The figures at a glance
| Figure | What it measures | Who, where, when |
|---|---|---|
| 39.8 % | Respondents who used an AI for local search in the past month | Yext, 909 respondents in Germany who search locally, spring 2026 |
| 27 % | Respondents who visited a new local business because of an AI recommendation | Yext, same survey |
| 52 % | Respondents who found a local business with an AI in the last 30 days, up from 9 % the year before | SOCi, just over 1,000 respondents in the US, 2026 |
| 67 % | AI users who have received wrong information about a business at least once | SOCi, same survey |
| 81 % | check something after an AI recommendation before contacting the business | SOCi, same survey |
| −23.1 % | Click-through rate of heavily affected websites in France, nine days after AI Overviews launched | Ahrefs, 963 websites, July 2026 |
| 82.91 % | US desktop results with an AI Overview for searches on a brand name | Ahrefs, 29 September 2026 |
| 110 of 296 | Businesses in and around Lüneburg that AI search does not name at all | Our short checks, as of 19 October 2026 |
How many people in Germany ask an AI for local search
The only figure specific to Germany that we have found comes from Yext. In an online survey in spring 2026, 39.8 percent of 909 respondents in Germany said they had used an AI for local search in the past month. 27 percent had visited a new local business because of an AI recommendation. Among the tools, Yext says ChatGPT leads ahead of Gemini, and Perplexity is more common in Germany than in the other markets of the region.
Two caveats belong with it. Only people who search locally at all were asked, and Yext itself calls the results directional rather than projectable to the population. Yext also sells software for local visibility. Which AI services people in Germany use overall is shown by representative surveys from Bitkom and Splendid Research, summarised in Which AI do your customers actually use?.
How often AI gets it wrong, measured in the US
For its Local Discovery Index 2026, SOCi surveyed just over 1,000 people in the US, weighted by age, gender and income, and published the results in early September. 52 percent had found a local business with an AI in the previous 30 days, up from 9 percent the year before. Among those who use AI, 67 percent had received wrong information about a business at least once, and 30 percent say it caused them real inconvenience.
What happens next is worth noting. According to SOCi, 81 percent check something after an AI recommendation before they contact the business, most often the reviews. Only 19 percent go straight from the recommendation to the phone. SOCi also sells software for local businesses, and the figures apply to the US.
What AI Overviews do to clicks
Google's AI Overviews launched in France on 22 July 2026. Ahrefs compared Search Console data for 963 websites, 28 days before the launch against nine days after. Across all websites, the median click-through rate fell by 5.7 percent. For websites where more than a fifth of their searches trigger an AI Overview, it dropped from 2.29 to 1.76 percent, a fall of 23.1 percent. Measured against a control group of barely affected websites, the effect is 24.8 percent.
Nine days is a short window, and Ahrefs plans to repeat the measurement. Google has published no figures of its own for Germany. Still, the direction is clear: where the AI Overview answers the question, fewer people click on the results below it.
How often the AI Overview tops brand searches
Ahrefs also counted how often Google shows an AI Overview for a search on a brand name. On 29 September it was 82.91 percent of US desktop results, and 73.3 percent on average for September, up from 65.1 percent in August and 61.3 percent in July. In a sample of 100 global brands, 63 brand-name searches had an AI Overview at the end of September, 48 of them in position one. So anyone searching for a brand in the US increasingly sees a summary first.
AI picks up the phone itself
Two features show where Google is heading. In the US, Google is testing “Call for Me”. Gemini calls a business on the user's behalf, for example to ask whether a product is in stock, to book a table or to move an appointment. According to Google's help page, Gemini introduces itself on the call as an AI assistant from Google. For now this only applies to Pixel 11 owners with a paid subscription, TechCrunch reported on 24 September. In the UK, AI Mode has helped with restaurant reservations since April. It shows a selection with direct links, and the booking happens with partners such as TheFork or OpenTable.
There is no date for either in Germany. But an AI that calls or books needs a phone number and opening hours that are correct, and a booking route it can find. Both can be put in order today, on the website and in the Google profile.
What we measure ourselves in Lüneburg
For our short checks we ask real AI services about businesses, signed out and with the kind of questions customers ask. By 19 October we had measured 296 businesses in and around Lüneburg this way. AI search does not name 110 of them at all and 66 only in passing, 176 of 296 in total. This is not a representative sample, because which businesses we check depends on requests and on our own selection. It does show that the surveys have a counterpart here: AI does not mention more than a third of the businesses in the area at all.
What this means for a local business
The figures mainly suggest an order of work. First, the details an AI passes on should be right, meaning opening hours, phone number, address and services on the website, in the Google profile and in the directories. Then it is worth checking whether AI names your business at all for typical questions. How to do that without any tool is covered in How to check whether AI already recommends your business.
Because eight in ten in the US survey check again after an AI recommendation, most often in the reviews, reviews stay important too. How to collect them without breaking the rules is covered in Collecting Google reviews honestly.
Where the figures stand
We re-read every figure at its source on 19 October 2026. SOCi's survey is published as a large PDF; the values here come from SOCi's own summary on its blog.
Frequently asked questions
Are there AI search figures specific to Germany?
For local search via AI, Yext's spring 2026 survey is the only one we have found: 39.8 percent of respondents who search locally. Which AI services people use overall is shown by representative surveys from Bitkom and Splendid Research. Google has not published a click-through measurement for Germany like the one from France.
How reliable are surveys by software vendors?
Yext and SOCi both sell software for local visibility and have an interest in high figures. Both do disclose whom they asked, and Yext explicitly calls its own results directional. They work as an order of magnitude, not as a precise measurement.
Will AI Overviews cost me visitors?
The French measurement points that way, especially for websites whose searches often trigger an AI Overview. For a local business, what counts in addition is whether it is named in the overview itself. Search Console's AI report shows that.
Will an AI call my business soon?
Google is testing this in the US with “Call for Me”, for now only for Pixel 11 owners with a paid subscription. Gemini introduces itself as an AI assistant from Google. There is no date for Germany.