Why it matters
How customers find a trade is changing
The new route to a booking
From a list of links to one answer
A search used to end in ten links. An AI answer ends in a short list of names, written for that question, that place and that conversation. There is no page one to rank on.
Before
- 1.Type a few keywords
- 2.Scroll a list of links
- 3.Open three websites
- 4.Call one
Now
- 1.Describe the problem to AI
- 2.Get one answer naming 2–3 firms
- 3.Check them on Google and reviews
- 4.Call one
The last step hasn't changed: people still call someone they can check. Reviews, a Google Business Profile and a clear website still decide who gets the call.
Dated figures
What the numbers say
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| People using ChatGPT each week | 900 million+ | OpenAI, 2026 |
| People using Google's AI Mode each month | 1 billion+ | Alphabet Q2 2026 remarks, 22 Jul 2026 |
| UK adults who use AI tools | 54% (31% in 2024) | Ofcom, Adults' Media Use and Attitudes, 2 Apr 2026 |
| Length of an AI Mode search vs a classic search | About 3× | Google, 19 May 2026, US data |
| The other side: where local searches still happen | Mostly Google | Our own tests: AI answers send people to Google, Which? and reviews to check a firm |
What it means for a trade
Being named for the right work
AI answers are specific. A customer asks about storage heaters in a Chapeltown flat, not “heating Leeds”. Nobody can be named for everything. You can be named for your best work, in the places you cover, if the evidence is there.
We tested this on an established electric heating firm in Leeds on 22 October 2026. When customers asked who to call, it was named in 4 of 4 answers. While customers were still researching (costs, which product, what suits their home) its first answers named it 0 times in 24, though it had a page on almost every one of those six topics. Only when the customer then asked who could do the job was it named (8 of 12). The full test is on AI mentions vs citations.
That is the gap Nelvant works on: find the jobs that pay best, then build the evidence that gets you named for them, on your site and off it.
Our view, not a forecast
Where we think this goes
We think asking will replace scrolling as the main way people find a tradesperson, whether the answer comes from ChatGPT, Gemini or Google itself. We can't prove that yet, and you shouldn't plan as if it's certain.
What we can say from our own tests: answers change with the question, the place and the day, and they lean on sources AI can check, such as directory listings and reviews that describe real jobs. Those are things you control.
Written by Alex at Nelvant. Last updated 22 October 2026. Questions or corrections: alex@nelvant.com
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