In the Era of Consulting AI to Find Shops, Why Should Review Strategies Start with Google?

As the behavior of consulting AI while searching for shops becomes more widespread, we consider why review strategies should start with Google.

Until now, searching for a shop generally meant searching for "location name + industry" on Google and comparing the displayed shops one by one.

However, recently,

"What are some restaurants that are easy to enter with children?"
"Tell me a hair salon that is easy to consult with even for a first-timer."
"Which vehicle inspection shops have staff who explain things carefully?"

Situations where people search for candidates while conveying conditions to AI are starting to increase.

Before the user themselves reads and compares multiple shop information, AI organizes the information and proposes shops that seem to fit the conditions. The entrance to searching for shops is gradually changing from a list of search results to proposals by AI.

Amidst these changes, what becomes important for the shop side is where and in what form to accumulate information for AI to understand the shop. Among them, what we want to pay attention to are the reviews accumulated on Google Business Profile.
Reviews are not just evaluation information read by users considering a visit. They are also starting to become customer experience information that Google Maps' AI features utilize when organizing shop characteristics.

In this article, we will organize the reasons for prioritizing Google reviews based on the expansion of AI search usage, changes in Google Maps, citation trends in Google's AI mode, and the results of actual surveys conducted.

AI-driven search is already starting to influence consumer behavior

You might think that search using generative AI is still only for a select few.

However, in a survey conducted by CyberAgent's GEO Lab targeting 9,278 men and women in their teens to 60s nationwide, the number of people using generative AI as a search tool has reached 37.0%.

Since it was 21.3% in the May 2025 survey and 31.1% in October of the same year, this means an increase of 15.7 points in about 9 months.
Also, 21.0% of the total were using "AI mode," which allows users to search for information while interacting with AI on Google Search.
Furthermore, in the same survey, 47.5% of users who saw AI answers responded that they have experience actually purchasing or using a product or service triggered by an AI recommendation.

What we want to focus on here is that AI is not just a tool for looking up information, but is starting to influence comparison, consideration, and subsequent purchasing and usage.

Whether a shop or service appears in AI answers is not just a matter of "display."

It is becoming a new customer touchpoint that relates to whether it enters the candidate list for a visit or is considered as a comparison target.

Google Maps is changing from a "shop list" to a "place to consult"

The role of Google Maps is also starting to change.
Google Maps until now was a place where users themselves compared candidates from a list of shops displayed after searching for "nearby restaurants" or "location name + hair salon." Currently, features have been added where AI organizes shop information and helps with judgment.
In Google Maps in Japan, "Place hints" utilizing Gemini are being provided.

Google explains that it analyzes reviews and online information to organize and display useful content for using a location, such as reservation methods, hidden menu items, and parking information.

Features that allow users to ask detailed questions about a store or check review summaries generated by Gemini are also becoming available on Google Maps in Japan.

In other words, before a user reads every single review, Google organizes the store's features and key points for them.

Furthermore, with "Ask Maps," which has begun rolling out in the U.S. and India, users can convey their conditions or goals, and Google Maps will present candidates in a conversational format.
According to Google, Ask Maps handles information on over 300 million locations and analyzes reviews from over 500 million contributors.

Google Maps is shifting from a place to simply view a list of stores to a place for
"consulting about a place that suits you,"
"asking questions about a store,"
and
"comparing multiple candidates."
And one of the pieces of information that supports this experience is the reviews accumulated on Google Business Profile.

Citations of information on Google are surging in Google's AI mode

An interesting change has also been observed regarding what kind of information AI search refers to.

According to research by Profound, a service that analyzes AI search, between April 15 and June 30, 2026, the citation share of "google.com" in Google's AI mode increased 8.4 times, reaching second place in the citation domain ranking.

It is reported that this increase was primarily driven by Google Business Profile and Google's product knowledge panels.
In particular, the presence of Google Business Profile has increased in searches with high local relevance, such as dining, lodging/travel, housing-related, real estate, and medical services.
*This is not an official announcement by Google, but third-party research conducted by Profound. Trends vary depending on the industry, region, and content of the query.

Even so, this is a change that store-based businesses cannot afford to overlook.

Until now, the focus has been on getting users to visit your company's website from search results and conveying the appeal of the store there.

Of course, the importance of your own website will not change in the future.

However, in AI search, there is a possibility that more situations will arise where users complete a certain level of comparison and judgment by looking at business hours, photos, locations, and reviews displayed on Google before visiting your website.

This means there will be more situations where "conveying the appeal only after they visit your website" will be too late.

[Survey] AI citation sources in camping facility research

To what extent is information on Google cited in actual AI responses?
We surveyed the citation sources displayed in AI responses for 31 questions regarding choosing a campsite in a specific region.
"Tell me recommended campsites in [Location]."
"What are some campsites I can reach from [City] that are safe for beginners?"
"What are some clean campsites in [Location] that are easy for women to use?"

We aggregated a total of 428 citation URLs from the responses to these types of questions.
As a result, the most common was the Google domain, with 62 citations, accounting for 14.5% of all citations.

