Beyond Google: how customers now use ChatGPT, Reddit and TikTok to find local businesses

For twenty years, “how do customers find us?” had a one-word answer: Google. That answer is getting longer. People now ask ChatGPT who to hire, read Reddit threads to see if a company is any good, and scroll TikTok for places to eat. Google is still the biggest door, but it is no longer the only one, and the others work differently.

Here’s what the data shows about where the search has gone.

The short version

AI assistants: from novelty to habit

Chatbots went mainstream fast. In Pew Research Center’s 2026 survey of 5,119 US adults, 49% said they use AI chatbots, up from 33% in 2024, and 44% use ChatGPT specifically. “Searching for information” was the most common use. Adults under 50 were about twice as likely to use ChatGPT as those over 50.

Local searches are part of that. Yext’s 2026 survey found 47% of US adults had used AI for a local search in the past month. Among households earning $150,000 or more, more people now start a local search with AI (54.5%) than with Google. In home services, Scorpion’s study of 2,000 homeowners found 22% use AI tools to research or find a pro, while 80% of the home service business leaders it surveyed weren’t sure how to appear in AI results.

Google is changing too. Alphabet reported in July 2026 that AI Mode has passed 1 billion monthly users and the Gemini app 950 million. And in May 2025, Apple’s Eddy Cue testified that searches in Safari fell in April for the first time ever, which he linked to people switching to AI (9to5Mac). Google disputed this, saying overall queries, including from Apple devices, were still growing. Both can be true: search is growing, and more of it happens inside AI answers.

Reddit: where people go for a real opinion

When people don’t trust an ad or a polished website, they look for other customers. Reddit has become the default place to find them.

• It’s a search engine now. On Reddit’s Q4 2025 earnings call, CEO Steve Huffman said weekly users of Reddit’s search grew from 60 million to 80 million in a year, and Reddit Answers, its AI search, grew from 1 million to 15 million weekly users.
• Much of it is about buying. Reddit’s Q1 2026 shareholder letter says around 40% of conversations on the site are commercial: people discussing products, services and purchase decisions.
• People use it to fact-check AI. In Reddit’s 2026 Path to Purchase survey, half of US shoppers said they check AI recommendations on Reddit (PPC Land).

Reddit also feeds the AI answers themselves. Google licenses Reddit’s content, and Peec AI found Reddit was the most-cited domain across AI platforms. A thread in your city’s subreddit asking “who do you use for AC repair?” can shape what both people and assistants say about your business.

TikTok and Instagram: search for younger customers

Back in 2022, a senior Google executive said that in Google’s own studies, almost 40% of young people looking for somewhere to eat lunch went to TikTok or Instagram instead of Maps or Search (TechCrunch). The habit has spread. Adobe’s 2026 survey found 49% of US consumers use TikTok as a search engine. Yext found 40% of people start some local searches on social platforms, second only to Google.

That doesn’t mean Gen Z has abandoned Google. Most people use several places in one search. It does mean a short video of your work can be the first thing a new customer sees.

Google: fewer clicks, even when people do search

When people do use Google, they click less, because the answer is often on the results page.

The Seer finding is the important one for a business owner. Clicks haven’t disappeared, they’ve moved to the businesses named in the answer.

People still check before they call

None of this means customers blindly follow a chatbot. Yext found more than 93% of AI users take at least one step to verify a recommendation, and 62% search Google straight afterwards. Scorpion found 87% of homeowners won’t hire a business rated below four stars.

So the modern search journey looks less like one search and more like a loop: ask an AI for a shortlist, check the names on Google or Reddit, look at reviews and the website, then call. A business has to show up well at every stop.

What to do next

Find out where you stand. Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the questions your customers ask, search your trade and town on Reddit, and see what comes up. Then work through 5 steps to get your local business recommended by AI search, and read how AI assistants choose which business to recommend.