How Google Decides Who Appears in AI Overviews for Local Searches

I spent six weeks watching a client's perfectly optimized Google Business Profile get completely ignored by AI Overviews—while a competitor with fewer reviews, a worse website, and a slightly closer address kept getting cited. Six weeks of tweaking categories, refreshing photos, responding to every review. Nothing moved. Then I pulled up their AI Visibility Score for the first time, and the problem hit me like a truck: Google's AI wasn't even reading them. Their prominence signals were invisible outside of Google's own ecosystem.

That's the thing nobody tells you about AI Overviews for local searches. The old playbook—GBP optimization, a few citations, some keywords—gets you into the Local Pack. But the AI layer? It's a different animal with a different appetite.

By the end of this guide, you'll know exactly how Google's AI decides who gets cited in local summaries—and you'll have a phase-by-phase system to get your business into those slots.

Pre-Flight Check: Are You Actually Ready?

Before touching anything, you need three things locked down:

• Access to your GBP dashboard with owner-level permissions (not just manager).

• A citation audit tool capable of scanning 50+ directories. Whitespark, BrightLocal—pick one.

• A way to track AI visibility. If you can't monitor whether Gemini or ChatGPT cites your business for "\[service\] + \[city\]" queries, you're flying blind.

Stop/Go test: Search your top service keyword + city in incognito mode right now—if you're not in the Local Pack top 3 and can't find yourself cited in any AI-generated summary, you've got real work to do. That's your green light to keep reading.

Phase 1: Nail Relevance Through Primary Category Match

Google's local algorithm runs on three pillars: relevance, distance, and prominence. AI Overviews amplify all three, but relevance is where most businesses silently fail.

Here's what to do:

Start with your primary category. A weak primary category match dooms your profile in AI-generated local results—I've seen it repeatedly. Go into your GBP dashboard, pull up your primary category, and ask: does this exactly match what people type when they need me?

Test 3-5 category alternatives. Search each one incognito with your city name. Look at who shows up in the AI Overview summary. If your competitors are there and you're not, your category is likely off.

Visual checkpoint: After updating, refresh your GBP dashboard. Your primary category should display directly under your business name with zero suggested edits pending.

Verification: Search your primary category + city in Gemini. If your business appears in the AI-generated response within 2-4 weeks, the match is working.

Here's the nuance most guides skip: Google's AI doesn't just match categories to queries—it cross-references micro intents from your reviews. If your category says "Auto Repair" but your reviews never mention "quick oil change nearby" or "brake inspection same day," the AI treats your relevance as shallow.

Phase 2: Fix NAP Consistency Before Anything Else

I was looking at the data recently and it's wild—70% of local profiles have NAP inconsistencies across directories. One wrong phone number on Yelp, a slightly different suite number on Yellow Pages, and your prominence tanks.

Do this now:

Run a full citation audit across 50+ directories. Every single listing needs identical Name, Address, Phone. Not "close enough." Identical.

Visual checkpoint: Your audit tool should show a consistency score. You want 100% match across the top 20 directories minimum.

Verification: Pick 5 random directories and manually confirm. If even one has a mismatch, you're not done.

The friction warning here is real: NAP consistency is grunt work. It's boring. Most people fix the top 10 directories and call it done. But unstructured citations—mentions on local news sites, blog posts, chamber of commerce pages—those are what feed AI citation picks in 2026. And if your NAP is wrong there, the AI doesn't trust you enough to cite.

Phase 3: Build a Review Engine That Feeds the AI

Reviews aren't just social proof anymore. Google's AI favors businesses with reviews under 30 days old for local queries. Recency is now a top-11 ranking factor for Local Pack and AI Overviews. Reviews older than 30 days? Your rankings can drop by 25%.

The execution:

• Set up a systematic review request flow—post-service emails, SMS follow-ups, QR codes at checkout.

• Coach customers (gently) to mention specific services and your city. "Great emergency plumber in Austin" beats "Great service!" every time for AI parsing.

