BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (n=1,002 US adults via SurveyMonkey): average of 6 review sources used; 97% read reviews online; 45% use ChatGPT/AI for local recommendations (up from 6% in 2025)

BrightLocal LCRS 2026 — headline findings

• 97% of consumers read reviews online (replacing the older "93%" figure from BrightLocal's 2021 edition)
• 41% "always" read reviews (up from 29% in 2025)
• Average of 6 review sources used when researching a local business
• Google share of review-reading dropped from 83% (2025) to 71% (2026) — Facebook, BBB, Trustpilot, Apple Maps, and Angi all gained
• ChatGPT / generative AI as a local-recommendation source rose from 6% to 45% in a single year, becoming the third most popular source of business recommendations

Methodology: 1,002 U.S. adult consumers via SurveyMonkey.

Source: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026. Confidence: Verified.

Verbatim BrightLocal quote on the AI shift:

"Use of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools for local recommendations has grown rapidly, rising from 6% last year to 45% and becoming the third most popular source of business recommendations."

Multi-platform usage — context for the "directory listing is a starting point" framing

2024 finding (restated 2025):

• 77% of consumers use ≥2 review platforms
• 41% use ≥3
• Less than a quarter use only one

2025 edition:

• 71% read reviews "regularly," down from 75% in 2024
• 89% expect business owners to respond to both positive and negative reviews

Sources: BrightLocal LCRS 2024, 2025, 2026. Confidence: Verified.

Implication for Candid use

A directory listing — HomeStars or any other — is a starting point, never an endpoint. Buyers who see a contractor on HomeStars then leave and check Google, the contractor's own website, social media, and now AI summaries.

The 45% AI-recommendation finding is the most operationally significant shift documented in the 2026 LCRS. It implies that schema-rich, AI-citable content on the contractor's own site is now load-bearing in a way it was not as recently as 2025. See Schema markup for contractor sites (2026 Google guidance): GeneralContractor / HomeAndConstructionBusiness / LocalBusiness, Service per service-line, Review + AggregateRating, Person for principals, FAQPage on service pages, Project (Article subtype) on case studies and the parallel rule at Rule (Tier-2 ICI GC sites): use schema.org Person + hasCredential + EducationalOccupationalCredential markup so Gold Seal credentials surface in Google knowledge panels and AI overviews.

Cross-references the established review-reading evidence at HomeStars September 2021 Reno Report (n=1,103, Angus Reid Forum): >98% of Canadian homeowners read reviews before making a purchasing decision and Clever Real Estate 2024 contractor-choice survey (n=1,000 US homeowners, Aug 14–16 2024): reputation 25%, experience 23%, cost 19%, recommendations 13%, availability 11% for the Canadian / contractor-choice-factor angles.