Found locally in Google and AI: start here

The list above puts the steps in order, from free to paid. This article explains why that order works, with what Google itself writes about it and with our own measurement of the AI Overviews in Zwolle, a city in the east of the Netherlands.

You will read how Google decides who comes out on top locally, what we saw in Zwolle, how to set up your Business Profile, how to get genuine reviews, what to put on your own site, how to track whether it works and when this does not apply to you.

How does Google decide who comes out on top locally?

Google names three factors for local results in Search and Maps:

• Relevance: how well a business profile matches what someone is searching for. The more complete and detailed your information, the better Google can match you to the right searches.
• Distance: how far your business is from the person searching. If someone does not share where they are, Google uses what it knows about their location.
• Prominence: how well known your business is. Google mentions how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have. More reviews and positive ratings can help, according to Google.

Google stresses that you cannot request or pay for a better position in local results. You cannot change distance. Relevance and prominence you can, and that is what the rest of this article is about.

What did we see in Zwolle?

To find out what someone in Zwolle actually sees, we asked Google 40 questions the way a resident would type them, in Dutch. Four per sector, in ten sectors: plumber, painter, dentist, physiotherapist, hairdresser, vet, estate agent, garage, accountant and lawyer. For example: which plumber in Zwolle, or: I am very scared of the dentist, which dentist in Zwolle is good with anxious patients? We measured on 3 and 4 November 2026 in three rounds, not signed in, on google.nl, with cookies rejected. Web agencies and Empireyo itself were deliberately left out of the questions.

Three things stand out. First, every question had an AI Overview. Google itself writes that AI Overviews only appear when they add something and therefore often do not appear. For these local questions in Zwolle they always did.

Second, the source differs by sector. For plumbers and painters the overview almost always cited a comparison site, 7 of 8 times in round 3. For healthcare questions it relied on ZorgkaartNederland and Tandarts.nl, two Dutch healthcare platforms, 6 of 8 times. For lawyers and accountants it cited no comparison site in round 3. Third, a single look is a snapshot. Between the first and the third round, the top five results were exactly the same for only 4 of the 40 questions.

To be honest about the limits of this measurement: three rounds is the minimum, more days give a steadier picture. We counted sources by name; a source that was not on our list did not count. We only measured Google, from one connection, and not the other AI assistants. And we cannot see which location Google assumed for our connection; in the first round, practices from other cities came out on top for one question.

What does that mean for your business?

The AI Overview draws its answer from more than your own site. Make sure you can be found in the places it uses in your sector. For a healthcare provider those are the healthcare platforms, for a tradesperson the comparison sites, and for everyone their own Business Profile and their own site. Search for your own trade and town, and note which sources the overview cites. That is your list.

Google also describes that comparison sites and directories in the European Economic Area can get a block of their own in the search results. Since an update in September 2026, Google also mentions searches for local businesses there. Alongside it, Google shows a block with the providers themselves. A listing on the right platforms therefore counts in more than one place.

How do you set up your Business Profile properly?

Google gives concrete tips and rules. Get your business verified first: Google then knows you may represent the business, and it is more likely to be shown. Then fill in everything that is accurate:

If you work at customers' homes, such as a plumber working from home, Google says you hide your address and set a service area. If you also receive customers at your address, you may show both, provided staff are present during opening hours.

Use the same name, address and phone number everywhere: on your site, in your profile and on the platforms where you are listed. Google asks for the name as you use it consistently. A different spelling in a different place makes it harder for a search engine and an AI Overview to see that it is the same business.

How do you get genuine reviews?

According to Google, reviews count towards your prominence, and a customer reads them before calling. Google gives three tips: remind customers they can leave a review, with a link or QR code you create in the profile; reply to reviews; and value all reviews, because a mix of positive and negative often comes across as more trustworthy.

There are also hard limits. Offering a reward, such as a discount or something free, in exchange for a review or for changing a negative review is what Google calls fake engagement, and it is prohibited. Asking only satisfied customers for a review is not allowed either. So ask everyone, at the same moment, for example after a completed job.

On replying, Google is nuanced. Reply when you have something new or useful to say; you do not need to thank every reviewer publicly. With a negative review: stay polite, do not share the customer's private details, be honest about what went wrong and reply promptly. If you think a review breaks Google's rules, you can report it.

What do you put on your own site?

Google writes that there are no additional requirements and no special optimisation needed for AI Overviews and AI Mode. A page must be indexed and able to appear in Google with a snippet. After that the usual rules apply: let Google read your site, make important content findable through internal links, put the most important things in text, keep structured data in line with what is on the page, and keep your Business Profile up to date.

There are a few things you can skip. According to Google, an llms.txt file is not needed for Google Search, including its AI features, and neither helps nor harms your position there. You are free to keep such a file for other services. Breaking texts into small chunks for AI is not needed either, according to Google. And Google has not shown the highlighted questions and answers in search results since 7 May 2026. Questions on your page remain useful for your readers, but no longer earn an extra block in Google.

Pages per town can help, but only with content that differs per town. Google calls it abuse when you create pages for all kinds of cities that merely funnel visitors on, or pages that are mostly alike. A town page must say something that is only true for that town, such as the distance, the travel time or the services you provide there.

Structured data is not needed for the AI features, Google writes, but remains useful for other displays in the search results. With local business structured data you tell Google your opening hours, your address and your departments. Keep that information the same as what is on the page and in your Business Profile. Google recommends testing new structured data with the Rich Results Test first, and then using the URL Inspection tool in Search Console to see how Google sees the page.

What do you do this month?

1. Claim and verify your Business Profile, if you have not done so yet.
2. Go through the profile using the table above: name, address or service area, category, phone, opening hours and photos.
3. Make your name, address and phone number the same everywhere: site, profile and the platforms in your sector.
4. Create a review link and ask every customer for a review after a completed job, without a reward.
5. Ask your own questions in Google and note which sources the AI Overview cites.
6. Make sure you are listed on those sources, completely and up to date.
7. Only then look at paid options, such as ads for your main service in your own town.

How do you know whether it works?

1. Search Console. Visits from AI Overviews and AI Mode count, according to Google, in the Performance report, under the Web search type. Google also mentions a separate report on performance in the AI features.
2. Your Business Profile. Google offers figures in the profile on how people find and use it.
3. Your own questions. Choose five to ten questions the way a customer types them, with your town in them. Ask them again every month, on more than one day, and note which sources and businesses the overview cites. A single look is a snapshot; our measurement showed that.
4. Your enquiries. Ask new customers how they found you, and count it per month.

You can read more about AI answers and how to be named in them in our articles on Google AI Mode and being cited, not just ranked. A list to check your own site against is in the GEO checklist.

When this does not apply

If you have no premises that customers visit and you do not work at customers' locations either, such as an online shop or a service that only works online, the Business Profile matters less. Then your own site counts most, along with the platforms where your customers compare.

In sectors where the AI Overview mainly cites a platform, such as healthcare, you cannot write the source yourself. You can make sure you are listed there completely and up to date. And in sectors with a lot of competition close by, distance can weigh more heavily than anything you do to your profile.

What we do not know: whether a better profile or more reviews will get you into the AI Overview. Our measurement counted which kinds of sources the overview cited, not why. We also did not measure how often people still click through after an AI Overview. And our questions were in Dutch, in one Dutch city.

Where do you stand in your town? Send us your business name and town, and we will go through the list above with you and tell you where the first gains are. You can read more about our approach under SEO and GEO. You work directly with Nawid; for each project he puts together a fixed team of specialists.