The Operator’s Edge · Steve Schmidt
One in a hundred.
In Pew’s March 2025 study, people clicked a source link inside a Google AI summary on 1% of visits to search pages where a summary appeared. Traditional results got clicked on 8% of visits with a summary and 15% without one. Pew Research Center
What happens when the buyer never visits your website?
Picture a couple in Sioux Falls standing in front of the door they’ve been meaning to fix for years. They start on YouTube with how to strip paint from doors. A row of scrapers. A row of sanding pads. A guy brushing something out of a can. By the time she’s put on the respirator, he’s ready to find somebody else to do it.
Then they try Google. In the comic, Advanced Laser Restoration catches her eye. “Oh, this one has videos. Lasers? What is this?”
Five minutes ago they were comparing ways to scrape a door. Now they’re considering a method they hadn’t heard of. A buyer can get that far, open Maps, and tap Call before a business sees a single website visit.
What can you show before the buyer calls?
On Alex Johnson’s site, you can see the same door before and after the work. Look at the change from dark finish to exposed wood grain. You can still see the arched panel, the vertical grooves, and the glass sidelights. See the original before-and-after.
If the most useful explanation of your work happens after someone calls, you’re making the buyer wait for the best thing you have. Alex gives people the video, the examples, and a quiz they can take to see if their own project might be a fit. They get to decide when they know enough to talk. Watch ALR on YouTube · See the fit quiz.
How can a local business show up in Google AI Overviews?
Start with one question customers ask before they hire. Answer it directly on a page Google can index. Show a real job, explain the decision you made, and link to the answer from the relevant service page. Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to show a search snippet to be considered as a supporting link in its AI features. Google Search Central
What does Google Business Profile do?
An AI Overview can help answer Can this door be saved? Maps can help a buyer decide Who can do it near me? Check your verified Business Profile for accurate services, hours, and contact information. Add recent photos of the work. Google counts call-button taps in Business Profile Performance. Ask whoever answers the phone which conversations turn into estimates. Google’s local ranking guidance · Business Profile performance metrics
The 15-minute Google test
- Search the question. Type something a customer asks before hiring you. If there’s an AI Overview, open its sources. What do they show that your website doesn’t?
- Search the service and your city. Open the Maps results. Can a stranger tell from your profile that you do the job, see a recent example, and reach the right person?
- Hand one person both screenshots. Give them one answer to improve on your website and one detail to fix on the profile. Run both searches again in 30 days.
You’ve probably answered a question this week that could save somebody an afternoon and an expensive mistake. Put that answer where they can find it.
Steve
