Steady Demand Google Business Profile and Local Services Ads management and Local SEO agency.

Google Business Profile and Local Services Ads management and Local SEO agency.

Steady Demand Research Index – AI and GBP Stats

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Every number we have published, in one place. This is the complete statistical record of Steady Demand's research into AI search, Google Business Profile and Local Services Ads – 145 figures drawn from 21 studies, tests and client case studies published since December 2024.

The work spans large-scale AI citation analysis (1,487 local-service queries run through Gemini and ChatGPT, 14,472 citations classified), controlled GBP tests, LSA performance benchmarks, and results from client engagements. Every stat links back to the study that produced it, where you will find the methodology and sample size. Figures are recorded exactly as published – nothing rounded, nothing restated.

AI Search Study

AI Citation Ledger — What AI Actually Cites

Published Aug 6, 2026

1,487 local-service queries run through Gemini and ChatGPT across 50 US metros and 10 verticals, with 14,472 citations classified. The largest look yet at where AI answers about local businesses actually come from.

Study scale

1,487queries completed (of 1,500 targeted)14,472citations collected and classified50US metros × 10 service verticals3phrasings per metro/vertical combination3,611unique domains cited4,410distinct businesses named by GeminiJul 27–Aug 20, 2026collection windowGemini API + ChatGPT comparison passes

Where citations point (Gemini)

59.9%citations to the business's own website14.4%citations to social / forum sources13.7%of all citations go to reddit.com10.4%citations to directories10.3%combined local-service directory share

Ratings & reviews of AI-recommended businesses

4.75★average rating of AI-recommended businessesvs 4.84★ for the plain-search baseline90%of AI picks rated 4.5★ or higher97%of AI picks rated 4.0★ or highervs 99.6% of baseline businesses919average review count for AI picksvs 846 for baseline; medians 295 vs 32235%of AI picks have 500+ reviews2.0%of businesses got recommended in more than one metro87 businesses total93%Google Places match rate for named businesses
AI Search Study

Grounding Drift — AI Citations Change Every Time

Published Aug 6, 2026

Byte-identical queries repeated back-to-back, hours later and the next day. AI answers are not a ranking you can hold; the classic local pack is roughly ten times more stable.

Repeat-query consistency

46%best-case domain overlap on immediate repeatJaccard 0.4630.056Jaccard overlap of the model's internal search strings0.410domain overlap after ~3.5 hours0.380domain overlap next day0.265three-repeat agreement rate within one day72repeat-test calls across 4 rounds over 2 days

AI vs the classic local pack

7.9%Gemini returns the same top business on repeat90.2%Google local pack returns the same top listing0.177Gemini loose full-set overlapvs 0.884 for the local pack5,000pairwise Gemini round comparisons4,466 local-pack comparisons

Phrasing sensitivity

40%average source agreement across three phrasings of the same question3% → 87%word-overlap range between phrasingsworst: HVAC/Birmingham · best: Locksmith/Cleveland12.7%overlap of Gemini fan-out queries with Google's People Also Ask80%of fan-out queries score below 0.2 lexical overlap with PAA

External benchmarks cited

5% / 56% / 74%weekly domain churn: AI Overviews / AI Mode / ChatGPT SearchSISTRIX 17-week study1.2%ChatGPT local business recommendation rateSOCi 2026 analysis
AI Search Study

Gemini vs ChatGPT — Two Different Internets

Published Aug 6, 2026

The same 1,487 queries through both engines. They almost never agree on sources, and ChatGPT's source mix changed overnight on August 20, 2026.

Agreement between engines

8.3%average cited-domain overlap between Gemini and ChatGPT4.2%of queries where both name the same top business0.037overlap across the full recommended-business lists0.5% – 14.9%domain overlap range by verticallowest: personal injury · highest: auto repair

ChatGPT's source mix before → after Aug 20, 2026

41.7% → 0.0%reddit.com citation share for local queries15.9% → 42.8%citations to business websites34.6% → 40.8%citations to general directories3.0% → 11.6%citations to local-service directories (Angi, HomeAdvisor)86.4%decline in ChatGPT's Reddit citations overallPromptwatch tracking

Reddit reliance by vertical (July 2026, pre-change)

72.2%dentist queries60.1%auto repair queries12.3%personal injury lawyer queries60%of July queries mentioned Reddit in the answer text899 of 1,500

Verification pass

334citations checked post-change — zero from Reddit150 queries across 5 metros6.7%Reddit share in a same-day 40-query Gemini sample19 of 284 citations1,650total post-drop ChatGPT queries checked
Google AI Study

AI Overviews vs AI Mode — Opposite Citation Behavior

Published Aug 22, 2026

8,000 local-service searches across 50 metros and 10 home-services verticals, 86,645 citation references analyzed. The two Google surfaces reward almost opposite things.

Study scale

8,000local-service searches86,645citation references analyzed~3,995usable queries per surface3,992 AI Overviews · 3,998 AI Mode

How often each surface appears

48.8%AI Overviews surface rate overall100%AI Mode surface rate overall21.8%AI Overviews on local-intent queriesAI Mode: 100%75.8%AI Overviews on informational queries

What each surface cites (local intent)

73.5%AI Overviews → business websites12.4%AI Overviews → social sources79.8%AI Mode → Google Maps19.7%AI Mode → business websites47.5% / 22.7%AI Mode informational: business sites / Google's own properties95.5%citation accuracy against official domains6,006 business-site citations

Traits of cited pages — AI Overviews vs AI Mode

64.0% / 58.7%schema markup present87.2% / 81.9%mobile friendly59.5% / 54.2%page contains statistics68.9% / 58.4%visible phone number39.2% / 34.3%linked social profiles4.77★ / 4.75★average star rating of cited businesses1,129 / 1,266average review count21.5 yrsmedian domain age — identical on both surfaces
AI Ads Study

What Actually Predicts a ChatGPT Ad

Published Aug 21, 2026

1,865 queries on the free tier, incognito, fresh session each time. Ad presence tracks intent and phrasing, not topic.

