Google still owns search. In August 2026, Google handled 86.1 percent of US search engine use, against 8.92 percent for Bing, according to StatCounter.
What changed is what a search is worth. AI Overviews and AI Mode answer more questions on the results page, fewer searches end in a click, and Google Maps increasingly finishes the job without a visit to your website. For a roofing, HVAC, plumbing, or restoration company, that means rankings alone no longer predict calls.
Meanwhile, a channel that used to belong to regional brands is open to local operators: connected TV. Here’s how the three trends fit together, and what to do first.
Google holds the crown, and AI is part of why
Google’s position is not slipping. Alphabet reported that Search and other revenue grew 17 percent year over year in Q2 2026, and that AI Mode passed 1 billion monthly active users. Google also says its AI features drive “an incremental increase in Search queries overall.”
So the homeowner with a leaking water heater still starts on Google. The difference is where on Google they stop.
How ajile MEDIA applies this: We keep Google search and maps at the center of every home services plan. New channels get tested around that core, not in place of it.
What home services owners should do next: Before you move money to anything new, confirm your Google foundation: a complete Business Profile, service pages that answer real questions, and call tracking on every number.
AI redefines clicks: fewer visits, more answers on the page
AI summaries reduce clicks. Pew Research Center tracked 68,879 real Google searches in March 2025 and found users clicked a traditional result 8 percent of the time when an AI summary appeared, versus 15 percent when none did. Only 1 percent of visits included a click on a link inside the summary.
The share of results with AI answers has kept climbing. By early September 2026, AlsoAsked data showed 97 percent of People Also Ask answers were AI Overviews. In late August, Google confirmed it was testing AI Overviews that expand by default for some queries, which pushes the organic listings further down.
Does that mean SEO stopped working? No. It means the win condition moved. The page that gets cited in the AI answer gets the trust, even when it doesn’t get the click.
How ajile MEDIA applies this: We write service pages with a direct answer block at the top of each section and an FAQ that AI systems can quote, then track AI visibility in Search Console alongside rankings.
What home services owners should do next: Pick your five highest-value services. Search the question a homeowner would ask about each one and note whether your company appears in the AI answer.
Want that check done for you? Run a Marketing Visibility Assessment and we will map where AI answers cite your business and where they cite someone else.
Maps is becoming the destination, and reviews feed the answer
The local version of the same shift is already visible. A GMBapi analysis of 179 Business Profiles, published by Search Engine Land on August 31, found that in Q2 2026 versus Q2 2025, website clicks fell 12.5 percent and calls fell 11.9 percent, while direction requests rose 21.1 percent and mobile Maps impressions rose 30.4 percent.
Rankings held steady in that sample. Performance still dropped. The analysis points to reviews as raw material that Google’s AI uses to answer questions without sending anyone to your site.
How ajile MEDIA applies this: Reputation as a Growth Channel is part of every plan. Review velocity, review detail, and owner responses get measured like any other visibility lever.
What home services owners should do next: Ask for reviews that name the service and the problem solved (“replaced our AC condenser the same afternoon”). Specific reviews give the AI something to quote.
CTV levels the field for local operators
Streaming now drives most TV time. Nielsen’s June 2026 Gauge put streaming at 48.5 percent of US TV viewing, with YouTube alone at 13.5 percent.
Buying that screen has become a local option. Comcast’s Universal Ads says advertisers can start campaigns at $100 and target by state, DMA, or zip code. Walmart completed its $1.4 billion acquisition of Vibe.co on August 4, a self-serve streaming TV platform that serves more than 10,000 advertisers.
Picture a roofing company running a 30-second spot in the three zip codes where it already wins the most inspections. The spot won’t generate the call on its own. It makes your name familiar before the homeowner searches, so your listing gets picked.
How ajile MEDIA applies this: We treat CTV as a Signal-First test. Branded search volume, direct calls, and media investment per booked job get a baseline before launch, and the kill criteria get written before the first impression.
What home services owners should do next: Don’t start CTV until your search and maps measurement is clean. If you can’t see branded search and calls by source today, you won’t be able to tell whether TV worked.
What this means for home services owners
Stop measuring visibility by rankings and website clicks alone. Start measuring calls by source, direction requests, AI answer citations, and branded search. Google still decides who gets the job. AI and Maps decide how that decision gets made, and CTV can shape which name the homeowner already knows.
What does weak execution look like right now? Four patterns show up again and again. The first is the owner who reads “AI Overviews” and pulls investment out of search, even though Google still carries the demand. The second is the company that launches a streaming TV spot with no baseline, then decides it worked because the phone felt busier. The third is the Business Profile that has not been touched in a year, with thin reviews and missing services, while Maps becomes the place homeowners decide. The fourth is the service page that buries the answer under a sales pitch, so no AI system can quote it.
Each one trades a measurable channel for a guess. The fix is the same in every case: set the baseline, change one thing, and read calls and booked jobs by source before you change the next.
How ajile MEDIA helps
We build visibility across search, maps, and AI answers together, then connect it to qualified calls and booked jobs. When a new channel like CTV makes sense, we test it against a baseline with clear kill criteria, so your media investment follows evidence.
Final takeaway
AI Overviews are a meaningful shift for home services, not hype, and Google remains the place homeowners start. Protect search and maps first, get cited in AI answers second, and test CTV only when you can measure it. Run a Marketing Visibility Assessment to see where your business stands on all three.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google still the main search engine for home services customers?
Yes. StatCounter measured Google at 86.1 percent of US search engine use in August 2026, with Bing at 8.92 percent. Alphabet also reported 17 percent year-over-year growth in Search revenue for Q2 2026.
Do AI Overviews reduce clicks to contractor websites?
They reduce clicks overall. Pew Research Center found users clicked a traditional result 8 percent of the time when an AI summary appeared, versus 15 percent without one. The impact on any single contractor depends on the query and whether the AI answer cites that business.
Why are my Google Business Profile calls down when my rankings are the same?
More homeowners finish the journey inside Google Maps. One 179-profile analysis found calls fell 11.9 percent and website clicks fell 12.5 percent year over year in Q2 2026, while direction requests rose 21.1 percent.
Is connected TV advertising worth it for a local home services company?
It can be, as a measured test. Platforms such as Universal Ads now allow campaigns from $100 with zip code targeting. Run it only when you can track branded search and calls by source, so you can judge the result.
How do I get my business cited in Google AI Overviews?
Answer common homeowner questions directly on your service pages, add FAQ sections, keep your Business Profile complete, and earn detailed reviews. Then track AI feature impressions in the Search Console AI performance report.
Need a clearer view of what is actually driving growth? ajile MEDIA helps service businesses connect marketing activity to qualified opportunities, booked calls, search visibility, and revenue influence. Book a strategy call or run a Marketing Visibility Assessment to see where your marketing is producing signals, and where it is only producing noise.
