AI Overview Just Changed SEO. Here’s What To Know to Stay Ahead.
Here’s how AI is changing the way local businesses show up on Google.
By Jaden Galinato
October 10th, 2025
Google’s latest AI updates have sparked a massive change in the way home service businesses run their digital marketing. The hustle and grind for a page 1 Google ranking is being sneakily overthrown by a new artificial undertaker. Here’s what we know about Google’s AI overviews, ChatGPT searching, and how local service businesses are already seeing results using “Answer Engine Optimization”
Whether you’re tech-savvy or just getting into the digital side of your marketing, learning answer engine optimization can turn the tides for your business – or keep you stuck if you choose to ignore what’s going on. And at the end of this blog, we’ll show you how you can use Answer Engine Optimization to snag more customers for your business, and away from your competitors.
What Is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?
Answer Engine Optimization is the next evolution of SEO — optimizing your website so it can appear in AI-generated results like Google’s AI Overview or ChatGPT citations.
Instead of fighting for clicks through organic rankings, AEO focuses on getting your business mentioned directly in AI summaries where millions of searchers now get their answers.
If traditional SEO helps you rank on Google’s first page, AEO helps you get quoted inside the answers themselves. Allow us to explain.
How AI Is Used In Home Service Search
There are 2 main ways AI is currently being used for home service digital marketing. The first is Google’s AI Mode, and generative AI like ChatGPT.
Google AI Mode: The Next Big Boom
You’ve probably already noticed Google’s AI Overview feature popping up in some of your search results. Debuting in May 2024, this artificial intelligence feature produces AI-generated summaries of search results. They added this feature to prioritize quick answers and instead of having you read multiple articles. After all, who doesn’t love fast answers? We’re still in the early stages of this new feature, but it’s already starting to cause a massive shift in the SEO industry, as well as local businesses that utilize SEO for customer acquisition.
Here’s how it’s changing home service marketing. Let's say a homeowner in Seattle searches for “kitchen remodel cost in Seattle.” They’re met with some articles, the “People also ask” tab, but most importantly, the AI Overview page, which gives them a price range of kitchen remodels in Seattle based on published blog articles.
What’s important to note here is that at the end of each bullet contains a link. This is called an “AI Citation” which is basically like when you would cite sources in your old school papers. These links take you to the blog article where that information was pulled from. Meaning if you have content on your website that answers common customer questions, Google will cite you in their AI Overviews – and more people will visit your site over time. Later we’ll explain why this is a huge deal for businesses.
AI Mode – which has launched more recently – is an extension of the AI Overview, giving you a bigger breakdown (if possible) with more citations, and other related search terms. It allows you to chat with Google AI, much like ChatGPT if you’ve used that before.
ChatGPT: The Secret Home Service Lead Acquisition Funnel
ChatGPT has been taking the world by storm since its initial release in 2022. Now, just 3 years later, it’s citing articles that are already out there. For a better understanding, let’s use the same example as we used for Google’s AI, now in ChatGPT.
When we asked ChatGPT, “how much does a kitchen remodel cost in Seattle?” We were met with this table that gave us price ranges, backed by AI citations to Seattle home remodeling companies. While many companies in Seattle answer this question, it’s important to note that only a few of them were actually cited in this AI search result.
Later in this blog we’ll reveal how you correctly use answer engine optimization to land on both Google and ChatGPT search results to drive more traffic to your website. It’s simpler and quicker than SEO…
How AI Is Generating More Search Traffic In The Home Service Industry
While there isn’t public data that shows exactly how many homeowners are using AI to search for home improvement businesses – here’s what we already know.
High AI use for customer questions
Most AI searches currently focus on informational questions, not commercial or service-related ones. “How much does a high end 2,000 sq ft home renovation cost” vs “home renovation near me”
Search behavior for home services is changing
Instead of clicking through multiple links, AI offers a summarized answer with citations, causing users to primarily interact with the AI-generated text and only click a link to dive deeper. This fundamentally changes how users discover and select services, as users are mainly looking for answers to their problems first, instead of services.
Impact on search behavior
A Semrush report from July 2025 noted that AI Overviews began impacting click-through rates for local home service businesses in 2025, with some estimates suggesting a traffic disruption of up to 40%. Meaning 40% of people are flocking to the AI citations instead of scrolling through Google and clicking on organic links.
AI search is growing among specific groups
Data from June 2025 indicates that parents, a demographic with a high likelihood of being homeowners, are more likely to use AI than non-parents, often for managing household tasks. A July 2025 report also noted a rising trend of U.S. homebuilders adopting AI. It’s becoming the next big boom of finding answers online.
Why You Can’t Ignore Answer Engine Optimization
As a home service business, finding leads can be unpredictable, especially with seasonal fluctuations. You might be working with an SEO agency to combat this – your top ranking competitors certainly are. In fact, your competitors who are already killing it in the SEO game will see this shift in AI as the next big opportunity to take up even more of the local market share and continue stealing your potential customers with Answer Engine Optimization. So should you.
