Do AI Overviews Show Up for Local Searches? 30-Search Test

Short answer: mostly no, not on the search where someone types a trade and a town. On November 3, 2026 we ran 30 Google searches set to Fort Worth. Google showed an AI Overview on just 2 of 15 “service + city” searches, like “roofer weatherford tx.” It showed one on all 15 of 15 question searches, like “how much does a roof cost in texas,” and it sat at the very top of the page every time.

That one split changes where a local business should spend its time on AI. Here is what we tested, what came back, and what I would do about it this week.

What we tested

On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, we pulled live Google results through DataForSEO, a search data service, with the location set to Fort Worth, Texas, on desktop. We ran two groups of 15 searches across the same trades: plumbing, roofing, dental, land clearing, HVAC, electrical, pest control, auto repair, landscaping, fencing, foundation repair, garage doors, injury law, vet care and house cleaning.

Group one is how people search when they are ready to hire: a service and a town. “Plumber fort worth tx.” “Dentist decatur tx.” “Hvac repair granbury tx.”

Group two is how people search before they are ready: a question. “How to choose a plumber.” “How often should you service your hvac.” “How much does foundation repair cost in texas.”

Then we asked ChatGPT five of the same kinds of questions with web search turned on and wrote down every source it cited.

Service + city searches: the map still wins

• AI Overview: 2 of 15.
• Google’s map pack (the three businesses with stars and a map) was the first thing on the page for 13 of 15.
• All 15 had a map pack somewhere on the page.

The two AI Overviews came on small-town searches. “Land clearing jacksboro tx” put an AI Overview on top with the map pack under it. “Fence company azle tx” had the map pack first and an AI Overview further down. For “personal injury lawyer fort worth tx,” Google’s paid Local Services ads sat on top and the map pack came second.

So if you are a Fort Worth plumber trying to “get into AI” for “plumber fort worth,” that space mostly isn’t there. The fight on that search is still the map pack, which runs on your Google Business Profile, your reviews and your website.

Question searches: AI owns the top of the page

• AI Overview: 15 of 15.
• Position: first on the page, all 15 times.
• Map pack: 0 of 15.

This is where AI shows up for a local business. Not when someone picks a company, but in the step right before it, when they are figuring out cost, timing and who to trust.

Our data tool returned the source list for 6 of those 15 AI Overviews. Two things stood out. YouTube was cited in 5 of the 6. And most of the other sources were company websites: roofing contractors, HVAC shops, fence builders, plumbing companies, manufacturers and law firms. Texas A&M AgriLife was cited on the fire ant question. Plenty of the cited sites belonged to individual service businesses that simply answered the question well on their own site.

What ChatGPT did with the same kind of questions

We asked ChatGPT five prompts on November 3, 2026, with web search on. It reported the model as gpt-6.1-sol.

1. Best plumber in Fort Worth TX
2. Best roofer in Weatherford TX
3. Who should I call for land clearing near Jacksboro TX
4. Best HVAC repair company in Granbury TX
5. How much does a new roof cost in Texas

For the plumber, roofer and HVAC prompts, ChatGPT named three companies each, but it cited directory and review sites, not the companies’ own websites. The sites it leaned on were BestProsInTown, Birdeye, HomeAdvisor and a Yahoo Local list. For the roof cost question it cited one HomeAdvisor cost guide. It cited Google Maps zero times in this test.

The land clearing prompt was different. ChatGPT cited three local companies’ own service pages instead of directories. My read: there are few directory pages for land clearing around Jacksboro, so a clear service page on a company’s own site became the source.

One honest note. In our separate weekly check on agency searches, ChatGPT’s picks have lined up with Google Maps listings. Different questions pull different sources. That is exactly why one channel is not enough.

What this means for your business

Here is my take after looking at all 35 results. For a local business, AI search optimization is not a separate trick. It comes down to three places.

1. Your Google Business Profile still owns the hiring search. 13 of 15 times, the map was the first thing a buyer saw. If your profile is half done, nothing else on this list matters as much.
2. Your own website has to answer the questions buyers ask before they hire, in plain words, with real Texas numbers and conditions. That is the kind of page Google’s AI Overviews pulled from in our test, and it is what ChatGPT cited when directories were thin.
3. The directories and video AI reads. Make sure your business is listed correctly on the review and directory sites in your trade. A short, plain video answering one common question gives you a shot at the YouTube spot that showed up in 5 of 6 AI Overviews.

Chasing an AI answer for “your trade + your city” is mostly wasted effort right now. The questions are where the AI is.

More people are starting there, too. In a survey of 500 people who use AI tools, reported by Search Engine Land on January 7, 2026, 37% said they start searches with AI instead of a search engine, and 47% said AI influences which brands they trust.

What to do this week

1. Write down the 10 questions customers ask you most on the phone. Cost, how long it takes, what to look for, what can go wrong.
2. Search three of them on Google yourself. Note who the AI Overview cites. Those are the businesses AI trusts on your topic right now.
3. Pick one question and answer it on your website in plain words. Put the answer in the first two sentences. Use real ranges and Texas specifics you can stand behind.
4. Open your Google Business Profile. Fill in every service, your hours, your service area and at least 10 recent photos. Reply to your latest reviews.
5. Look up your business on the top two directory sites in your trade and fix anything that is wrong.
6. Film one 60-second phone video answering your most common question. Post it to YouTube with the question as the title.

Quick answers

Do AI Overviews show up for local “service + city” searches? Mostly no. In our November 3, 2026 test of 15 Fort Worth-area “service + city” searches, Google showed an AI Overview on 2 of them, and the map pack was the first thing on the page 13 of 15 times.

When does Google show an AI Overview on a local business topic? On question searches. All 15 question searches in the test, like “how much does a roof cost in texas,” had an AI Overview, at the top of the page every time, with no map pack.

Where did the AI answers get their sources? Of the 6 AI Overviews that returned a source list, 5 cited YouTube and most of the rest cited company websites. ChatGPT cited directory and review sites (BestProsInTown, Birdeye, HomeAdvisor and a Yahoo Local list) for plumbers, roofers and HVAC, and local companies’ own service pages for land clearing near Jacksboro.

What should a local business do about AI search? Keep your Google Business Profile complete, answer the questions customers ask before they hire on your own website in plain words, and make sure your listings on the directory sites in your trade are correct.

How we check this for your business

Every business is different. A Granbury HVAC company and a Decatur dentist will see different results. Our free AI Visibility Check asks ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the questions your customers ask and shows you who gets named instead of you, and why. If you would rather talk it through, book a time with me. You can also see how we handle AI search visibility, or read more in our guides, starting with how to get recommended by ChatGPT.

How we ran it: Google results pulled November 3, 2026 through DataForSEO, location Fort Worth, Texas, desktop, top 10 results. ChatGPT answers through DataForSEO’s AI response tool, web search on, same date. Results change by day, device and location. We report exactly what came back.