Intent is the driver

20.0%ad presence on informational queries61.8%ad presence on commercial-referral queriesa 42-point gap58.3%ad presence on local-intent queries1.44× the 40.5% general-commercial control23.8% vs 58.0%naturalistic vs templated phrasing≈2.4× difference54.3% vs 30.8%normal markets vs small towns

Ad presence by category

75.8%dentists70.8%hotels68.3%lawyers68.3%restaurants67.5%plumbers63.3%florists53.3%museums52.5%bookstores44.2%furniture stores18.3%auto repair

Ad quality

1–1.5%relevance mismatch rate on real ads0–5%queries showing 2+ ads0.7%defensive bidding5 of 714 ads1,865total queries, collected Aug 19–21, 2026
AI Search Study

ChatGPT's Local Results Aren't Coming From Foursquare

Published Aug 21, 2026

2,880 prompts across 12 verticals and 12 US markets, plus a 1,728-prompt cross-check on a second API surface, to test the widely repeated claim that ChatGPT's local data is Foursquare's.

Foursquare's actual share

0.00%Foursquare citation share on the primary surface0.06%Foursquare share on the independent cross-check surface7.5% vs 5.7%ChatGPT business resemblance to Google vs Foursquare87.5%of downstream repetitions of the original claim stripped all caveatsoriginal May 2025 study: 60–70%, five cities

What is actually in the grounding layer

95.83%Yelp present in business-card groundingbut only 1.04% cited, 2.08% retrieved-not-cited28.90%TripAdvisor in business-card grounding13.55% cited · 20.70% retrieved16.88%OpenTable in business-card grounding1.70% cited · 3.58% retrieved4,608total prompts across both surfaces72-hour window, US-English
Local Services Ads

LSA Performance Benchmarks

Published Apr 18, 2026

What separates accounts generating leads from accounts that don't, from managed-account performance data.

Levers that move lead volume

+43%more leads when message leads are enabledand +19% impressions53.7average leads for accounts at 85%+ responsiveness+77% lead volume, +52% impression rate141.8average leads for accounts hitting their budget capover 4× non-constrained accounts0leads for accounts with fewer than 4 photos
GBP Test

Custom Services on a Google Business Profile

Published Dec 15, 2024

A single-profile test of adding custom services, tracked from March 2023 through December 2024.

Result

9keywords moved into positions 1–15one entered the top 372 hourstime to first measurable movement24% → 29%visibility score, March to December+5 points, stable for over a year21 monthstracked duration of the effect
Client Case Studies

Local Services Ads — Client Results

Managed and whitelabel LSA accounts, with the numbers each case study reports.

Cleaning company — 2 years

5,586total leads, Sept 2023 – Nov 2025$174,109total spend~$31blended cost per lead$29.29 at launch → $29.85 at end349,182total ad impressions99.5% / 54.3%top impression share / absolute top rank at peak99.03% / 49.21% in Nov 2025190 → 218monthly leads, first month to last

National HVAC franchise — 4 years

12 → 68active LSA accounts0leads, calls or billable activity at handoff$5K–$46Kmonthly spend per brand3verticals: HVAC, plumbing, electrical

Moving company — 9 months

#12 → #1rank placement37 → 147monthly calls at peak season300%+ call volume increase$38–$39cost per lead, stabilized97–98%top impression share272 → 290reviews

Garage door client — 12 months

22 → 56–62monthly leads, baseline to peak60+ at peak$40.97–$49.63cost per lead range2,921 → 6,340ad impressions407 → 574reviews; rating 4.1 → 4.398–99%top impression shareholding ~#4 rank
Client Case Studies

GBP Suspensions, Spam & Recovery

Reinstatements, spam removal and ranking recovery work, with the reported numbers.

Spam removal — Dallas–Fort Worth

~500fake listings in the initial sweep100% success rate within 30 days1,200+spam listings removed in under a year~100/month sustained~3×increase in calls from the client's listingheld top three in the map pack

Account-level suspension recovery

48 hoursto reinstate all but four locations4 days total−50%revenue vs the previous week during suspension−70%revenue vs the same period the prior year

Repeat suspensions — garage door

17 daysfirst reinstatement (Jan 7–24, 2020)$2,000/daylost revenue while suspended$34,000 total from the first suspension3suspensions in one yearlater reinstatements took 1 and 2 days4 of 16audit points out of compliance

Ranking recovery & franchise fixes

#15 → top 4ranking restored after a review transfer went wrong~1,800 reviews moved between locations72 hoursto visible recovery17%call-in orders at a mis-chained franchise locationvs 40–55% at sibling locations

Local SEO boost — Barbara Oliver Jewelry

+113%average session duration+20%driving-direction requests+9%localized sessions180 → 1,500+social followers3 weeksto top-10 organic gains

Download all figures as CSV – free to cite with attribution to Steady Demand and a link to the source study.

For third-party research on the same questions, see the Local Search & AI Industry Research Index.

Data last updated August 30, 2026

Download all figures as CSV — free to cite with attribution to Steady Demand and a link to the source study.

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