How AI Is Changing the Way Spokane Customers Find Local Businesses
By Cory James, Managing Member
When someone in Spokane asks Google or ChatGPT who to call, AI now writes the answer, and it often names a few businesses before anyone visits a website. To be in that answer, your Google Business Profile, listings, reviews and service pages all have to tell AI the same clear story about what you do and where. The good news: those are fixable, and most of them are free.
What changed: the answer shows up before the click
For twenty years, local search worked the same way. Someone typed “plumber Spokane,” scanned a list of links and a map, and clicked around. Now the search box answers the question itself.
- Google AI Overviews and AI Mode answer local questions directly. Google says these features are built on its core ranking and quality systems, and that optimizing for them “is still SEO.” (Google Search Central)
- AI is starting to book, not just answer. Google announced it is expanding “agentic booking” for local experiences and services in Search, so a customer can complete a booking with a provider through a Search agent. Examples in the coverage range from a restaurant takeout order to scheduling a landscaper. (Local Falcon, June 2026)
- AI already calls businesses for customers. Google’s “Ask for Me” feature phones local businesses on a searcher’s behalf to ask about prices and availability, then sends the searcher a summary. It started with services like oil changes, brakes and nail appointments. (TechCrunch, Search Engine Land)
Put those together and the path to your door gets shorter. A customer can ask, compare and book while your website never loads. Your website still matters, because AI reads it. But your listings, reviews and profile now do more of the selling.
What we’ve measured in Spokane: two different scoreboards
Here’s the part most articles on this topic skip. Showing up in AI answers and ranking on Google are not the same thing, and you can be winning one while invisible in the other.
Bizzy Bee Bookkeeping
When we asked ChatGPT to recommend a small-business bookkeeping and payroll service in Spokane, it named Bizzy Bee first, on September 12, 2026, and again when we re-tested on September 21, 2026. On Google, the same site sat on page two for “QuickBooks cleanup,” the question it answers best: 812 impressions and zero clicks in Search Console from June 23 to September 9, 2026. We recorded that ChatGPT answer before our work on the site could have had any effect, so we treat it as a finding, not a result we’re taking credit for.
The lesson is what matters: if you only check Google, you’d never know ChatGPT was recommending you. If you only check ChatGPT, you’d miss the customers Google never sends.
Read the Bizzy Bee case studyTrue Northwest Group
A real estate team on a brand-new domain, launched July 8, 2026. By 11 weeks (September 24, 2026), the site averaged position 9.7 on Google and had been cited 12,900+ times in Google’s AI answers. Visitors arriving from ChatGPT grew 5.5x, from 18 in the first four weeks to 99 in the most recent four.
Read the True Northwest case studyTwo businesses, two industries, one takeaway: you have to measure both scoreboards.
The five things AI looks at before it recommends you
AI tools don’t guess. They lean on information that’s consistent across the places they read. These five are where we see Spokane businesses leak the most.
1. A complete, accurate Google Business Profile
Google says its Business Profiles can help your products and services show up in AI responses. Fill in every field: categories, services, service area, hours, photos and a description written in plain language. A half-finished profile gives AI less to work with than your competitor’s finished one.
2. Consistent listings across directories
Your business name, address and phone number should match everywhere they appear: your website, Google, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp, Facebook and your industry directories. When the details disagree, AI gets less confident about who you are, and less confident usually means left out.
3. Fresh reviews
Recent reviews tell people, and the systems summarizing you, that you’re active and trusted. Ask every happy customer, make it easy with a direct link, and reply to every review, good or bad.
4. Clear service pages and FAQs that answer real questions
One page per main service, written the way customers actually ask: “How much does a water heater replacement cost in Spokane?” not “Comprehensive Plumbing Solutions.” Google’s own guidance is to write from what you actually know, and not to recycle what others have said or what an AI could produce in seconds. Your local prices, timelines and lessons learned are exactly that kind of content.
5. Structured data (schema)
Schema is code on your site that labels your business name, location, services and hours so machines read them without guessing. One honest note: Google says there’s no special schema required for its AI features. We still recommend accurate LocalBusiness markup because it keeps your details unambiguous and makes you eligible for rich results in regular search.
What not to waste money on
- “AI search hacks.” Google says there’s no special markup or AI-only rewrite that gets you into its AI answers. Anyone selling a secret trick is selling you the five steps above with a new label.
- Buying mentions or fake reviews. Inauthentic signals are what spam systems are built to catch, and fake reviews can cost you your profile.
- Long contracts for brand-new AI tools. AI phone receptionists and automated lead routing can be genuinely useful, especially for after-hours and emergency calls. But most of the data on them comes from the companies selling them. Pilot one for a month before you commit.
A five-minute self-test
You can check where you stand today:
- Open a private browser window and ask ChatGPT who to call for what you do, in your words: “Who should I call for a water heater replacement in Spokane?” Write down who it names.
- Ask the same question in Google, and in AI Mode if you have it. Are you in the answer, the map, or neither?
- Search your business name. Is your Google Business Profile complete, with recent photos and reviews?
- Search your phone number. Do your listings show the same name and address everywhere?
- Open your website on your phone. Can a stranger tell in five seconds what you do, where you do it and how to book?
If any of those made you wince, you’re not alone. Most businesses we check start with real leaks, and they’re usually fixable in order.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I still need a website if AI answers the question directly?
- Yes. AI tools read your website to decide what you do and whether to recommend you. The website matters less as the place customers land and more as the source AI quotes, so clear service pages matter more than flashy design.
- Is optimizing for AI different from SEO?
- Mostly no. Google says optimizing for its generative AI features “is still SEO.” The difference is emphasis: local signals like your profile, listings and reviews carry more weight when AI is summarizing instead of listing links.
- How long does it take to show up in AI answers?
- It varies by business and competition. True Northwest, on a brand-new domain, averaged position 9.8 on Google at seven weeks and kept climbing. Profile and listing fixes are often the fastest wins because they're things you control today.
- Does ChatGPT use Google to find businesses?
- AI assistants pull from a mix of sources, and the companies don't publish complete lists. That's why consistency across all your listings matters more than optimizing for any single one.