How to Appear in Google Gemini Results | Step-by-Step for Local Businesses

I watched a woman in a coffee shop in Letchworth last week ask her phone "OK Google, find me a good electrician who can come today." The phone didn't show her a list of websites. It spoke back. Named a specific business. Said they were rated 4.8 stars, specialised in domestic rewires, and were about ten minutes away.

She called them before her flat white arrived.

That's Google Gemini doing its thing. And if your business isn't set up to be the one it recommends, I need you to understand what that means. It means you didn't lose to a competitor. You were never even considered.

The old Google is still there. People just aren't using it the same way.

You know the drill. Ten blue links. Scroll. Click. Compare. Maybe check a review or two. Phone someone.

That still happens. But less and less.

What's growing, fast, is people asking Google questions in plain English and getting an AI-generated answer. Not a list. An answer. "For emergency boiler repair in Stevenage, [Business Name] is highly rated. They offer same-day callouts, charge £85 for the first hour, and have 4.7 stars across 200+ reviews. They specialise in Worcester and Vaillant boilers."

Done. One answer. One business. One phone call.

And the wild thing is that this business might not even rank number one in traditional Google results. They got featured by Gemini because the AI could actually understand what they do and confidently recommend them. That's a completely different game from SEO.

The businesses I see getting featured share something specific

It's not budget. It's not flashy web design. It's not who spent the most on ads last year.

It's clarity.

I've been tracking this across about fifteen local service businesses in North Hertfordshire over the past six months. The ones that Gemini recommends are the ones where the AI can extract specific, factual, useful information without having to guess.

Let me show you what I mean with a real example. Two painters and decorators. Both in Hitchin. One has a gorgeous website, proper portfolio, testimonials section, the lot. His homepage says "transforming homes with quality craftsmanship since 2008."

The other has a site his nephew built. Basic as anything. But his services page says: "Interior painting for standard 3-bed houses in Hitchin and surrounding areas. Typically takes 3-5 days depending on prep work needed. Prices start from £1,200 for two rooms. We use Dulux and Farrow & Ball paints. We move your furniture and cover your floors."

Gemini recommends the second bloke. Every time.

Because it can actually extract facts from his content and present them as an answer. The first guy's site is lovely to look at but tells the AI nothing specific enough to cite.

Your Google Business Profile is doing more work than your website right now

This is the bit that catches people off guard.

Gemini pulls from your Google Business Profile more than anywhere else for local service queries. Not just for the map pack (which has always used GBP data) but for its full AI-generated answers. Your business description. Your service categories. Your posts. Your Q&A section. Your reviews. Your photos and their labels.

All of it.

I went through the Business Profiles of the fifteen businesses I've been tracking. Every single one that regularly appears in Gemini results has a profile that's properly filled out and actively maintained. Every one that doesn't get featured has a profile that was set up in 2021 and never touched again.

Here's what "properly filled out" actually means:

Every service listed individually. Not "plumbing" as one broad category. "Boiler repair." "Emergency callouts." "Radiator installation." "Bathroom plumbing." "Power flushing." Each one separate.

Business description written like a human, not a keyword list. "We're a family-run plumbing business based in Baldock, covering Hitchin, Letchworth, Stevenage, and Royston. We specialise in boiler repairs and emergency callouts, and we're usually with you within 90 minutes."

Photos from the last three months. Actual job photos. Not stock images of a shiny spanner.

The Q&A section filled out with genuine questions and proper answers. Most people don't even know this section exists on their profile. Go look at yours right now. There might be questions sitting there unanswered.

And posts. You don't need to post daily or even weekly. Once a month. A completed job. A seasonal reminder. Something that tells Google (and Gemini) that this business is alive and active.

There's a longer piece on Google Business Profile and AI search if you want to go deeper on this. Worth a read.

Content that Gemini can actually use

Your website matters too. Just differently from how it used to.

Gemini doesn't care about your homepage hero banner. It doesn't care about your "about us" story (sorry). It cares about pages that contain clear, specific, useful information structured in a way it can parse.

FAQ pages are gold for this. But only if they contain questions people actually ask.

Nobody is asking Google Gemini "why should I choose this company." They're asking "how much does it cost to fit a new bathroom in Letchworth" and "can someone fix a dripping tap this weekend near Stevenage" and "what's the difference between a combi boiler and a system boiler."

I helped a locksmith in Royston rewrite his FAQ section. Twenty-two questions, all based on actual things customers had asked him. Detailed answers with specifics. Three weeks later, Gemini was pulling answers directly from his page when people searched for emergency locksmith services in his area.

His website traffic barely changed. His phone calls went through the roof. That's the AEO pattern. The click often doesn't happen because the AI gives the answer. But the call happens because the AI gave your name.

Reviews are fuel

Not just star ratings.

The words inside reviews.

When someone writes "Steve came out to our house in Baldock on a Sunday evening, fixed the boiler in about an hour, charged us £95 including parts, really friendly and explained everything" that review is doing heavy lifting for Gemini. It's specific. It mentions a location. It describes a service. It includes a price point. It signals quality.

Gemini uses that language when constructing its recommendations. I've seen it quote review text almost verbatim in its answers.

So when you ask for reviews (and you should, after every job), give people a nudge. "If you could mention what we did and whereabouts you are, that really helps." Most people are happy to do it. They just default to "great service, 5 stars" because nobody told them anything else would be useful.

The third-party picture

Gemini cross-references. Your website says you cover Hitchin. Your GBP says Hitchin. Your Yell listing says Hitchin. Your reviews mention Hitchin. Your entry in the Hitchin Chamber of Commerce directory says Hitchin.

Consistent.

That consistency is a signal. It tells the AI "this business genuinely operates here." And consistent signals make Gemini more confident about recommending you.

Where it goes wrong is when your website says one phone number, your Yell page shows another, your business name is slightly different on Checkatrade, and your hours don't match anywhere. The AI doesn't know which version is right. It doesn't try to figure it out. It just picks someone else.

Boring work, sorting out your directory listings. But it matters.

Things that waste your time

Creating doorway pages. "Electrician Hitchin." "Electrician Baldock." "Electrician Letchworth." Same content, different town names swapped in. Gemini treats this as what it is: spam. Skip it.

Paying for "AI optimisation" that's really just keyword stuffing with a new label. If someone offers to optimise your homepage for AI and their approach is adding more keywords... run.

Obsessing over traditional ranking factors like domain authority and backlink profiles. Those still matter for normal Google search. For Gemini AI results? Specific, useful, well-structured content matters more.

Thinking you can ignore Gemini because "my customers still use normal Google." They do. For now. But the shift is happening and it's accelerating. By the time it's obvious to everyone, the businesses that moved early will have an entrenched advantage.

The compounding effect

This is the bit that should motivate you.

Once Gemini starts regularly recommending your business for certain queries, that recommendation generates data. Clicks. Calls. Reviews from those new customers. Which feeds back into Gemini's assessment of your business. Which makes it more likely to recommend you again.

It compounds. The early movers don't just get a head start. They get a snowball.

And right now, most of your competitors haven't started. They're still playing the 2019 Google game while Gemini quietly decides who to recommend. That's your window. Probably twelve months, maybe less, before everyone cottons on.

If you run a local service business in North Hertfordshire and you want to know whether Gemini is recommending you (or your competitors), let's have a quick chat about it. I'll show you exactly what's happening with AI search in your area and what the practical next steps look like. Or if you want to get started on your own, have a look at our AEO guide for North Hertfordshire and the piece on writing FAQs that AI actually uses.