The widely-cited claim that ChatGPT Search now captures 9% of global queries is significantly misleading—and understanding why matters enormously for local service businesses planning their digital marketing strategy. While AI search is undeniably growing, local SEO experts report that local businesses may actually benefit from this shift, as AI platforms struggle with precisely the location-based queries that drive customers to service businesses like party rental companies.

The 9% figure, published by First Page Sage in August 2025, measures all ChatGPT interactions—including code generation, writing assistance, and image creation—not search-specific behavior. More rigorous analyses from SparkToro, BrightEdge, and Ahrefs place ChatGPT’s actual search market share between 0.25% and 4.5%, depending on methodology. Google still commands 89-95% of traditional search traffic, though that dominance is slowly eroding.

The 9% statistic needs critical context

First Page Sage’s headline number originates from their “Google vs ChatGPT Market Share: 2025 Report,” which tracked “digital query volume” rather than search-specific queries. This distinction is crucial: only 24-30% of ChatGPT prompts are information-seeking behavior comparable to traditional search—the rest involves content generation, coding assistance, and brainstorming.

When researchers isolate search-like behavior, the numbers look dramatically different. Rand Fishkin of SparkToro, using data from Datos, calculated ChatGPT handles approximately 37.5 million search-like queries daily compared to Google’s 14 billion—making Google roughly 373 times larger for actual search activity. BrightEdge’s December 2025 analysis confirmed that AI search engines “still comprise well under 1% of overall organic search traffic.”

The growth trajectory, however, is undeniable. ChatGPT visits grew 90.3% year-over-year to 5.9 billion monthly visits, according to Similarweb. AI referral traffic increased 357% year-over-year, with ChatGPT driving 87.4% of all AI referrals to websites. The platform now has 800 million weekly active users processing 2.5 billion daily prompts. Even at current growth rates, Fishkin estimates AI tools could rival traditional search engines in raw usage within 6-10 years.

SEO experts are adapting, not panicking

The industry’s response to AI search growth has been notably measured. Lily Ray, VP of SEO Strategy at Amsive, has been particularly direct in pushing back against doom narratives: “The narrative that this new service offering somehow implies that SEO is dead is some of the most inaccurate and irresponsible framing I’ve seen in my 15-plus years in the SEO industry.”

Her data supports this confidence: AI search drove less than 1% of traffic to most websites as of mid-2025, with many sites seeing numbers below 0.5%. Ray frames AI search as “simply the next frontier for SEO professionals to conquer, much like the many previous search iterations before it.”

Barry Schwartz, founder of Search Engine Roundtable, acknowledges the significance while urging perspective: “This whole AI ChatGPT generator of AI stuff from Google… This is big. This is probably as big as search, maybe bigger at one point in the future.” His practical advice: “Keep doing what works. Write great content. Be useful. But build your audience. Don’t depend on Google alone.”

The shift toward zero-click searches represents the more immediate concern for most businesses. According to SparkToro’s March 2025 data, 58.5% of Google searches now end without a click to any website—up from 44.2% the previous year. When AI Overviews appear, click-through rates drop 34.5%. This creates what some analysts call the “alligator graph”—rising search impressions paired with declining clicks.

Yet there’s a counterintuitive finding: ChatGPT visitors who do click through convert at 15.9% compared to just 1.8% for Google organic traffic. Businesses may see fewer leads but significantly higher quality.

Local search is surprisingly resilient to AI disruption

Here’s the finding most relevant to party rental businesses and other local service companies: local SEO is actually thriving in the AI-first era. Multiple studies reveal that AI platforms perform poorly on exactly the queries that drive local business.

AI Overviews appear in approximately 15% of purely local-intent queries compared to much higher rates for informational searches. Traditional local packs still appear in over 90% of local searches. The reason is structural: AI platforms struggle fundamentally with location awareness.

ChatGPT doesn’t reliably know where users are searching from. Testing by Search Engine Land revealed ChatGPT often suggests businesses in nearby cities rather than truly local options. Perplexity AI performs even worse—one test for “bakery near me” returned zero options within a 100-mile radius, while Google returned options within 5 miles.

70% or more of ChatGPT’s local results come from Foursquare’s Places API, not Google Business Profile data. This creates both risk and opportunity: most local businesses have neglected their Foursquare listings entirely while obsessing over Google.

Rob Tindula, Director of SEO at NP Digital, summarizes the landscape: “Local SEO isn’t just surviving the generative AI shift—it’s thriving. Investing in visibility across platforms, accurate business data, and review generation will remain discoverable no matter how the search landscape evolves.”