• Respond to every review within 48 hours. Not with generic "Thanks for your feedback!" templates. Personalized responses that reference the service and location.

Visual checkpoint: In your GBP dashboard, your most recent review should be less than 7 days old. Your star rating should sit above 4.5.

Verification: Check 10 recent reviews for geo-specific and service-specific keywords. If 70% contain them, you're feeding the AI what it needs.

And here's something that trips people up: review diversity matters more than volume on a single platform. Businesses with reviews spread across Google, Yelp, and Apple Maps edge out single-platform volume in AI summaries. The AI cross-references.

Phase 4: Stack Behavioral Signals and E-E-A-T Local

Proximity is the factor you can't fake—but you can extend your radius. 80% of local searches happen on mobile, which means proximity weighs heavily. Strong behavioral signals—clicks-to-call, direction requests, website visits from the listing—tell Google your business is actively engaged with real customers. That extends your effective proximity radius (though honestly, we're talking less than 10% extension even with strong signals).

For E-E-A-T local, add schema markup local for your services. Tie author bios on your website to your city. Fully optimized GBPs are 2.7x more trusted according to recent data, and AI Overviews cite E-E-A-T-strong sites 3x more often.

Visual checkpoint: In Google Search Console, your local CTR should exceed 5%. You should see "Popular times" data populating in your GBP—that confirms behavioral signal flow.

Verification: Query Gemini or ChatGPT with your niche + city. If you're cited, your E-E-A-T local signals are registering.

The Ugly Truth: Ghost Errors Nobody Talks About

Here's the troubleshooting table for problems I see constantly in forums and client audits:

The timeline reality? GBP relevance tweaks show results in 1-4 weeks. Prominence through reviews and citations takes 3-6 months. AI Overview inclusion compounds at 6-9 months with consistent effort. There's no shortcut here.

> Streamline Your GBP and Review Workflow Managing all of this—review responses, post scheduling, sentiment tracking, keyword heatmaps—across multiple locations gets chaotic fast. We built GMBMantra to handle review management, competitor analysis, and local SEO tracking from a single AI-powered dashboard, so you can focus on the strategy instead of the busywork.

FAQ

How long before GBP changes affect AI Overview visibility?

Relevance changes (categories, descriptions) typically surface in 1-4 weeks. Prominence signals like reviews and citations compound over 3-6 months. Consistent AI Overview inclusion usually takes 6-9 months of sustained optimization across all three pillars.

Why does my competitor appear in AI Overviews with fewer reviews?

Review diversity and recency outweigh raw volume. A competitor with 40 recent, geo-specific reviews across Google and Yelp beats 200 stale single-platform reviews. Check their review analytics and reporting patterns—you'll likely spot fresher, more keyword-rich feedback.

Can I track whether AI tools cite my business?

Yes. Monitor your AI Visibility Score using tools that query Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity for your service + city keywords. GMBMantra's rank tracking includes AI citation monitoring alongside traditional Local Pack positions.

How do I fix NAP inconsistencies across 50+ directories?

Use a citation management platform to bulk-audit and correct listings. Manual fixes work for top directories, but automated tools catch the long-tail directories where mismatches hide and quietly erode your prominence.

Is ecosystem traffic from Apple Maps really a factor?

It is. Cross-platform presence signals broader authority to Google's AI. Sync your business data with Apple Maps, Bing Places, and niche directories. Competitor analysis tools can show you where rivals have listings that you're missing.

What's the biggest mistake businesses make with AI Overviews?

Treating it like traditional SEO. AI Overviews weight E-E-A-T local signals, review sentiment, and unstructured citations differently than the classic Local Pack. Businesses that only optimize their GBP without building reputation protection across the broader ecosystem get ghosted.

So—where does your business actually stand right now? Run that incognito search. Query Gemini with your service and city. If you're not showing up, you've got your roadmap above. And if you want to stop managing all of this manually, GMBMantra is worth a look.