How People Are Finding Local Businesses in 2026
Google, Facebook, AI and the New Search Landscape
If you run a local business, you might assume your customers are finding you through Google. And you'd be right — but that's no longer the whole story.
The way people discover local businesses is changing. Google is still hugely important, but customers are also using Google Maps, Facebook and other social platforms, review sites and, increasingly, AI tools such as ChatGPT to find businesses and make decisions.
For local service businesses and trades in particular, this creates an interesting opportunity. Your customers aren't necessarily looking in one place anymore. They're looking everywhere. And that makes having a strong, connected online presence more important than ever.
Google is still a major part of local search
Google remains one of the most important places to be found when someone is looking for a local business. According to BrightLocal's 2026 consumer search research, 84% of consumers had searched for a local business online in the previous three months. Perhaps more importantly, 75% of consumers used more than one channel during their most recent local business search. That tells us something important.
People aren't necessarily choosing one platform and sticking with it. They might discover a business on Facebook, search for it on Google, check the reviews and then visit the website before deciding whether to make contact. The journey is becoming much more connected.
People don't just use Google
Social media is still an important part of the local discovery process. Facebook, in particular, remains a valuable channel for many local businesses and trades. It's where potential customers might see your latest work, a recommendation from someone they know, a special offer or an introduction to your business. But there's an important distinction: Your Facebook page isn't your website.
Your Facebook page is one part of your online presence. It shouldn't have to carry all of it. A social media profile is useful for discovery and engagement, but your website gives people somewhere to go when they want to learn more about your business.
Your website gives everything else somewhere to go
Think about your online presence as a collection of pieces. Your Google Business Profile helps people find you locally. Your Facebook page helps people discover you and get a feel for your business. Your reviews build trust. And your website brings it all together.
It's the place where someone can properly understand what you do, see your services, look at your work, find your contact details and decide whether you're the right business for them. It's also something you own and control. That's becoming increasingly important as search continues to change.
AI is changing how people search too
This is probably the biggest shift happening right now. AI isn't some distant possibility for Australian consumers. It's already being used at scale. According to Roy Morgan's 2026 research, 13.6 million Australians — 58% of Australians aged 14 and over — used AI tools during an average four-week period in early 2026. ChatGPT alone reached 10.5 million Australians, or 45% of the population aged 14+.
That doesn't mean 45% of Australians are asking ChatGPT which electrician to hire. But it does show how quickly AI has become part of everyday online behaviour. And AI is beginning to move into local business discovery too.
BrightLocal's 2026 consumer research found that 23% of consumers used AI during their most recent local business search. The direction is clear: People are beginning to ask AI what businesses they should consider, not just Google.
What does this mean for trades?
This is where things get particularly interesting. Research into more than 6,400 Australian trade-related Google search results found that Google's AI Overviews appeared for 66.3% of informational trade searches — searches such as questions about how to fix something or what type of service is needed.
For searches with stronger commercial intent, such as best plumber, electrician cost or hire a builder, AI Overviews appeared much less often — 21.7% of the time. You can read the full Australian trades and AI search research here. In other words: AI is increasingly answering the "how" questions, while traditional search remains important when people are ready to find and hire someone.
That's an important distinction for trades. If someone needs an electrician, plumber, builder or air conditioning specialist, they still need to find an electrician, plumber, builder or air conditioning specialist. And when they're ready to spend money, being visible in Google and Google Maps still matters.
The Sunshine Coast is no exception
For local businesses, this isn't just a national trend. Research tracking more than 80 Sunshine Coast service keywords across 21 industries found substantial search demand for local trades in early 2026.
These figures come from Google search-volume data for Sunshine Coast service keywords. You can see the Sunshine Coast local search research here. So yes, people are still searching for local trades. But there is an important complication.
The same Sunshine Coast research found that overall local-service search demand fell 44% year-on-year between January–April 2025 and January–April 2026.
The researchers suggest the timing may coincide with the growing influence of AI search, although the data doesn't prove that AI is the sole cause. The takeaway isn't that people have stopped searching. It's that the search landscape is changing.
Your business needs to be findable in more than one place
This is why I don't think businesses should look at Google, Facebook, AI and their website as competing channels. They work together. Someone might discover you through Facebook. Someone else might find you on Google Maps. Another person might search your business name after seeing your vehicle around town. Someone else might ask ChatGPT for a recommendation. And another customer might find you through a Google search for the service you provide. What happens next matters.
When that person clicks through to your website, they should immediately be able to see:
Who you are
What you do
The locations your service
Why they should trust you
And how to get in touch
That's the job of a good business website.
AI search makes your website even more important
There's another reason to pay attention to your website as AI search grows. 3P Digital's 2026 Australian AI visibility study analysed 1,033 AI answers across 25 Australian service industries and found that 58% didn't name an Australian business at all. That's a striking finding. It means there is still a huge amount of opportunity for businesses to become more visible and more clearly understood online.
And research from BrightLocal's 2026 local AI visibility study analysed more than 200,000 local AI searches across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews. One of its most interesting findings was that 93% of the unique domains cited by AI were individual business websites.
So while AI search is changing how people discover businesses, the website hasn't become irrelevant. Quite the opposite. Your website can become one of the sources AI uses to understand your business.
You don't need to be everywhere
This doesn't mean you need to spend your days posting on Facebook, writing blogs, managing Google, creating videos and trying to keep up with every new AI platform. The goal isn't to be everywhere. The goal is to have a strong digital foundation that supports the places your customers are already using.
The way people search is changing. Your online presence should too.
Google isn't disappearing. Facebook isn't disappearing. Websites aren't disappearing. AI is simply adding another layer to the way people discover and research businesses.
The businesses that adapt aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest marketing budgets. They're the ones that make it easy for customers — wherever they start — to find them, understand them and take the next step. Because ultimately, being online isn't about ticking a box and saying "yes, we have a website." It's about making sure your business can be found, trusted and contacted when someone is looking for what you do. And that's more important than ever.
Siya Studio creates professional Squarespace websites for Australian service businesses, with website design, local SEO and AI search optimisation working together to build a stronger digital presence.
If you're wondering how your business currently appears across Google, social media and AI search, it's worth taking a closer look. You might be more visible than you think. Or you might be missing opportunities you didn't know were there.
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