How Local Businesses in the US Get Recommended by AI: Google, Apple, Bing, Yelp, Reddit and the FTC Review Rule

AI assistants answer local questions like “best taco place near me” with public information: map listings, reviews and websites. OpenAI, Google and Apple have each said their assistants use your location, Google Maps data or information from across the web for these answers. To get recommended, claim and complete your free listings on Google, Apple, Bing and Yelp, earn honest reviews within each platform's rules and the FTC's 2024 fake review rule, and then check the results yourself in a logged-out browser.

AI assistants build local answers from public listings and web pages

No AI company publishes a formula for which business it recommends. What they do publish is where the information comes from. Here's what each company says in its own help pages and announcements, as of October 2026.

ChatGPT search. OpenAI's help page on web search says ChatGPT “can also use location information to find local results, including restaurants, news, and weather.” Ask for good restaurants near you, and ChatGPT may rewrite that into a search like “top restaurants San Francisco,” based on the approximate location from your IP address. OpenAI also says it may share location with “trusted third-party providers” for things like nearby business listings, and that restaurant availability may come from OpenTable, Resy or Yelp. It doesn't name every listing provider. For your own website to be eligible, OpenAI says it has to allow OAI-SearchBot, its search crawler. That's a different bot from GPTBot, which OpenAI uses for model training, so blocking GPTBot doesn't take you out of ChatGPT search.

Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google's guide for site owners says there are “no additional requirements” to appear in these features. A page has to be indexed and eligible to show in Search with a snippet, and that's it. One of the best practices Google lists is “checking that your Merchant Center and Business Profile information is up-to-date.” For signed-in users in English, AI Mode can also check local availability and pricing for things like haircuts or auto repair. When those details aren't online, Google says it may call the business.

Gemini. Google's Gemini help page says “Gemini uses public information from Google Maps” to find businesses and give their addresses, websites, ratings and opening hours.

Siri. In its September 14, 2026 announcement, Apple said Siri AI, which began rolling out that day in beta in English, draws on information from across the web for questions like the best local coffee spot in a new city. Apple also says its business platform helps companies reach local customers across Maps, Wallet, Siri and more. More on that below.

Microsoft Copilot. Microsoft says Bing Places listings appear in Bing search results and Bing Maps. It has said it's investing in “deeper integrations with Bing Maps and Copilot,” but it hasn't published how listings show up in Copilot answers today. We won't guess.

The pattern is simple. Each assistant leans on a map or listing service plus the open web. Your job is to make sure each of those sources has your correct, complete information. None of these companies explains in detail why one business gets picked over another, so be wary of anyone who claims to know the exact formula.

A complete Google Business Profile covers Search, Maps and Gemini at once

Google shows Business Profiles in Search and Maps, and Gemini reads public information from Google Maps. One profile reaches all three. Google's local ranking help page names three factors for local results:

• Relevance: “how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for.” Complete, detailed info is how you help here.
• Distance: how far you are from the person searching. If they don't share a location, Google uses what it knows about where they are. You can't change this one.
• Prominence: “how well-known a business is.” Google says this draws on things like how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have, and that “more reviews and positive ratings can help.” The same page also calls this factor popularity.

Google is blunt about one point: “There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google.” If someone sells you a guaranteed top spot, they're selling something Google says doesn't exist.

Google builds profiles from several sources, according to its page on business information: crawled web content such as your official website, licensed data from third parties, user contributions such as photos and reviews, and owners who claim their profiles. So your website and your profile should say the same thing. If your site lists Sunday hours and your profile doesn't, you're giving Google two answers.

One more thing owners miss. Google may send automated calls or texts to the number on your profile to confirm details like your hours, or to book an appointment for a customer. Answer them. Google says it will never ask for payment, credit card information or account passwords, so a caller who does isn't Google.

Apple and Bing run their own maps, so claim those listings too

Apple Maps and Bing Maps each have their own business listings, managed in their own places. Both are free.

Apple Business Connect is now called Apple Business. In a March 2026 announcement, Apple said Business Connect would be replaced by Apple Business, a free platform launching April 14, and that existing Business Connect data would move over automatically. The old businessconnect.apple.com address now sends you to business.apple.com. Apple says you first claim your location on Maps. Then you can manage place cards with photos, hours and other details that display “across Apple Maps, Safari, Spotlight, and more.” Apple also says the platform helps businesses “connect with local customers across Apple Maps, Mail, Wallet, Siri, and more.”

Microsoft calls Bing Places for Business “a free online platform where businesses can create and manage their listings to appear in Bing search results and Bing Maps.” It now lives at bing.com/forbusiness, and it can import your listing from Google so you don't have to retype everything. Microsoft's page on how Bing delivers results adds that businesses can improve the accuracy of Bing Maps results by registering with Bing Places and keeping location, contact information and hours current.

Is there a link to ChatGPT here? OpenAI's help page points to Microsoft's privacy statement when it explains how ChatGPT search shares queries with search providers. It doesn't say Bing Places data reaches ChatGPT answers, so don't treat that as a shortcut. Treat it as one more reason to keep a free listing accurate.

Yelp says don't ask for reviews, while Google lets you ask

This is where owners trip up most. The two biggest review sites have opposite rules about asking.

Yelp's Don't Ask for Reviews page says: “Don't ask anyone to review your business, be it customers, mailing list subscribers, friends, family, etc.” Yelp's software tries to spot reviews that look requested and not recommend them, which Yelp says “may hurt your Yelp rating.” The page also says staff should never compete to collect reviews, you shouldn't ask after a survey or contact form, and you shouldn't offer freebies, discounts or payment.

