Consumer Search Behavior: Where Are Your Customers?

Consumer Search Frequency

Search has become engrained in our online behavior. It satisfies all kinds of intents, whether we are seeking instant information because we can’t remember a particular actor’s name, or browsing products to buy for a dopamine hit. 

It’s not a surprise, then, that almost three in five consumers (58%) said they search for something on the internet several times a day.

If we combine this figure with those consumers searching daily (24%), that tells us that eight in ten (82%) consumers are searching for something at least on a daily basis.

The Platforms Dominating General Search

Before we delve into the specifics of local search, we wanted to measure consumer use of online platforms for general search queries. Specifically, we asked consumers what platform they would default to when conducting a general search query.

You’ll notice the chart lists Safari as a separate ‘search’ method even though it is a browser type. Although Safari uses Google as its default search engine, consumers might not think about this when they open the browser to search for something. So we listed it separately.

61% of consumers said they default to Google for general search queries. However, when we combine this percentage with Safari, it rises to 70% of consumers using Google for search. Then, if we add Google Maps, this rises to 72% of consumers effectively using Google products for search.

Meanwhile, 5% said they default to ChatGPT for general searches. It hasn’t even been three years since the technology was launched, which makes it fairly significant that one in twenty consumers are using ChatGPT as their default search platform. However, it might also seem like a surprisingly low percentage compared to some of the headlines and hype we tend to see about AI ‘taking over’ search online.

Another surprising finding is that just 3% of consumers said they default to YouTube for general search, as it’s widely referred to as the world’s second-largest search engine behind Google. 

Of course, Google owns YouTube, and surfaces YouTube results prominently in its search engine results (SERPs). But it’s interesting that only 3% of consumers would start their search directly on YouTube.

Generational Search Trends Highlight Rise in AI for Younger Searchers

While Google is the default search platform for users of different generations, splitting the data out by age does tell a different story. Less than half of Gen Z consumers (49%) default to Google for general search purposes, while the percentages for Millennials (62%), Gen X (64%), and Boomers (66%) reach much higher.

This split also shows that 10% of Gen Z consumers consider ChatGPT their default search platform for general queries, double the population average.

Now that various platforms are implementing generative AI within their search functionalities, it’s not simply a question of whether consumers actively use AI for search or not. We asked whether they’re actively using it. We also wanted to test the hypothesis that many consumers simply aren’t aware that they’re using it, particularly with the roll-out of search features like Google’s AI Overviews.

40% of consumers said they do actively use generative AI when searching online, which tells us that they are aware of and using search features like AI Overviews, Copilot, and Meta AI.

It’s difficult to say whether the 46% of consumers who said they don’t actively use generative AI in search are fully aware of AI search features. It might be the case that some of these consumers see platforms like ChatGPT as clear examples of using generative AI, but may not have noticed how results are being generated within their preferred search platforms. It could also suggest that 46% of consumers are actively scrolling past information generated by AI Overviews and similar.

The remaining 14% highlights that there is a slight sense of some consumers lacking awareness in how AI is now implemented within search platforms. They may be actively consuming and relying on this information without knowing how it has been generated.

If we review the same data split out by age groups, we can see that Gen Z and Millennial consumers sit higher than the 40% average actively using generative AI in search.

Boomers, however, quite drastically buck this trend, with just 19% of this cohort saying they actively use generative AI in search. Meanwhile, Gen X treads along the population average. 

How often are consumers searching with local intent?

There’s a statistic that marketers love to use on the proportion of searches with local intent, which may or may not have been presented by a Google representative around 2018. But there haven’t been any hard stats on the subject since.

While we can’t confirm a definitive number of local searches, we did ask consumers to estimate how much of their search behavior has local intent. Two in five (39%) consumers estimated that at least 41% of their searches are dedicated to finding information about local businesses.

Key Platforms for Local Search

When asked which platform consumers defaulted to for local-specific searches, we can see more variety compared to general searches. 

However, Google remains the clear frontrunner by far, with 45% of consumers saying they default to the platform for local searches. Again, if we combine Google and Safari results, knowing that Safari uses Google Search, we get a total of 53%.

Another significant finding is the prominence of Google Maps in local search. 15% of consumers said they would use Google Maps as their first port of call, meaning they are searching local terms—which could be brand or non-brand terms—directly in Google Maps.

While individual social media platforms only seem to take a small share for local search, we then grouped the data by platform ‘type’. It’s here that we can see that social media platforms are the first port of call for 14% of consumers. If you think about how local search functionalities have only really appeared in social media in the last few years, it’s quite a significant proportion of consumers.

Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Bing Maps combined make up 20% of default local search platforms. This reinforces the importance of ensuring you’re optimizing for both map packs and organic search listings. You might have a strong presence in the SERPs, but if consumers are looking for businesses like yours on a map search, you need to ensure you’re going to be found there, too.

Trust, Relevance, or Variety: What matters to consumers when searching?

Google and Safari benefit from their legacies, with the majority of their prominent users stating that they use those platforms simply because they always have done. In many cases, this will come down to device preferences and their default operating systems, browsers and search engines.

For those consumers that said Google Maps was their primary local search platforms, the most common reason for this was because consumers feel these results are more relevant to their queries.

