Be Easy to Find and Easy to Trust: What New Local Search Data Means for Your Business
There was a time when a customer found you one way: a Google search, a referral, or a drive past your sign. Then they called.
That's not how it works anymore. New research released in late September shows that customers now bounce between several places before they ever pick up the phone, and each stop is a chance to win them or lose them. Here's what the data says, and what I'd do about it if I were running a local business in Birmingham right now.
Customers are checking more places before they choose you
In its 2026 Local Discovery Index, published September 24, local marketing platform SOCi surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. consumers about how they find and choose local businesses. Their big takeaway is what they call a "verification loop." People discover a business in one place, then cross-check it somewhere else before deciding.
In practice, that looks like this: someone hears about you from a friend, looks you up on Google, clicks over to your Instagram to see if you're legit, reads a few reviews, and then decides. If any one of those stops feels outdated or thin, they move on to the next option.
Social media is now part of search
This is the part I want every business owner to hear. According to the same SOCi study, the share of consumers using social media to discover local businesses rose from 17% in 2024 to 55% in 2026. And 59% say a social post or video has directly turned them into a customer.
Your social profiles aren't a side project anymore. For a lot of your future customers, they're the second page of your website. That means your feed needs to answer the questions people are quietly asking: Are they still open? Are they good at what they do? Do real people work here? Would I feel good walking in?
Short video helps here. Instagram's own guidance for creators, covered September 28, points to Reels as a way to reach people who don't follow you yet, which is exactly who you want finding you.
Reviews are the handshake before the handshake
SOCi found that 99% of consumers read reviews before a first visit at least some of the time. They also found that people are more likely to choose businesses that respond to their reviews.
Responding doesn't need to be complicated. A quick, genuine thank-you on good reviews and a calm, helpful reply on the tough ones shows people you're paying attention. That's trust being built in public.
AI tools are guessing, so give them good information
One more finding caught my eye: more than half of consumers in the study now use AI tools for local business research, and 67% of those users say they've been given wrong information about a local business.
You can't control every AI answer. But you can make sure the information that exists about you is accurate and consistent: your hours, your services, your location, your contact info, everywhere it shows up. The clearer your business is online, the less room there is for guessing.
A simple checklist for the next 30 days
If this feels like a lot, start here:
Update your hours, services, and contact info on Google and every social profile.
Post consistently enough that your feed looks alive when someone checks it.
Add a few short videos that show your team, your space, or your work.
Reply to every new review, good or bad.
Make sure your social bios link to the right place to book, call, or buy.
Let's make your business easy to find and easy to choose
If you're not sure what customers see when they check you out online, I'd love to take a look with you. We'll walk through your social profiles, your reviews, and your search presence, and talk about what would make the biggest difference first.
— Jamie Miller, Owner & Founder, JLM Digital