Voice search has been growing in importance for years, and it’s more relevant than ever for local businesses in 2025.

As more consumers rely on voice-activated assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa — and now AI copilots and generative AI platforms like ChatGPT — local voice search is shaping how people find and interact with businesses.

For local businesses, optimizing for voice search is an important element of a comprehensive local SEO strategy.

People increasingly turn to voice search for on-the-go queries, seeking immediate local information. So, if your business isn’t optimized to be found this way, you’re potentially missing out on valuable traffic and customers.

What Is Local Voice Search?

Local voice search refers to voice-activated search queries with local intent, meaning the user is looking for businesses, services, or information relevant to their geographic area. Instead of opening a browser and typing out a query like “best coffee shop near me,” a person using voice search might say, “Where’s the best coffee shop nearby?”

Voice search is often powered by AI-driven virtual assistants, such as Apple Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Microsoft Copilot. These assistants interpret spoken queries and provide users with results based on their analysis of various sources, which may include Google Business Profiles, online reviews, blog posts, articles, and structured data from business websites.

Since voice searches are typically conversational and longer than text-based searches, they rely on natural language processing (NLP) to understand intent. For local businesses, this means that optimizing for voice search requires a different approach than traditional text-based SEO.

Why Do Local Businesses Need To Optimize for Voice Search?

The way people search for local businesses is evolving. With the proliferation of AI-powered tools, more people are using voice search than ever before. Smart speakers, mobile devices, and AI-driven copilots are making it easier for consumers to get instant, relevant results through conversational queries.

Local-intent searches are particularly common in voice search because they fit seamlessly into daily life. Whether someone is driving and needs to find a gas station or walking through a new city looking for a restaurant, voice search offers a faster, more hands-free way to get information.

Many voice searches — upwards of 75%, according to some estimates — include local-specific phrases like “near me,” reinforcing how critical it is for businesses to optimize for voice search as part of a comprehensive, future-facing local SEO strategy in 2025.

Additionally, voice search is now integrated into many generative AI platforms, which generate responses based on web content and surface local businesses differently than traditional search engines. Businesses that aren’t optimizing their content for voice-driven and AI-powered search may not appear in AI-generated results when users ask, “What’s the best Italian restaurant nearby?” or “Where can I find an emergency plumber?”

How Businesses Can Optimize for Local Voice Search

Ensuring your business is found through voice search requires a mix of traditional local SEO and strategies tailored to local voice search.

Optimize Content for Conversational Keywords

Voice searches are often longer and phrased more naturally. Instead of focusing only on short-tail keywords, incorporate conversational, question-based keywords into your website content (e.g., “Where can you buy organic coffee in Austin?”). A blog is a great place to create long-form content where you can target voice search queries.

Create FAQ Pages

Since voice search queries often come in question form, it can be harder to incorporate some of the more specific long-tail keywords naturally throughout your site — FAQ pages make it much easier. Creating FAQ pages around the most common local voice search queries, along with natural-sounding answers, can increase your chances of appearing in voice search results.

Optimize Your Google Business Profile and Other Listings

Since many voice search results pull data from Google Business Profiles and other business listings, make sure your business information is accurate, complete, and up to date across all platforms. This includes adding detailed business descriptions, categories, and high-quality images.

Focus on Local Reviews

Reviews on platforms like Google Business Profile, Yelp, Apple Maps, and Tripadvisor also play an important role in voice search visibility. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on these platforms to increase your chances of appearing in local voice search results for queries like “What’s the best Indian restaurant in Vancouver?”

Use Structured Data (Schema Markup)

Adding schema markup to your website helps search engine algorithms and the large language models (LLMs) that power generative AI platforms understand your content better, improving your chances of appearing in voice search results.

Improve Page Speed, Site Performance, and Mobile-Friendliness

Google prioritizes fast-loading, responsive sites for mobile and voice search results, so optimizing your site’s performance can help improve rankings.

Wrapping Up

Voice search is here to stay, and it’s become fundamental to how consumers discover nearby businesses.

With a wider range of voice-activated assistants and AI-powered voice search tools becoming more prevalent, local businesses must adapt by optimizing for conversational queries.

Businesses that optimize for local voice search in 2025 will be able to boost their visibility in local search results across platforms, connect with more potential customers, and stay ahead in an increasingly voice- and AI-driven local search market.