Analysis of 1,120 local searches across seven industries and 13 U.S. cities shows Google AI Mode and the traditional Local Pack list different businesses, and that adding "near me" to a search can change whether businesses appear at all

BUFFALO, N.Y., June 10, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- A new study from Local SEO Data finds that Google's AI Mode and the traditional Local Pack are two separate systems that show different businesses for the same local search. In 1,120 searches across seven service verticals and 13 U.S. cities, 28.5% of businesses that appeared in the Local Pack were missing from AI Mode for the same query.

The study, "AI Mode vs Local Pack: Where Do Local Businesses Actually Appear?", is available in full at https://localseodata.com/studies/ai-mode-vs-local-pack.

The finding matters for the local businesses, agencies and marketers that track only their Google Local Pack rankings. The research shows that anyone watching the Local Pack alone is blind to roughly 30% of the competitors now visible in Google's AI-powered search results.

Key findings

— A 28.5% visibility gap: For the same search, 28.5% of Local Pack businesses were missing from AI Mode, an overlap of 71.5% (95% confidence interval: 69.2% to 73.8%, based on 10,000 bootstrap resamples). Comparing only the top three results from each source, overlap dropped to 48%.

— 999 businesses appeared only in AI Mode: AI Mode showed 999 unique businesses across the dataset that never appeared in the Local Pack.

— Query wording determines whether businesses appear: When a bare keyword such as "divorce lawyer" returned no business listings in AI Mode, adding "near me" brought them back in 100% of cases (38 of 38). Bare "divorce lawyer" returned zero listings across all 10 cities tested; adding "near me" returned listings in all 10.

— A large review gap in consumer industries: Businesses that appeared only in AI Mode had 49% more reviews at the median than Local Pack-only businesses. Among plumbers, the gap reached 337% (a median of 546 reviews in AI Mode versus 125 in the Local Pack).

— The pattern flips for professional services: For lawyers and medical specialists, businesses in AI Mode had fewer reviews, and AI Mode more often skipped business listings altogether in favor of educational content.

Two different systems

"AI Mode isn't just the Local Pack with a new coat of paint. It's a separate system that picks businesses its own way," said Noah Owsiany, the study's author at Local SEO Data. "About 71% of the businesses overlap, but the 28.5% that don't are a real blind spot. A business watching only its Local Pack rankings can be invisible in a channel Google keeps expanding and never know it."

The study also found that AI Mode results shift from day to day. The broad patterns, including which types of businesses appear and the review-gap trends, stayed steady across the three days of data collection, but the specific businesses shown for a given query changed. The researchers suggest tracking AI Mode visibility regularly rather than relying on a single check.

Recommendations for local businesses

The study recommends that local businesses pull AI Mode results for their top five to 10 keywords alongside their existing Local Pack tracking, and test keywords with "near me," a city name or "best" before assuming they are shut out of AI Mode. For consumer-service categories, it suggests comparing review counts against the businesses AI Mode shows. For professional services, where AI Mode leans toward educational content over business listings, the study suggests building strong practice-area content and earning citations from well-regarded directories rather than focusing on review volume alone.

Methodology

The study analyzed 1,120 unique query executions collected May 20-22, 2026, through the Local SEO Data API, covering seven verticals (plumbers, dentists, HVAC, chiropractors, lawyers, restaurants and medical specialists) across 13 U.S. cities. Each query ran in both AI Mode and the Local Pack. Findings were tested with bootstrap confidence intervals (10,000 resamples), Fisher's exact tests, and both Bonferroni and Benjamini-Hochberg corrections for multiple comparisons. Full methodology, statistical detail, limitations and supporting data tables are published with the study. The study was conducted by Local SEO Data using its own API; complete methodology and limitations are documented in the published research.

About Local SEO Data

Local SEO Data is an API and MCP that makes local search intelligence accessible to everyone, not just engineers. Local SEO Data endpoints cover keyword research, Local Pack rankings, AI Mode results, Google Business Profile data, reviews, citations, competitive analysis, as well as geographic rank tracking. Learn more and get a free account at LocalSEOData.com.

Media Contact

Garrett Smith, Local SEO Data, 1 7163223101, garrett@pitchpivot.com, https://localseodata.com

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SOURCE Local SEO Data