What this report finds
By now, marketers know their brand should be visible in AI search. But the industry still spends more time admiring the problem than meeting customers where they actually make decisions today.
Yext surveyed 3,848 consumers globally about their local search habits — which tools they really use, how much they trust the results, and what ultimately drives them to act. What the data reveals is a picture more complex than most prevailing narratives around AI search would suggest.
Three themes run through the findings. First, AI adoption is broad, growing, and no longer confined to any one demographic or category. Second, consumer trust in AI is real — but it has not replaced the need to verify, and the channels people turn to for verification are the same ones that have always driven purchase decisions. Finally, the buyer journey is not a neat sequence of steps but a fluid, multi-surface process in which AI, reviews, social, and traditional search all play distinct and complementary roles.
tune Using the region filter
The region filters at the top let you change the lens. Global aggregates all 3,848 respondents across the five surveyed markets. EMEA aggregates the four European markets (UK, France, Germany, Italy). The remaining five filter to a single market.
Switching region updates every stat and chart on the page.
menu_book Glossary
| AI search | Using a generative AI tool — ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Claude — to find a local product, service, or business. |
| AI adopter / AI user | A respondent who used an AI chat tool for local search at least once in the past month. |
| Trust score | A 1–5 rating of how much a respondent trusts AI recommendations for local businesses. Markets surveyed on a 7-point scale (Germany, Italy) are normalized to 5 points for cross-market comparison. |
| Post-recommendation action | What a respondent does after receiving a local business recommendation from an AI tool — for example, searching Google, visiting the website, checking reviews. |
| Verification | A post-recommendation action that confirms or extends the AI's answer (Google search, website visit, review check, social profile check). |
science Methodology
Survey conducted online in Spring 2026 among 3,848 adults across the United States (n=1,120), United Kingdom (n=600), France (n=676), Germany (n=909), and Italy (n=543). Respondents reported searching for local businesses. AI users — respondents who used an AI tool for local search in the past month — make up a subgroup of n=1,628 to n=1,634 depending on the question. Data is self-reported. Findings should be treated as directional rather than population-projectable.
Key findings at a glance
How many consumers have used AI to find a local business?
44% of the 3,848 consumers surveyed globally used an AI tool for local search in the past month. Adoption is highest in Italy (49%) and the US (47%) and lowest in the UK (38%). Among daily local searchers in the US, the figure climbs to 59%.
Has AI replaced Google as the starting point for local search?
Not yet, but the highest-income consumers have already crossed the tipping point. Among the top 20% of US earners, AI has surpassed Google as the starting point for local business searches. At every other income level, Google still leads — but AI is gaining share rapidly across all five surveyed markets.
How much do consumers trust AI recommendations for local businesses?
75% of AI users globally rate their trust at 4 or 5 out of 5. The average global trust score is 3.85 / 5. 71% of AI users report trusting AI more than a year ago. In the US, average trust scores jump from 3.78 below the $125k household income threshold to 4.42 above it.
What do consumers do after receiving an AI recommendation?
After receiving a local business recommendation from AI, 53% of AI users globally search Google or Bing to verify, 49% visit the business website directly, 42% click through to the AI's cited sources, 28% check reviews, and 20% check the brand's social media. Only about 5% act on an AI recommendation without any verification step.
What most influences whether consumers follow through on an AI recommendation?
Reviews lead the conversion layer. Five of the top eight purchase influencers are review or peer signals — star rating, review recency, word of mouth, and review sentiment all rank in the top four. Brand familiarity from social media and active social presence also rank in the top eight.
Which AI tools do consumers use most for local search?
ChatGPT leads AI tool usage among AI users, followed by Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot/Bing AI, Meta AI, Claude, Perplexity, and Apple Intelligence. ChatGPT is also the primary tool used for local research in every market surveyed.
How much do consumers trust AI to spend money on their behalf?
The median AI user globally is comfortable letting AI spend up to $25 without prior approval. Even users who say they're comfortable with agentic transactions keep the unsupervised limit low — for any commercially significant decision, human verification is built into the process.
What does this mean for brands?
Brands that win in this landscape will not be the ones that chase a single channel. They will be the ones that show up in AI's answer set with accurate, structured data, hold up under verification on reviews and search, and maintain a consistent presence across every surface consumers use to research and decide. AI visibility alone is not enough.
AI-driven local search is no longer an early-adopter behavior. It's mainstream — and the trajectory is still accelerating. The data also shows that the pipeline of next-wave adopters is large, primed, and addressable through awareness, not skepticism.
