AI Overviews and AI Mode summarise what Google finds about your business: above all your Google Business Profile, your website and listings on other sites. Anyone with consistent details everywhere, genuine reviews and clear texts gets named in the answers.
Anyone searching Google today for “hairdresser near me” or “How long does a gutter last?” increasingly gets an answer from the AI first, and only below it the usual results. For many businesses it feels as if Google is intercepting customers before they reach their own website.
It is not quite like that. In this article I explain what is behind “AI Overviews” and “AI Mode”, where Google gets the answers from and what you can concretely do as a local business so that your name appears in these answers.
AI Overviews and AI Mode: what is what?
Google has introduced two features that are often confused:
- AI Overviews: a short answer box at the very top of normal Google search. It does not appear for every search, mainly for questions. Below it, the results and the map follow as usual.
- AI Mode: a separate area of search where you ask questions and follow up as in a chat. The answers are longer and include links to the sources, and for local questions also businesses with reviews and a map.
Both features are available in Germany in German. For you as a business, the same principle applies to both: the AI does not write anything out of thin air, it summarises what it finds online about you and your industry.
Where the AI gets its knowledge about your business
For local questions, Google mainly draws on three sources:
- Your Google Business Profile: Name, category, address, opening hours, services, photos and above all the reviews. This is the most important source, because Google manages this data itself.
- Your website: What you offer, for whom, in which place and on what terms. The clearer this is on the page, the easier it is for the AI to pick it up.
- Other sites about you: Directory listings, reports in the local paper, mentions on comparison portals or in forums.
If these sources do not agree, for example old opening hours in a directory or a former address, the AI becomes unsure. In the worst case it states incorrect details, or simply names a different business.
What really changes for local businesses
For pure knowledge questions (“How often should a boiler be serviced?”) fewer people click through to a website, because the answer is already at the top. This mainly affects pages that only explain general knowledge.
Searches with buying intent look different. Anyone searching for “boiler servicing Ludwigsburg” ultimately wants to call a business. Here the AI names specific businesses, and being named is a big advantage: you are recommended before the searcher has even compared a list.
The good news: The basics that have always mattered on Google count even more in AI search. A well-kept profile, genuine reviews and a clear website.
7 steps to get AI to name your business
1. Fill in your Google Business Profile completely
Choose the right main category and add further categories that truly fit. Enter all services individually, with one short sentence per service. Maintain opening hours, special opening hours on public holidays and your service area. How to do this step by step is in my guide to the Google Business Profile.
2. The same details everywhere
Name, address and phone number should be written exactly the same on your website, in your Google profile and in directories such as Gelbe Seiten, 11880 or Yelp. Search once for your company name together with an old address or phone number. This is a quick way to find old entries and correct them.
3. Collect real reviews regularly
The AI likes to summarise reviews, for example “Customers praise the quick appointment scheduling”. That only works if there are enough recent reviews that say something specific. Ask happy customers for a review straight after the job. I explain what is allowed and what is not in the article Collecting Google reviews legally.
4. Reply to reviews
Reply to every review in a friendly and specific way, including critical ones. Your replies are public, and they show Google and readers what your business stands for. Feel free to mention the service in question, for example “Great to hear you like the new bathroom design”.
5. Say clearly on your website what you do
The AI needs clear sentences it can adopt. So do not just write “Your partner for everything around the house”, but for example: “We are a painting business in Ludwigsburg and paint flats, stairwells and facades in the Ludwigsburg district.” Every important service deserves its own page, or at least its own section.
6. Answer your customers' questions
Collect the questions you hear on the phone again and again: How long does it take? What do I need to prepare? Do you also come to Kornwestheim? Answer them on your website in short, honest paragraphs. People ask the AI exactly such questions too, and your answer can then appear as a source.
7. Keep the technical side clean
Your website has to load fast, work well on mobile and be readable for Google. Structured data (Schema.org) helps search engines match name, address, opening hours and services clearly. More on how AI searches choose content is in my article on AI SEO and GEO.
How to check what the AI says about you
Do the test yourself, ideally on your phone and without being signed in:
- Search for your service and your place, for example “tiler Bietigheim”, and see whether an AI Overview appears and who is named in it.
- Ask the same question in AI Mode and follow up: “Which of them has the best reviews?”
- Ask directly about your business: “What does [your company name] offer?” Are the services, place and opening hours correct?
The answers change from search to search. So take a screenshot now and then, and over the months you can see whether anything is moving.
Tip: If you find incorrect information about your business, look for the source first. Usually it is an outdated entry in the Google profile or in a directory. If you correct that, the AI will adopt the right information over time.
Conclusion: no need to panic, but time to tidy up
AI search rewards businesses whose details are correct everywhere, that have genuine reviews and say clearly on their website what they offer and where. That is no rocket science, just care. If you put this in order now, you will not only be named in the AI answer but also be found better in normal search and on Google Maps.
If you want to know where your business stands right now, I am happy to look at your Google profile and your website with you in a free initial consultation. How I approach search engine optimisation is on my services page.
Stefanos Svarnas, Knusperholz in Ludwigsburg. I build websites and make sure businesses get found on Google. Personally, without agency detours.