When the internet first launched, businesses who didn’t have a website got flushed out. When Google became the main search engine, businesses who don’t use SEO are left behind by SEO-optimized competitors. Now, in the age of AI, businesses who aren’t optimizing their brand for answer engine optimization are going to get left behind by businesses who stay ahead of Google’s everchanging platform.
It’s not just a new trend, answer engine optimization is about to completely revolutionize the way we search online.
Will Answer Engine Optimization Replace SEO?
If you’ve been fighting for SEO results – you might be wondering – how does this affect me? Should I abandon my SEO strategy? The short answer is: No. SEO isn’t going anywhere. Here’s a look at the data we’ve compiled.
| Metric / Behavior | Previously (pre-AI, ~2023–2024) | Currently (2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Consumers using Google for local business discovery | ~95%+ relied on Google/SE only | 78.7% still primarily use Google, but AI assistants now at 2%, with ~12.7% using both |
| Trust in Google vs AI for local search | ~100% trust leaned toward Google | 93.2% trust Google, only 2% trust AI assistants |
| AI Overview presence in local business queries | <5% (limited pilot tests in SERPs) | ~40.2% overall, and up to 68% depending on query type |
| AI Overviews in hybrid queries (e.g., cost + location) | Rare (<5%) | ~97% show AI Overviews, surpassing local packs |
| AI Overviews in straight local-intent queries (“near me”) | Almost never shown | ~15%, while local packs still appear 93% of the time |
These important facts tell us that you’ll still want to ensure your site is as SEO-optimized as possible to maximize web traffic – since Google will always be a reliable search engine and not everyone is using AI just yet. If you’ve noticed your web traffic take a dip over the past few months, it may be due to your competitors appearing in AI overviews and ChatGPT results – giving you another reason to jump on the train.
But, the data also tells us that AI is slowly rising in popularity and usage. Businesses that solely rely on SEO and ignore answer engine optimization are going to be lapped by those who invest in both.
Answer Engine Optimization Won’t Work Unless You Do This…
Landing on every AI overview related to your work won’t mean anything unless you have a website that’s optimized for conversions. Another way of saying, if your website doesn’t turn browsers into buyers, answer engine optimization is completely pointless. You won’t turn every new visitor into a paying customer, especially in a high-ticket, highly competitive industry like home service, but at the end of the day, the whole point of using answer engine optimization is to get more customers for your website.
Need your website to convert more customers? We broke down 7 quick hacks to optimize your home service website, here.
What Can Happen If You Have A Solid Answer Engine Optimization Strategy
At Grandir Solutions, we stay ahead of all things search related. And being the quick team we are, went ahead and started optimizing our clients’ websites for AI search. Here are some shocking results and revelations we’ve already experienced:
Decked Out MN already shows as the first result for a Minneapolis suburb, in just a few weeks of implementing our answer engine optimization strategy.
Croyle’s Quality Painting shows up as the first painting contractor for a ChatGPT search result, who are located in busy New York.
An Alta Group blog is cited in a ChatGPT answer, when asked about the price of home improvement in Seattle.
What We Learned: It wasn’t very hard for us to get these results and citations – and it only took us a few weeks to start seeing these impressive results. That’s why answer engine optimization is such a big opportunity. With an SEO timeline taking upwards of a year, answer engine optimization can give you results in as short as a couple weeks, when executing a sound strategy (which we’ll let you steal)…
How To Market Your Local Business To Land On More AI Search Results
The way we got those earlier results wasn’t anything super unique to what’s already being done in the digital marketing space. It was a matter of:
Adding possible FAQs that customers search in Google on our clients’ websites, the schema, Google Business Profile description, and other platforms.
EAT: Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust. These are the criteria the Google’s lovely algorithm prioritizes when dealing out search results and AI citations. We created content on their site and utilized keywords that hit those signals, related to our client’s given industry.
Monthly Blogs: These answer engine optimized blogs centered around a certain topic/question that customers typically ask, and included traditional SEO optimization.
As you can see, answer engine optimization is very website heavy, and not much to do with your social media pages. So if you aren’t tech-savvy and don’t want to fly into this blind, here’s what we’ll do for you…
Here’s How We Make Your Website Answer Engine Optimized For More Traffic
Now that you know the importance of answer engine optimization, it’s time to snap into action and lead your local market in this digital revolution before your competitors! If you find yourself strapped for time and need the right team to put the pieces together for you, here’s how we help:
GBP Updates: We turn your Google Business Profile into a traffic driver with AI-optimized posts and updates.
Schema Markup: We add behind-the-scenes “cheat sheet” labels to your site so Google and AI instantly recognize your services and FAQs, and show you off to more potential customers.
Service Area Pages: We build optimized web pages for each town or area you serve, making it easier for Google and AI tools to showcase your business.
Keyword Expansion: We help you show up for dozens of search terms your customers use — not just your business name.
Monthly Blog: We publish one in-depth blog each month designed to get picked up by AI Overviews and search engines like the one showcased above.
Hyperlocal FAQ: We create a FAQ library tailored to your town and services, giving you more chances to appear in AI-powered answers.
When you’re ready to turn this newest opportunity into your business's greatest secret success, get in touch.
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