Google's review tips go the other way. You can ask customers to leave a review through a Google link or QR code. Google's Maps content policy sets the limits: don't ask only the customers you think will leave positive reviews, don't pressure people to review while they're on your premises, and don't give staff review quotas. Rewards are out too. Offering incentives “like free or discounted goods or services” for reviews is “strictly prohibited.”

On Yelp, put your effort into the page itself. Yelp for Business says it's free to be on Yelp, and you can update your info, add photos and respond to reviews. That page matters beyond Yelp, too: OpenAI says ChatGPT can show reservation availability from Yelp in the US and Canada.

On Reddit, speak as the owner or don't post at all

Reddit content reaches AI tools through official deals. In February 2024, Google said it now has access to Reddit's Data API, which delivers “real-time, structured, unique content.” In May 2024, OpenAI said it would bring Reddit content to ChatGPT through the same API. So what people in your city's subreddit say about local businesses can be read by these tools. How much weight any AI gives a Reddit thread isn't public.

That makes it tempting to plant a few “I loved this place” posts. Don't. Reddit's rules ask you to “participate authentically in communities where you have a personal interest” and not to engage in content manipulation (Rule 2). Rule 5 says: “Be authentic. You don't have to use your real name, but do not intentionally mislead others or impersonate an individual or entity in a deceptive manner.” An owner posing as a happy customer is exactly that.

What you can do: answer questions in local subreddits as yourself, say plainly that you own the business, follow each community's own rules on self-promotion, and accept that some threads will talk about you without your input. Ask your staff to do the same. If they post about your business, they should say they work there.

Since October 2024, knowingly using fake reviews can bring federal civil penalties

The Federal Trade Commission announced its final rule on consumer reviews and testimonials on August 14, 2024, and it took effect on October 21, 2024. According to the FTC's questions and answers for businesses, the rule “authorizes courts to impose civil penalties for knowing violations.” It targets six practices:

• Fake or false reviews and testimonials, including reviews from someone who doesn't exist, such as AI-generated reviews, and reviews from people with no real experience with the business.
• Buying positive or negative reviews: offering money or other rewards on the condition that the review says something good, or something bad.
• Insider reviews: reviews by officers or managers that don't clearly disclose their connection to the business.
• Company-controlled review websites that claim to offer independent opinions.
• Review suppression: using groundless legal threats, physical threats or intimidation to stop or remove negative reviews.
• Fake social media indicators, such as followers or views from bots or hijacked accounts, bought for a commercial purpose.

In places, the FTC rule is looser than Google and Yelp. The FTC says the rule itself doesn't ban rewards for reviews as long as there's no requirement that the review be positive or negative, though “failing to disclose incentives could be a violation of the FTC Act.” Google and Yelp ban rewards outright. The practical rule: follow the strictest policy that applies to the site you're on. Here's how the three line up:

A checklist you can finish this week

1. Find your business on Google Maps and claim or verify your Google Business Profile. Fill in your category, your hours (including special hours), your address if customers visit you, and attributes like parking or Wi-Fi. Add real photos.
2. Check that your website shows the same business name, address, phone number and hours as your profile. Fix whichever one is wrong.
3. Go to Apple Business (formerly Apple Business Connect) at business.apple.com, sign in and claim your location on Apple Maps. Add your logo, hours and photos. If you used Business Connect before, check that your data came over.
4. Claim your listing at bing.com/forbusiness. Use the Google import, then read through what it copied.
5. Claim your free Yelp page. Update your hours and photos, and reply to recent reviews. Don't ask anyone for Yelp reviews.
6. Make a Google review link or QR code. Offer it to every customer, not just the happy ones, with no discount or gift attached.
7. Reply to your recent Google reviews, good and bad. Keep each reply short and specific. Google's own tips advise against sending the same thank-you to everyone.
8. Tell your staff the rules in one sentence: no fake reviews, no posing as customers on Reddit or anywhere else, and say you work here if you post about us.
9. Answer Google's automated calls about your hours. Hang up on anyone who asks for money to keep you on Google.
10. Run the self-check below and save the results with today's date.

Check yourself in a logged-out window and track mentions and citations separately

You don't need a tool to see where you stand. You need the same questions every time, a clean browser and a spreadsheet.

1. Write 10 questions a new customer would ask, without your business name. Include your city or neighborhood. For example, a groomer in Austin might use “best dog groomer in East Austin.”
2. Open a private or incognito window and don't sign in. OpenAI says people who aren't signed in can use ChatGPT web search, and that saved memories can reshape your query when you are signed in.
3. Keep the city in every question. ChatGPT estimates location from your IP address, and OpenAI notes that a VPN can throw that off.
4. Ask each question in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini. Gemini's Google Maps features only work when you're signed in with Keep Activity on, so use an account with little history for that one.
5. For each answer, record two things separately. Mentioned: the AI says your business name. Cited: the AI links to your website or listing as a source. Also note which sites it did cite, because those are the places you need to show up.
6. Keep each platform in its own column instead of adding them into one score. They draw on different sources, so their answers can differ a lot.
7. Repeat once a month with the exact same wording.

Don't read too much into a single run. In an internal test in September 2026, we re-asked the same 14 questions once and the mention rate moved from 31.5% to 41.7%. That's why we look at ranges, not single numbers (how we measure). For the full manual method and where it breaks down, see tracking AI visibility by hand vs. with a tool.

Common questions from US business owners

Your next step: pick the three questions customers ask most, run them in a logged-out window this week, and write down where you're mentioned and where you're cited. If you want a quick first read on ChatGPT, our free quick scan checks whether AI can read your website and runs 2 live ChatGPT questions in about 1 to 2 minutes, with no sign-up.