Generational Preferences

How do the percentages for these platforms slide when we look at generational differences?

Although significantly less reliant on Google Search than their generational counterparts, Google still leads the way as the dominant local search platform for almost a third (30%) of Gen Z consumers.

Meanwhile, just under a fifth of Gen Z (18%) take to Google Maps as a default local search platform, which sits 3% higher than the population average.

Tik Tok, however, comes third, with 10% of Gen Z consumers using it for local search. Notably, this is the only demographic where we see TikTok making the top three—or even top five—local search platforms of choice.

Another surprising finding is that 5% of Gen Z consumers consider Facebook their default local search platform. Again, this is the only demographic in the study where Facebook has made a top three or five appearance.

It’s a particular surprise due to the fairly well-known generational differences in Facebook usage, with Gen Z famously spending the least amount of time on it.

However, in late 2024 Facebook announced it would be implementing a ‘Gen Z-focused’ redesign. Could these findings be an early indicator of its success? 

When we group the platforms together by ‘type’ and look at the generation split, it starts to tell a slightly different story about the importance of social media.

Over a quarter of Gen Z (26%) consumers are turning to social media platforms as their primary method for local search—12% above the general population average.

In fact, where one in twenty Baby Boomers use social media as their default platform for local search, one in four Gen Z consumers are using it by default.

Like Gen Z, fewer Millennial consumers consider Google their default local search platform of choice than the general population, although the gap here is much closer.

Their preference for maps products also sits higher than the population average, with 21% of Millennial consumers defaulting to Google Maps for local search, and 5% choosing Apple Maps. YouTube is also slightly more prominent than the general population average, making it the joint third most popular local search platform.

Meanwhile, Gen X and Boomers sit ahead of the population average in choosing Google as their default local search platform.

Interestingly, a higher percentage of Boomers chose Safari as their default local search platform than any other group, also sitting above the population average.

As discussed in the general search section, this suggests that some consumers consider their default device browser their local search platform (when in reality, we know that Safari uses Google) without distinguishing a difference between the two.

Another surprising finding is that 4% of Boomers default to DuckDuckGo for local search, sitting above the population average (4% vs. 2%) and landing within their top five default local search platforms.

DuckDuckGo is known for stricter search privacy and uses this messaging as its key USP, so it suggests that Boomers are a more security and privacy-conscious group than other demographics.

Next Steps and Decision-making

67% of consumers told us that they ‘often’ or ‘always’ go on to look at business reviews after conducting a local business search. While we don’t know if this necessarily means they look for reviews within the same platform they started the search on, we can probably assume that for the likes of Google, Google Maps, and Apple Maps, consumers are making use of this functionality in-platform.

Almost half of consumers (49%) said that they ‘often’ or ‘always’ go on to plan their travel route to the chosen business. This suggests two things: one, how quickly consumers seem to be making their decisions, and two, that consumers are conducting local business research with the aim of visiting in the very near future. 

This sense of ‘soonness’ is reinforced by the finding that 56% of consumers said they ‘often’ or ‘always’ check that the business information is correct and matches up with other mentions online. They want to be sure that key information like physical addresses or contact information are correct before going out of their way.

Meanwhile, one in five consumers (21%) said they ‘never’ switch to another platform to find more business options, while just 23% of consumers ‘always’ or ‘often’ switch to another platform.

This suggests that a significant  of searchers only tend to use their default platform for local searches.

However, that still leaves 79% of consumers that are using multiple platforms for local business research at least some of the time.

We also found that many consumers focus their local business research around just one option, rather than choosing several different businesses to make a ‘shortlist’.

On average, 31% of consumers will continue researching one chosen business, whilst 30% of consumers are happy to choose a business and make their decision.

Interestingly, Gen Z seems to be the most decisive here, with 38% saying they choose one business to focus more research on, and 31% saying they simply choose a business and make their decision.

On the opposite end, the majority of Boomers (50%) prefer to take several different options and carry out their research before deciding on a business. This suggests a sense of caution among Boomers, that they want to feel sure they’ve made the ‘right’ or perhaps a good decision. Are they less trusting as consumers than Gen Z, perhaps?

What are the deal-breakers for consumers when choosing a local business?

We know how consumers begin a search and the actions they take during their research, but what are the key factors they’re looking for in a local business? What helps seal the deal in making a decision?

On a similar note to their search actions, 46% of consumers feel that the presence of business contact information and opening hours is ‘very important’. In total, 85% of consumers view the presence of contact information as an important factor.

It’s fascinating that this factor sits higher than any other, beating out price, proximity, product availability, and even what other people are saying about the business. It reinforces the idea that consumers who are conducting local business research are doing so with the aim of visiting in the immediate future.

So, don’t lose out to potential customers by not having a correct address, phone number, or email address listed on your platforms—and be sure to check your opening hours are up to date.

At the other end of the scale, discovering a new business is lowest on the list of important research factors for consumers. 34% of consumers rate this factor as ‘unimportant’.

This suggests that consumers are motivated to search for local businesses that meet their needs. Of course, it’s important to remember that this report doesn’t delve into the specifics of business types and industries.