The shift is mainstream
Tools used for local search in the past month
3,848 respondents · multi-select
Categories researched with AI
% of AI users · 1,632 respondents
The trajectory is accelerating
AI usage change vs. a year ago
Among AI users · 1,609 respondents
The next wave is forming
Most non-adopters know AI for local search exists. The barrier isn't skepticism — it's habit and unprompted attention.
Awareness among non-adopters
Have you heard of AI for local search?
Likelihood to try in the next 6 months
Among non-adopters
Why non-adopters haven't tried AI yet
% of non-adopters · 1,750 respondents · multi-select
The income tipping point
Among the highest-income consumers, AI has already overtaken Google as the starting point for local search. This signal — currently visible only in the US sample — points to where the rest of the market is heading.
Where consumers start a local search — Google vs. AI, by income group
% who start with each channel · within-market groups · population-weighted across markets
Who's most likely to convert next
% likely to try AI in the next 6 months — by income group
Among non-adopters · "very" + "somewhat" likely · within-market groups
% likely to try AI — by search frequency
Among non-adopters · "very" + "somewhat" likely
AI adoption doesn't follow the demographics most marketers assume. Whether you look by income, age, or gender, the patterns are consistently counterintuitive — and they have direct implications for who you target, how you message, and where you invest.
Income — the behavioral cliff
Income shapes AI behavior more than any other demographic factor. This market is split into within-market groups based on its own income distribution.
AI search adoption by income group
% who used AI for local search past month · within-market groups
Average trust in AI by income group
Trust score, 1–5 scale (normalized) · among AI users
Age — challenges the generational narrative
The conventional wisdom says younger generations drive AI adoption. The data tells a different story across every market.
AI search adoption by age
% who used AI for local search past month
Average trust in AI by age
Trust score, 1–5 scale (normalized)
Gender — adoption vs. commitment
Men typically adopt AI at a higher rate. Women, when they adopt, trust it differently.
AI search adoption by gender
% who used AI for local search past month
Average trust in AI by gender
Trust score, 1–5 scale (normalized) · among AI users
Trust in AI for local recommendations is real and growing. But trust hasn't replaced the need to verify — and the channels people verify on are the same ones that have always driven purchase decisions.
Trust is high and growing
How much do AI users trust local recommendations?
5-point scale (normalized) · among AI users
Trust trajectory vs. a year ago
Among AI users
Verification is universal
Almost no one acts on an AI recommendation without checking it. The channels that take over after the AI answers are the same ones that have always driven purchase decisions.
What AI users do after receiving a recommendation
% of AI users · multi-select · 1,628 respondents
Verification rates by trust level
% who take each verification step, broken down by their trust score · top 5 actions
Reviews are the conversion layer
When consumers verify — and nearly all of them do — review signals are what they trust. Reviews are no longer a reputation management checkbox. They're the conversion layer between an AI mention and an actual customer.
What most influences follow-through after an AI recommendation
% of AI users · multi-select · 1,628 respondents
How influence shifts at the highest trust levels
% citing each signal as influential, by trust level · top social and review signals
The autonomous spend ceiling
Even AI users who say they're comfortable with agentic transactions keep the unsupervised limit low. For any commercially significant decision, human verification is built into the process.
Maximum amount AI users would let AI spend without prior approval
Among AI users · 1,612 respondents
The buyer journey isn't a clean sequence of stages anymore. AI shows up at every step — discovery, comparison, deep research, last-minute checks — and so do reviews and social. Brands that show up in one moment but go missing in another lose decisions they should have won.
AI shows up everywhere in the journey
No single dominant use case. AI is a research analyst, a comparison tool, a shortlist generator, and a quick-answer engine — often in the same session.
How AI users use AI when researching local businesses
% of AI users · multi-select · 1,630 respondents
The journey continues after AI
Trust in AI is high. Acting on AI alone is rare. After an AI recommendation, the buyer journey continues — usually across two or three additional channels before any decision gets made.
What AI users do after receiving a recommendation
% of AI users · multi-select · 1,628 respondents
Where journeys start vs. where info is verified
When consumers want a recommendation, they start at one set of channels. When they need basic information, they go to a slightly different one. AI plays a role in both — but it's a node in a multi-channel journey, not the journey itself.
Starting point for a local recommendation
% of respondents · multi-select
Looking up basic local business info
% of respondents · multi-select
Social as a parallel channel
Social media is easy to underestimate because its effects are scattered across the journey. It's where consumers begin, where they verify, and where the brand familiarity that drives conversion is built.
Social media's role across the journey
% who cite social at each step
Reviews from discovery through decision
Reviews aren't only the last step before purchase. They show up at the start of the journey, during verification, and as the most-cited influence on follow-through.
Reviews across the journey stages
% who turn to reviews at each step