no AI visibility strategy. Based on scans run through AEO Grader, the average local business scores below 40 out of 100 on AI visibility. That means AI engines either do not know they exist or are actively recommending their competitors instead.
The businesses that act on this data now - adding structured data, fixing directory listings, publishing answer-format content - will have a structural advantage as AI search continues to grow.