How AI handles local queries versus informational queries

The performance gap between AI search and traditional search varies dramatically by query type:

Local searches remain resilient because they require real-world action: calls, visits, appointments. AI cannot execute these. Proximity is a critical ranking factor that AI replicates poorly. Users searching locally want to DO something, not just learn—and they need photos, reviews, hours, and maps that AI delivers inadequately.

Service businesses are now discovered through what Analytics Insight calls “hyper-specific, high-intent signals”—queries like “emergency plumber” or “party rental delivery Saturday.” AI interprets urgency, proximity, and real-time demand, creating competition at block-level rather than city-level. Reviews mentioning specific neighborhoods, timing, and service details become powerful ranking factors.

What SEO experts recommend businesses do now

The expert consensus coalesces around several actionable strategies, with particular implications for local service businesses:

Claim your Foursquare listing immediately. This single step dramatically increases ChatGPT visibility, yet most local businesses ignore it entirely. Foursquare’s database of 100+ million points of interest powers the majority of ChatGPT local recommendations.

Optimize for Bing, not just Google. ChatGPT search results show 73% similarity to Bing’s results. Claiming Bing Places for Business directly improves AI visibility. Damian Rollison of SOCi notes: “The best way to make your business visible in ChatGPT is to ensure it’s included in Bing’s index.”

Implement structured data schema. This is now non-negotiable for AI visibility. Start with LocalBusiness schema including address, hours, geo-coordinates, and service area. Add FAQ schema—these question-answer pairs are exactly what AI systems extract and cite. Without schema markup, businesses become effectively invisible to AI regardless of other SEO efforts.

Maintain absolute NAP consistency. Inconsistent Name, Address, and Phone data across directories reduces AI citation probability by 67%. Use platforms like Moz Local, BrightLocal, or Yext to synchronize listings across 20+ directories.

Create answer-focused content. FAQ pages directly answering customer questions perform best. Structure content so the first 40-60 words under each heading directly answer the question—AI systems scan for these patterns. Conversational, natural-language content matches how users interact with AI assistants.

Specific guidance for local service businesses

For party rental companies and similar service businesses, the AI search shift requires tactical adjustments without abandoning fundamentals:

Google Business Profile remains your most important asset. Complete every field: services offered (tents, tables, bounce houses), specific service areas by city and neighborhood, operating hours including delivery windows, and high-quality photos showing equipment in use. AI systems reference GBP data indirectly through websites that cite it. Businesses with optimized profiles appear in AI Overviews 42% more frequently than basic listings.

Build service-specific landing pages for each offering and location—”Party tent rental in [City]” and “Bounce house rental near [Neighborhood].” Each page should include LocalBusiness and Service schema markup.

Respond to every review. AI systems now analyze business owner responses to evaluate service quality. Your review responses become part of the content profile AI uses to understand and recommend your business. Personalized, helpful responses signal quality and engagement.

Create hyperlocal content referencing specific venues, local events, and community landmarks. Blog posts about party planning in your area, venue recommendations, or local event guides build authenticity signals and local relevance that AI systems increasingly prioritize.

Integrate online booking. AI favors businesses that simplify transactions. Reserve with Google, Calendly integration, or chatbot booking makes it easier for AI assistants to recommend your business as an actionable solution.

Tracking AI search traffic to measure what’s working

Set up Google Analytics 4 to isolate AI referral traffic by creating a custom channel group. Navigate to Admin > Data display > Channel groups, create a channel called “AI Traffic,” and set source conditions matching chatgpt.com, openai.com, perplexity.ai, claude.ai, and copilot.microsoft.com. Move this channel above “Referral” so it’s evaluated first.

Current benchmarks show AI traffic represents 0.5% to 3% of total website traffic for most businesses, though some industries report spikes of 700%+. Monitor indirect indicators too: surges in branded search volume or direct traffic often signal AI discovery—users find businesses in AI responses, then Google the company name directly.

Track “share of voice” by manually testing how often your business appears when asking AI assistants common customer questions. Local Falcon now offers ChatGPT visibility scans specifically for local businesses.

Conclusion

The 9% headline dramatically overstates ChatGPT’s current impact on search, but the underlying trend is real and accelerating. For local service businesses like party rental companies, the situation is more nuanced than alarming headlines suggest. AI platforms struggle with location-based queries, local pack results remain dominant, and the businesses most visible in AI search are those executing local SEO fundamentals well while adding optimization for emerging platforms.

The practical path forward involves diversifying beyond Google while maintaining core optimization there, implementing structured data that AI systems can parse, ensuring business information is consistent across the expanding ecosystem of directories that feed AI, and creating content structured to answer customer questions directly. Businesses that act now on Foursquare optimization, Bing Places claims, and schema implementation will establish competitive advantages as AI search continues its growth trajectory.