Also, out of the 31 questions surveyed, 25, or 80.6%, of the responses included citations from the Google domain.
*Trends vary depending on the region and industry. Please try investigating cases that fit your own business.

Why are reviews, not just basic information, important?

Google Business Profile contains various information such as location, business hours, categories, services, and photos.
Among these, why are reviews important?
The reason is that reviews contain actual customer experiences that cannot be understood from the store's description alone.
Stores can use their own websites or Google Business Profile to say,

“We provide attentive service.”
“First-time visitors can feel at ease.”
“We provide proposals tailored to our customers.”

They can explain this.
However, this is also a self-introduction from the store's perspective.
On the other hand, if a review says,
“I was nervous about my first visit, but the staff explained everything one by one.”
“Even with children, we were treated kindly.” “They explained the differences between multiple products in an easy-to-understand way.”
then it becomes clear what kind of experience is actually being created at that store.

This is information that is useful when people choose a store, and at the same time, it is information that Google's AI features can use to organize the characteristics of a store. Google itself explains that Google Maps features analyze reviews and online information to display tips and summaries about places.

What users are looking for is not necessarily the “store with the highest star rating.”
In many cases, it is “a store that fits their situation and purpose.”

To explain that difference, you need specific information such as customer service, peace of mind, expertise, and usage scenarios, not just rating numbers.

It is not the case that more reviews are always better

Google has announced that Google Maps' AI features analyze reviews and online information.

On the other hand, it has not announced that the number of reviews, star ratings, or the length of text directly determine the ranking of store recommendations by AI.
Therefore, it cannot be concluded that “if you increase Google reviews, you will definitely be recommended by AI.”

Even in our survey comparing three stores in the fitness industry, the store with the most reviews was not the one most frequently cited by AI.

On the other hand, stores with a large amount of information in the review text and a wide range of themes covered, such as customer service, facilities, support for beginners, and training content, tended to be cited more often.

This was also a survey targeting a limited number of stores, and it does not prove that the content of the reviews increased the number of citations.
However, at the very least, it does not seem to be a matter of “just increasing the number of reviews.”

In future review strategies,
it will be important not only to consider “how many to collect,”
but also to create a state where “what kind of customer experience is being created at that store”
is naturally accumulated.

Why start with Google reviews?

Google is not the only source of information that AI may refer to.
Information existing in various places, such as company websites, industry portals, comparison sites, social media, and news articles, becomes material for understanding a store.

In fact, in this campsite survey, multiple sources were cited, including not only Google but also campsite search and reservation sites, YouTube, local media, and ticket sales sites.
Therefore, it is not the case that you only need to organize Google.
With that in mind, we believe that Google reviews have a high priority as a place for stores to start their review strategies.
This is because Google reviews have the following characteristics:
・They are read directly by users on Google Search and Google Maps.
・They are one of the pieces of information analyzed by Google Maps' AI features.
・They are displayed together with store information such as business hours, location, and photos.

The place where people look for stores and the place where Google's AI understands stores are beginning to connect on the same Google platform.
If it is difficult to strengthen all review media at the same time, start by organizing the information and reviews on your Google Business Profile.
Isn't this a rational choice for a store?

What to do first with Google review strategies

What you should do first is not simply increase the number of reviews.
First, make the basic information on your Google Business Profile, such as business hours, categories, services, products, and photos, accurate and up-to-date. Then, set up a flow that allows customers who have actually used the store to post their experiences frankly.

However, you must avoid requesting posts in exchange for discounts or benefits, asking for specific star ratings, or selecting only favorable customers to make requests.

Google Maps is also strengthening measures against posts not based on actual experiences and actions that manipulate ratings. In 2025, more than 292 million reviews that violated policies were blocked or removed.

What you should aim for is not to create evaluations that are convenient for the store. It is to create a situation where customers can comfortably share what they felt in their own words.
Then, use the gathered feedback to improve store operations and customer service, making the actual customer experience better.
I believe that this cycle will, as a result, lead to store information that is easy for both people and AI to understand.

Summary: Reviews are 'evaluations read by people' and also become 'information for AI to understand stores'

With the spread of AI search, the touchpoints between stores and users are beginning to change.
Before users open search results one by one, AI organizes the information and introduces stores that meet their criteria.
Such a way of searching for shops may gradually become common.

At that time, Google Business Profile will not just be a page for checking business hours and locations.
It is thought that its role as an information foundation for Google to understand the store and explain it to userswill strengthen.

And reviews are information for knowing what kind of customer experience is actually being created at that store.

Precisely because we are in an era of searching for shops by consulting AI, what becomes important is not just the promotional copy created by the store. It is the specific words of experience left by people who actually used the store.

Treating reviews not as mere star ratings or reputation management, but as information assets where the store's appeal and reasons for being chosen are accumulated.
Isn't that the first step toward attracting customers to stores in the AI era?
Our company collects 'thank yous' from customers who visited the store to the staff, as well as voices regarding the store experience, and provides 'Staff Value' to create opportunities for Google review posts and utilize them for information dissemination on websites, etc.Staff Value

If you would like to connect customer feedback to both staff motivation and store customer attraction, please feel free to consult with us.